We all love chicken. In Indian homes, it has become the second vegetable. Restaurants and street foods are filled with delicious chicken items. But, have you ever wondered about the economics of chicken dishes?
As a consumer, it is only fair to be drawn to restaurants that serve a 'heavy portion' meal at affordable prices. Some restaurants even serve a whole grilled chicken for just Rs.400. If you were to buy that chicken raw, you would have to shell out at least Rs.350.
Another instance that's likely to hit home close. 'Momos' that sell for Rs.50 on the street for 6 pieces. If you just consider the quantity of chicken required for those six pieces, you would realise that one would need at least 150g of boneless chicken meat which would itself be worth Rs.40. So how does a plate of momo sell for Rs.50?
What's the secret here? Are restaurants underselling their chicken items?
The answer is No.
Because, these are not the type of chicken meat you'd buy for yourself.
Understand this; 40 years ago, the only type of chicken available was the wild/country variety which wasn't very popular with the households. In 1975, farm chicken cultivation came to India. With the government's encouragement to tackle malnourishment in India, the demand for eggs and chicken grew exponentially. This is the same time India also witnessed the Green Revolution as well as the White Revolution.
Now, in the chicken farms, there are two types of chickens. The one that is reared for its meat are called Broiler Chicken and the other which are raised only to lay eggs are called Layer Chicken.
Egg laying chickens are not sold for their meat since they have an extremely unhealthy body, low meat content, diminished size and are too old for taste. In order to draw the maximum number of eggs from them, Layer Chickens also have a very high degree of injected hormones in them.
So, what do you think happens to all the Layer Chickens that produce thousands of eggs each day? Most small restaurants and street food vendors latch on to these varieties of chicken that otherwise are not even sold in the market. Many outlets even use the disrespected parts like the internal organs and the neck portion.
Layer Chicken is available at one-third the price of Broiler Chicken. This is how budget restaurants are able to serve chicken items at such low prices.
At SkyKitchen, we use Broiler Chicken meat from certified vendors. We also use country chicken for our soups and other dishes. That's not all, we only use premium cuts of chicken meat that's deep cleaned twice before use, handled & stored observing HACCP principles.
As a conscious consumer, we urge you to start understanding food economics, because that's where the real secret lies. Good luck and eat safe!