Poultry Association Finds Reason for Chicken Shortage

This week we have been reporting on the scarcity of chicken that is affecting Belizeans from north to south. The Belize Poultry Association has now identified a reason for the sudden shortage in chicken.  While producers have ramped up production, demand has been greater than supply causing freezers to go empty. According to the Association producers began increasing production in June and July and it is now returning to pre-COVID levels. It says that poultry production usually spans a nine-week period from egg to processed chicken so balancing supply with demand is not a precise undertaking, especially when unprecedented market disruption occurs. Manager Armando Cowo explains that the abrupt fall in demand from tourism and then an unexpected sharp rise in domestic consumer demand have created the market disruption over the last few weeks. He says that the unexpected sharp rise in domestic demand is due to several factors but primarily due to the closure of the northern border translating to more domestic consumption.

On the Phone: Armando Cowo, Manager, Belize Poultry Association

“We believe that the millions of millions going over the border both to Melchor and Chetumal has an impact. People are no longer going over so therefore they stay at home and they are eating more chicken. Because remember when you go across the border you buy food but now that they stay at home, they can’t go to Chetumal they can’t go to Melchor, they are buying more food. It might just be a bubble because of the situation we are currently in. People themselves instead of buying chicken they are buying two or three and putting in their freezer. We don’t know if that has happened but we know for a fact that production has increased so like I said it might be a situation due to the lockdown where people done have their monies to spend elsewhere so they decide that they will do a little barbecue and they consume more. Hopefully it is just that, that more people are consuming it.”