Pork substitutes increase in price slightly

Customers choose to buy other foods to replace pork.

Customers are still afraid of pork

In the past three weeks, due to the impact of swine flu, the pork market has shown signs of slowing down. Not only in the center but also in the surrounding areas, many restaurants have temporarily stopped selling pork-related dishes. People tend to limit their pork purchases when going to the market.

Ms. Le Thi M., a trader at a market in Phu Xuan ward, said: “About half a month ago, I sold 50-60kg of pork per day, but now I only take about 10kg but sell very slowly. Regular customers now come to the market to ask to buy chicken, duck, and beef. Pork prices have dropped but very few people buy it.”

According to records at major markets such as Dong Ba, Tay Loc, An Cuu, pork prices have recently decreased by about 10-15%, but consumption has decreased sharply. Meanwhile, chicken, duck, and beef, although their prices have increased, are still consumed well.

Dr. Nguyen Van Hung, Head of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine of Hue City, informed that although there have been recorded cases of Streptococcus suis infection in humans in the locality, the control of pig slaughter is being tightened. The unit is strengthening inspections of slaughterhouses and coordinating with localities to strictly manage clean pig sources.

“People can still use pork if they buy it from reputable places, have a clear source, are quarantined by veterinary, and especially cook it thoroughly. Do not eat blood pudding, raw nem chua or rare pork dishes. At the same time, wash your hands thoroughly after preparing meat,” Mr. Nguyen Van Hung advised.

Don't worry too much.

At markets, supermarkets, and food stores, the purchasing power of chicken, duck, and beef has increased slightly. According to traders at Xep market (Phu Xuan ward), in recent days, the amount of chicken sold has increased by about 25-30%, beef is similar but still at the old price of 250,000 VND/kg.

Not only in traditional markets, supermarkets such as CoopMart, GO! Hue, WinMart... also recorded higher consumption of alternative meats.

A representative of the CoopMart Hue supermarket said: “Consumers are always sensitive to information about the epidemic. When there are concerns about pork, the inevitable trend is for them to switch to safer alternative products. We must proactively increase orders from suppliers, especially branded chicken and beef with clear origins. Especially, we must not let the prices of alternative meats increase.”

Restaurants and eateries are now also limiting the amount of pork on their menus. Accordingly, dishes are also replaced with beef, chicken, duck, fish, shrimp...

According to the leader of the city's livestock and veterinary sector, the development of alternative food chains should also be encouraged to diversify daily meals and reduce dependence on a single type of meat. What needs to be done now is coordination between departments, sectors and localities to strengthen inspection and control, creating favorable conditions to ensure adequate supply of beef, chicken and duck to the market, avoiding price spikes.

To ensure a balanced supply and demand, in addition to the efforts of the functional departments, consumers also need to grasp and follow the city's official information channels on how to prevent swine streptococcus disease so as not to choose the extreme way of completely eliminating clean pork, with clear origin, fully quarantined by the authorities. Because that can create an imbalance of supply and demand in the market. Lessons from previous epidemics show that when the fear of pork is too much, pork prices plummet, farmers suffer losses, and when the epidemic is over, meat is in short supply again, and prices increase shockingly.

Article and photos: Song Minh

Source: https://huengaynay.vn/kinh-te/thuc-pham-thay-the-thit-lon-tang-gia-nhe-156160.html