Chickenjoy supplier Cargill shifts to retail as pandemic chokes restaurant demand

MANILA - Poultry supplier Cargill Philippines said Wednesday it shifted to retail after the COVID-19 pandemic slashed demand from restaurants.

Cargill, which supplies poultry for Jollibee Chickenjoy, turned to new markets such as grocery stores, said its corporate affairs director Chris Ilagan.

Currently, there is an "oversupply" of poultry products, pushing farm gate prices to fall to as low as P30 from P70 per kilo, Ilagan said 

"In the quick service restaurants, we have seen a drastic drop [in demand], the halting of their operations, very minimal coming back online," Ilagan said.

"We have gone into the retail space, we are servicing now groceries, which is beyond us prior to COVID. I guess this is the bright spot and it’s teaching us new ways on how we can potentially serve new markets," he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte extended the lockdown in high risk areas until May 15, where restaurants are only allowed to open for drive thru and deliveries. 



Consumers are likely to stay away from fast food even after the enhanced community quarantine is lifted due to lingering COVID-19 risks, he said.

In general community quarantine areas, where restrictions are fewer compared to ECQ, those aged 20 and below and 60 and above are still required to stay at home, Ilagan said.

"After this COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end and we’re certainly keeping our eyes open on those sort of opportunities," he said.

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Burger joint goes 'healthy' with chicken patties

MANILA — How do you stand out in the tightly contested burger segment?

Make it healthy… or at least healthier. This is what the owners of H.I.D. Burgers did and this decision proved to be correct since the burger joint, which started in Cainta and Antipolo, now has several branches, including one at City Golf Plaza in Pasig, which will have its official opening on Saturday.

H.I.D. Burgers uses patties made from chicken meat. Instead of coming up with a sandwich like the McChicken or KFC’s Zinger, H.I.D.’s chicken burgers try to approximate the look and taste of an all-beef patty.

“All our burgers are freshly made from 100% chicken. No extenders,” it said.

“Your burgers are also not pre-cooked so please allow several minutes of cooking time. We guarantee that our flame-grilled H.I.D. burgers are worth the wait.”

While H.I.D. burgers look like the standard hamburger, the texture gives it away since it certainly doesn’t have the bite of a beef burger.

But taste-wise, these will certainly satisfy your burger cravings with a wide array of add-ons from mushrooms and coleslaw to several kinds of cheeses; and styles like the Sicilian, Chicano and the Mediterranean.

If you’re not that strict with their diet, you can even choose to add bacon.

At the same time, if you are following a no-carb diet, you can avail of the burgers with lettuce leaves instead of the rather interesting — and tasty — pandesal bun.

But if you just got to have an all-beef burger, H.I.D. has added the Beast Mode BLT, which comes with a 200-gram patty made from beef and bacon, in addition to two strips of bacon.

To go with your burgers, customers can order Classic Potato Wedges (with salt, pepper and olive oil) or the more gourmet Cheesy Bacon Wedge Fries.

Apart from burgers, H.I.D. also has several types of hotdog sandwiches, as well as Hungarian sausage slices, which you can enjoy as pica-pica.

Also popular among regulars are the Hot Wings, which comes in six flavors ranging from mild to spicy; and the Chicken Nuggets with BBQ or garlic sauce.

For the grand opening of the City Golf Ortigas branch on Saturday, the first 100 customers starting at 2 p.m. will get free burgers on their next visit, while all deluxe burgers will be upgraded to premium for free from October 15-17.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

McDonald's Japan stops sourcing all chicken from China

TOKYO - McDonald's Holdings Co (Japan) said it halted sales of all products that use chicken meat that originates in China on Friday, switching its sourcing completely to Thailand.

McDonald's Japan had already stopped selling items that used meat sourced from Shanghai Husi Food Co, a China-based supplier that had been shut down over food safety concerns. Shanghai Husi had supplied about 20 percent of its Chicken McNuggets.

"We made this decision in view of the growing concern over McDonald's chicken products made in China," McDonald's Japan Chief Executive Sarah Casanova said in a statement.

McDonald's Japan said some stores could sell out of chicken-based items depending on the level of available inventory.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com