Livestock outlets bring beef within reach of marginal buyers

A middle-aged man, with a shy voice, asked a shopkeeper whether purchasing half a kg of beef is possible. "Of course, why not," the seller replied with a smile. Surprised and relaxed, the customer paid Tk320 and got his desired commodity.

It was Sunday's picture of a street shop, located in the opposite of Anti-Corruption Commission headquarters in the capital, which was selling eggs, milk and meat at reasonable prices. The vendor, Raju Ahmed, sitting on a chair right next to the sidewalk was seen taking orders from customers and some were packaging goods kept in a van.

There was no crowd and no rush. People in-need were buying in convenient amounts on their way home.

"Many low-income people cannot now go to meat shops because of high prices. For them, these sales centres have provided a kind of convenience," said shopkeeper Raju Ahmed.

The Department of Livestock Services has set up 20 such sales points in different parts of the capital as part of efforts to provide lower-income people with options for buying affordable amounts of protein at reasonable prices in the fasting month of Ramadan.

The initiative, backed by the Daily Farmers Association and the Poultry Industries Central Council, gives relief to poor people already hit hard by inflationary pressure.

"The number of customers who buy half a kg to one kg of meat in these sales centres is high. Besides, few people buy two kg of meat," said Tawheed, a seller in the Nakhalpara area.

A kg of beef is selling at Tk640 in these outlets, which is Tk750 in kitchen markets. The price of dressed broilers is Tk300 per kg against the market price of over Tk370. Egg sales at Tk110 per dozen and milk at Tk80 per litre, down Tk10-20 per kg from market prices.

"Buyers have a little misunderstanding about our broiler chicken price. They often compare the price with that of live chickens. But it's actually dressed, not live. So, the price is a bit higher and it is normal," Tawheed told The Business Standard.

Sellers said each outlet usually gets 100 kg of beef, 40 kg of chicken, 10 kg of mutton, 1200 eggs, and 200 litres of milk every day, which can be supplied to over 100 customers.

In the initial days, the products used to sell out in just one hour. Now, they remain available for some 3-4 hours. "We sell products from 9am to 12pm now. In some outlets, they are sold until 3pm," said Rasel, a vendor at the AGB Colony of Motijheel.

Livestock Officer-in-charge for monitoring the open market sales Md Shah Alam Biswas told TBS that every vendor is doing their jobs decently. "People are buying their desired goods without any hassle."