In Saudi Arabia, a consumer campaign that was announced on Twitter and Facebook to boycott chicken meat to protest a sudden hike in prices began on Sunday, days after the government moved to amend consumer cooperative societies to bring down food prices.
The “Let it Rot” campaign reports that chicken meat prices have soared by 50 percent. One of campaign’s slogans is: “One hand to fight corruption and high prices,” the Saudi Gazette reported on Sunday.
The campaign also claims that the prices of eggs also jumped from SR10 ($2) to as high as SR16.
“There are many replacements for chicken such as fish, beef and vegetables,” one consumer tweeted, according to Saudi Gazette.
But others expressed doubts the boycott would succeed in bringing down prices. “If you wish to boycott chicken, then be vegetarians as fish is more expensive and meat is just the same,” one person tweeted.
Minister of Agriculture Fahd Balghunaim recently ruled out any decrease of chicken meat prices, saying the sudden hike was due to a big shortfall in the production of chicken, which currently meet less than half of the demand in the kingdom, the Saudi paper reported.
But recent Saudi media reports suggested that the government was preparing to amend regulations of consumer societies to make basic food products available at reasonable prices.
The Kingdom reportedly sent a delegation to various Arab countries for insight into the establishment and management of consumer cooperative societies
