2 more months of ‘Chickensad’

Screengrab from Jollibee website. Jollibee.com.ph

MANILA, Philippines–“Chickensad” consumers will have to wait two months for the supply of chicken to normalize in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces, agriculture officials told lawmakers on Wednesday.

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala said that while the missing “Chickenjoy” on the menu of popular food chain Jollibee was not related to supply problems, there are real production and supply-chain issues in the distribution of chicken in Metro Manila in the aftermath of Typhoon “Glenda.”

Glenda, which wreaked havoc on southern Luzon and Metro Manila last July, disrupted the distribution chain of chicken coming from Calabarzon, Alcala told the appropriations committee of the House of Representatives.

As a result, the price of dressed chicken went up to P170 per kilogram in public markets around Metro Manila and neighboring areas.

“As for the food chain [Jollibee], the reason is not lack of supply but glitches in their computer system,” Alcala said, responding to a question from Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares who said his son was “sad” about the absence of Chickenjoy at Jollibee.

Consumers took to Twitter last week to complain about the missing Chickenjoy, trending the hashtag #Chickensad, and prompting the food giant to issue an official explanation.

Jollibee said the limited operation last week was “due to a major systems upgrade,” which affected the delivery of raw materials from its commissary to select Jollibee stores in Metro Manila and nearby cities.

“We would like to clarify that this is NOT a supply issue or a chicken shortage situation,” said Harvey Ong, the Jollibee vice president for marketing, in a statement released earlier.

Jose Reaño, the agriculture undersecretary for livestock, told the committee members that the supply and price of chicken should stabilize in 60 days, at the end of September or early October.

“By the last quarter of this year, the supply will normalize,” he said.

Reaño said producers from the southern parts of Luzon, including Laguna, Quezon, Cavite and Sorsogon, were unable to deliver to markets in Metro Manila, “disrupting the whole market.”

He noted that the Southern Tagalog region is the country’s second-largest chicken producer, next only to Central Luzon.

“It takes 31 days to harvest chicken, so the supply to Greater Manila was disrupted because of this,” he said.

Reaño explained that supply was not actually “short” but “tight,” because of the disruption in the production chain.

“In some areas where northern producers are able deliver, prices are still stable. Some retailers go to supermarkets, which sell chicken for only P135-P139, and sell them in the public markets for P170,” he said.

According to the Department of Agriculture’s field operations services, Glenda caused damage to livestock and poultry farms at a cost of about P2 billion, with much of the destruction almost entirely felt in the Bicol region.

“During the fourth quarter, when the Christmas season comes, we will see the supply to be completely normal,” Alcala said.

In a statement, Reaño said the DA is open to the idea of importation to help address the tightness in supply.

Alcala clarified that importation was just one option being considered “to secure the volume and help avoid speculation that could lead to overbuying based on suspicions of a shortage.”–With Ronnel W. Domingo