UAE | General

No shortages of poultry or eggs, says supermarket

The Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society said yesterday it has sufficient supplies of eggs and poultry for sale in its 17 outlets.

  • By Himendra Mohan Kumar, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 21:59 March 22, 2008
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society said on Saturday it has sufficient supplies of eggs and poultry for sale in its 17 outlets.

"There's a shortage of poultry in the market caused primarily by the bird flu scare in India, but at the Abu Dhabi Cooperative there's no shortage of either eggs or chicken," Bejoy Thomas, marketing and advertising manager of the cooperative, told Gulf News.

"We have UAE and Omani eggs on our shelves and there's an ample supply of fresh and frozen chicken," said Thomas.

At the cooperative's stores, the price is currently Dh13-Dh14 for a tray of 30 eggs.

The eggs are sourced from various poultry farms - local as well as those located in neighbouring GCC countries such as Oman.

As for chicken, Thomas said locally-sourced fresh chicken is being sold at Dh14 a kg by the cooperative, while frozen chicken prices range between Dh8.40 and Dh9.40 a kilo. The frozen chicken comes mainly from Brazil, Argentina and Europe, he added.

"We get our chicken through suppliers. We [also] do our own imports," said Thomas.

Price pressure

Asked how prices of eggs and chicken at the Abu Dhabi Cooperative compare with prices prevailing in the market, Thomas said: "We have kept our prices lowest in the market as we feel we have a social responsibility, especially at a time when the prices of essential commodities are rising in the UAE and putting pressure on consumers."

"In fact, we are selling about 200 items either at their cost price or below even that price, in order to beat inflation," he added.

Thomas said in the UAE, every egg that's to be sold must be marked with production and expiry dates, which makes imports difficult as some of the countries from where eggs could potentially be sourced do not have egg stamping facilities as required by UAE law.

The Abu Dhabi Cooperative, which was established 27 years ago, holds about a 40 per cent share of the supermarket/hypermarket business in the emirate of Abu Dhabi and ranks among the top three retailers in the country by market share.


Your comments


A very good move in Abu Dhabi against price rises, the same should follow in Dubai and other parts of the country.
Shareef
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 23, 2008, 10:57

I would suggest that cooperatives should increase their branches throughout the UAE. We all know that cooperatives sell cheaper goods than ordinary supermarkets, so it's time for them to expand, as more people are looking for cheaper goods, especially nowadays because everything is going up.
Roberto
Dubai,UAE
Posted: March 23, 2008, 10:06

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