No Chickenjoy? No McChicken? Unthinkable, but it happened—on, ironically, International Fried Chicken Day.
Jollibee and McDonald’s Philippines on Wednesday confirmed that some of their stores have temporarily stopped offering certain chicken products due to “unavailability of chicken supply that meet their standards and specifications.”
In separate statements, the food giants said the chickens were just too small or too light for their requirements.
The rising cost of poultry feeds has made it hard for local farmers to find quality “patuka” for their broilers.
Imported chicken is also not an option, as dwindling stocks are exacerbated by runaway fuel prices and the disruptions in the global supply chain triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.
“We continue to serve chicken products in our stores. There are only a number of stores that temporarily don’t offer certain chicken products due to an increase in demand and unavailability of chicken supply that meet our standards and specifications, serving only our best to customers,” said Adi Timbol-Hernandez, Corporate Relations Director of McDonalds’ Philippines.
In a separate interview, Timbol-Hernandez explained where the Golden Arches gets its chicken products from.
“Our chicken fillet and nuggets, we import them. Our chicken McDo (are) locally sourced. There’s chicken when you go to your local market or grocery, but the size or weight of these are not fit for our requirements. There’s not enough supply of chicken that meets our standards,” she said.
Jollibee and sister chain Mang Inasal are in the same gravy boat owing to the spike in demand ever since COVID-19 protocols were eased across the country.
But Jollibee Foods Corp. said in a statement the situation is slowly getting better as it is confident the chicken supply will return to their branches with dwindling stocks.
“Owing to the rising consumer demand and limited chicken supply that meets our high-quality standards, some branches of Jollibee and Mang Inasal will temporarily be able to fulfill some chicken orders,” the food giant said.
“At present, the situation is improving, and we continue to help our suppliers meet the strong demand from our customers. We are likewise confident that in a short while, some of our branches experiencing shortages will also fulfill all their chicken orders,” the JFC statement said in Filipino.
The United Broiler Raisers Association believes a lack of nutrition is leading to smaller chickens from their members. They also pointed to climate change as a culprit for the shortage.
“In our farm gate price survey, there’s a new category for smaller chickens. That’s the challenge. There was no size for that in markets before,” said Elias Inciong, UBRA president, in an ABS-CBN report.
Chicken suppliers are also fearful of losses owing to their rising production costs, noting those who are supplying fast food chains are honoring their commitments despite prolonged losses, Inciong added.
While UBRA is confident the situation will eventually normalize, chicken prices are still rising to as much as P210 a kilo in some markets in Metro Manila.
