The major supermarkets around the country say they are facing major difficulties with Crest Chicken which is unable to supply them with enough products to meet the demands.

Despite the assurance given to the government by the local poultry suppliers that they are able to supply enough chicken and chicken products, R.B Centerpoint General Manager Dinesh Maisuria said this is not true.

Maisuria told Fijivillage News that they have been facing major problems with Crest Chicken as they do not have enough to meet the demands for their products in RB supermarkets around the country.

He said yesterday, they were only provided 40 to 50 bags of chicken and various products while they need around 300 to 500 bags per week for the Centerpoint branch alone which they had ordered.

According to Maisuria, all they have been told is that Crest Chicken is facing problems at its Colo-i-suva farm.
   
A Director of Food-4-Less Supermarket Rulesh Prasad said they have also been facing problems with Crest Chicken supplies.

Prasad said when they place orders, only half of the requirement is met by the supplier and all they have been told is that Crest is facing some problems which would be rectified soon.

The operations manager of another major supermarket chain shared similar sentiments saying that most of the time they run out of stock of various chicken sizes and products as Crest Chicken is unable to supply enough to them for sale.
 
Meanwhile, RB Centerpoints Dinesh Maisuria said the products they have received from Crest Chicken yesterday reflect an increase in wholesale price between 5 to 9 percent and they will impose the 12 percent retail mark up on these products to establish the retail prices.

Maisuria also confirmed that the whole sale price of the Crest chicken mixed portions has decreased and they expect the retail price to also decrease slightly in the days ahead.

General Manager of Goodman Fielder Fiji Limited Shaun Jols is yet to comment on the issue.