Jollibee does not source chicken from China—Agri exec

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Agriculture (DA) has allayed concerns of frustrated customers that fast-food giant Jollibee might be sourcing its chicken from China, which some people think is the reason why the restaurant has been operating on limited menu the past few days.

DA Undersecretary Jose Reaño on Monday told Radyo Inquirer 990 AM that most of Jollibee’s chicken supplies come from local producers

“Dati ho lahat sila imported, tapos nag-shift sila sa local mga three to four years ago (Before, they used to import their chicken, but they have shifted to local products three to four years ago),” Reaño said.

Samahang Industriya ng Agrikultura (Sinag) president Rosendo So also told Radyo Inquirer that Jollibee’s chicken supply comes from San Miguel Corporation.

The hashtag ChickenSad has been trending on social media sites over the weekend because many Jollibee branches have not been able to offer their popular fried chicken. Jollibee, however, clarified that the problem stemmed from a “major systems upgrade” and not a shortage in their chicken supply.

“We would like to clarify that this is NOT a supply issue or a chicken shortage situation,” said Jollibee VP for Marketing Harvey Ong.

China’s fastfood industry has been rocked by controversy recently after a supplier admitted that they sold  them expired beef and chicken.

‘Glenda’s effect

So said that even in the wake of Typhoon “Glenda” (international name: Rammasun), local chicken producers have been managing just fine in catching up with their quotas.

So said that although a total of 15 million heads (chickens) for August to December were affected by “Glenda,” this has little effect on the local market.

“Ang per month production natin sa ating bansa, mga 68 million heads, so iilang porsyento lang ang talagang apektado (We have a month production of 68 million heads in the country, which means only a tiny percentage of that is affected),” So said.

So pointed that the ongoing Manila truck ban, however, has affected the chicken supply in the country.

“Ang problema, ‘yung congested ang pier. ‘Yung ang isang nangyari din, kung bakit  nabitin ‘yung (supply) dito sa Metro Manila, ” So said.

(The problem is the congestion in our ports. It is one of the reasons why the supply in Metro Manila has been limited.) Kimbo Maglaya

RELATED STORIES

Jollibee vows to restore joy to chicken

McDonald’s, KFC in China face new food scandal