By Jamie Salter
If there’s one thing Australian’s love, it’s their KFC chicken.
But fans of the fast food chain might find themselves severely disappointed as the restaurant battles with supply shortages.
The rising cases of Covid-19 has limited the number of workers keeping the supply chain running smoothly and suppliers are now facing a poultry shortage.
KFC Australia recently addressed the issue on its website.
“Like many businesses across Australia, our supply chain and workforce has been impacted by Covid-19,” the statement said.
“Rest assured we’re doing all we can to get back to fryin’ everyone’s faves as soon as possible.
“This isn’t the way we wanted to start the year, please be kind to each other, and our staff as they do their best to provide the chicken we all love.”
KFC assured its customers that it will continue to remain open.
On January 11, the Australian Chicken Meat Federation (ACMF) executive director Dr Vivien Kite said the chicken supply situation continued to deteriorate daily.
“Staff shortages are being seen right across the industry, but are particularly impacting the processing, packing, further processing, distribution and transport sectors of the chicken supply chain,” Dr Kite said.
“These staff shortages have been increasing, as both positive Covid-19 cases in the community, and hence in our workforces, grow and the number of close contacts furloughed as a result follows.
“There are plenty of chickens out on farms, but just not enough people to pick them up, process them and distribute chicken products to stores.”
A broad range and type of chicken meat products available in store and through food outlets may change, and some products will be in short supply.
Products that are the most challenging to supply are those that require most preparation or are the most labour intensive to produce, such as cut-up, de-boned, skinless, and value-added products.
Dr Kite said Victoria’s exemption allowing close contact critical workers who are negative and asymptomatic to return to work, may go some way to alleviating the current chicken supply situation.
