As cattle feed is more expensive this year, the sacrificial animals are costlier as well
Published : 27 Jun 2023, 12:52 AM
Rezaul Alam, a businessman in Dhaka, has been buying cows for the Eid-ul-Azha sacrifice online for the past two years. He says he has narrowed it down to a few from a Facebook page this year as well.
“I’m browsing the pictures of cows online. But I will need to travel to the farm before purchasing. I’ll go there on Tuesday and buy it,” said Rezaul, who resides in Uttara.
After surveying the cost online, Rezaul thinks prices are a bit higher this year. “From my discussions with the farms, I can see the prices will be higher this time. Each kg of beef will cost over Tk 600. It was lower last time.”
“Despite the high prices, choosing cows online is hassle-free.”
Online marketplaces are gaining popularity as some people in Dhaka want to avoid travelling to cattle markets with the sun blazing overhead and a tight daily schedule. They are more inclined to choose their sacrificial animals for Eid-ul-Azha on their phones.
Omar Faruk, an employee of Daraz Bangladesh, bought a cow from an online marketplace several days ago. He bought it from Sahara Agro Farm in Bosila. Weighing 500 kg, the cow cost him Tk 245,000.
“I initially saw a picture of the cow on their Facebook page. I spoke to them casually and went to their farm to take a look. It looked exactly as it did in the photo, very beautiful. I made up my mind about buying it,” he said.
Faruk, a resident of Bashundhara, said it was his first online cow purchase and he was ‘satisfied’ as buying from a cattle marketplace would require him to bring the animal back home by himself, but the online marketplace offers delivery. The farm will deliver the cow on Tuesday.
He also thinks the cows were pricier this year. “I bought a cow from a cattle marketplace last time. You can’t weigh a cow there, it’s just speculation. So I can’t exactly tell how much it weighed, but it was quite close to the cow I bought this time. But last time, it cost me Tk 200,000.”
ARE PRICES ACTUALLY HIGHER?
Abiduddin Rahat, head of Sahara Agro, said tending to cattle was now more expensive and it had sent the prices of sacrificial animals up.
“The prices of cows are higher because cow feed now costs more. We feed wheat to cows. But the wheat shipments to the country have shrunk. Previously the price of wheat was Tk 27 per kg, but now we have to buy it at Tk 52 per kg.”
“And buying cows from farms will naturally cost more than buying from cattle marketplaces. Because they are tended to more at farms. We give the cows the best medical treatment and the best food.”
Abiduddin said the heaviest cow they sold weighed 1.05 tonnes and cost the customer Tk 700,000.
Arifuzzaman Tuhin, the head of online cattle marketplace Arat, seconded Abiduddin’s claims.
“We are delivering the cows to the customers a day or two before Eid. The customers can buy cows from us without any hassle. So the cost will naturally be a bit higher than the live cattle marketplaces.”
He also noted expenses for the maintenance of the farm and employee salaries. “We sell cows after weighing them live. We ask for Tk 550 per kg, but we might sell for Tk 510 or Tk 500.”
However, the prices did not appear to have a benchmark as Bengal Meat’s online store was charging customers Tk 630 for each kg of meat.
Shaikh Imran Aziz, the head of marketing of the company, said: “The prices are higher this year. Besides, we feed the cows organic grass for the last three months. This helps to reduce fat. Everything is costlier in the market at present.”
ONLINE SALES GAINING POPULARITY
Tuhin said reliability factored into why more people were turning to online cattle stores despite the higher costs.
“Those who buy cows online are from the upper middle class or upper class. Buying from farms is more reliable as trust is a huge factor.”
Abiduddin said they brought in about 35 cows and 30 goats and the stock was almost sold out. “Most of the people contacted us after seeing Facebook posts.”
Bengal Meat’s Imran said they sold 150 goats so far this Eid. Mentioning that the demand was ‘high’, he pointed out that the company would not be able to slaughter more than 500 cows this time due to a manpower crunch.
Imran noted that their business peaked during the pandemic but the response this year was more than last year.