THe sheer stupidity of some people.... Oranjemund Spar has for the last 13 years been importing Fresh Chicken on a weekly basis, the problem being that due to the remoteness of Oranjemund, we freeze the chilled chicken products as soon as it reaches us, with at least a 3 day grace period on the sale of the Fresh item..... Most people would come in on the Monday when the stuff arrives, buy a few packets and then take them home and drop them in their deep freezers to use at a later date.
Now, the problem for some uneducated people, is the sell by date, how can SPar still sell that product if it is past it's sell by date... We explain that, that date is a guideline for the fresh product, which we have frozen 72 hours before that date...just the same as a housewife would.... some chap had an issue with this...threatened my butchery supervisor with "I'll close this place down"... turned up today...I explained to him ... that due to our location, we cannot sell the item as a fresh item.... and that for thirteen years it has been done this way..... The supplier cannot remove the fresh sellby date, due to the way the production line works.....
Anyhow, this individual ran off to the health inspector, who has now said we cannot sell this much sought after product....At Spar we don't mind as our mark up.... is very low and we carry it more as a "convenience " for the customer....
Now I will have to substitute it with an alternative line, that will now cost more and we have to ask ourselves who will actually benefit at the end of the day....
On another point, you would have thought that OTMCO and the health department would have more to worry about with all the Afvalle and Pigs , Cows heads that are being cooked at all the informal settlement (sands)...not to mention the slaughtering of live chickens there..... all outside of the law, no abbatoir, no rules , no regulations.... no health...double standards in play in this little town of us...
Spar Head office, sends a professional health inspector to this store twice a year, to ensure that our health standards are up to scratch....... we always pass, OTMCO should stop throwing red tape at the people that play by the rules and focus on the people that are the real health problem.......
:nono1:
Seems to me, that health inspector needs some education on those matters
Some learn sometimes
Some will learn never
Deep frozen are cheaper here then fresh products
Other way round in Nam ????
Nope..the same here in Nam, but the mark up on the Fresh chicken was a minimum(different dept, and we try to move it quicker), not actually worth it.... But our frozen chicken had the normal mark up.....
If I were you I would make sure the whole town knows who is responsible for the discontinuation of fresh poultry and let him take the wrap from his neighbors. A$$hole!
Quote from: Bertie Horak on September 30, 2008, 11:49:01 AM
If I were you I would make sure the whole town knows who is responsible for the discontinuation of fresh poultry and let him take the wrap from his neighbors. A$$hole!
That is exactly what Mike should do.
Print ot his post and hang it up in Spar for all to see
Maybe even add our comments for that inspector to see.....
Copied ... On another point, you would have thought that OTMCO and the health department would have more to worry about with all the Afvalle and Pigs , Cows heads that are being cooked at all the informal settlement (sands)...not to mention the slaughtering of live chickens there..... all outside of the law, no abbatoir, no rules , no regulations.... no health...double standards in play in this little town of us...
Mike too true too true ... its a house of horrors the informal abboitoir / open air kitchen / afval thing you mention .... I have the same attitude for the smoking law inspectors .. once or twice been in an establishment and they waltz in .. bluntly ask them if they been into the shebeens in townships and tried to fine or enforce smoking laws .... Ha Ha .. the looks on the faces ..
Scared inspectors... go for the guy that does not pay his license....leave the rapist...
I posted a sarcastic letter on the now empty chicken fridges, plenty of upset customers..... they want to know why after 13 years , there is now suddenly a problem with this.... at least they know that the "issue" does not lie with the store, but rather the narrow mindedness of certain individuals who think they are more important than what their payslip shows....
The sad thing is, the ignorant people don't always understand the sarcasim....
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Well said, Mike+Sandy. On the way to the clinic in Nyanga where I do some voluntary hours, there's hundreds of fly-ridden animal heads on sticks right next to the main road, 50 meters from the police station - every day. That's normal.!?
But ignorant, "vlak", fools like the ones complaining about the chicken (and probably jealous of your business too, Mike), makes me sick! Can't stand people who are unable to think logically. If there was something wrong with the chicken, it would have been warranted, but we all know that's not the case.
I think I mentioned it to you - my Aunt from northern Namibia visited there in OMD a while ago, and she told me she hasn't seen such a beautiful, clean, friendly Spar with good quality food than yours. So, hope those inconsiderate, intellectually challenged assholes will eat their own stupidity.... cheers
Quote from: Michael Alexander on September 30, 2008, 02:33:54 PM
Scared inspectors... go for the guy that does not pay his license....leave the rapist...
I posted a sarcastic letter on the now empty chicken fridges, plenty of upset customers..... they want to know why after 13 years , there is now suddenly a problem with this.... at least they know that the "issue" does not lie with the store, but rather the narrow mindedness of certain individuals who think they are more important than what their payslip shows....
The sad thing is, the ignorant people don't always understand the sarcasim....
23_146_26 image19
If they'd understand, they wouldn't be ignorant...
BoomSmilie_anim
Tomorrow the same asshole will probably come into the store and ask for chicken. 23_146_26
@ Anthony - Yes, or ask why the processed I&J chicken is so expensive? image061
I hope Mike saved some of those chicken for the reunion, i am sure all would like them from the braii
Hey Mike ???? Good suggestion, sorry i wont be there.....
Still mountains of the 2kg frozen bags..... the sad thing is, the poor tate's that only wanted to buy a small pkt of chicken will no longer be able too....
Maybe you should stock up in IQ pills for the poor stupid who threw a tantrum like that! msn emoticon (224)
Just spoke to the People at Head office and at the COunty Fair office....the Chicken is eligable and fit for human consumption for up to 6 months after the "Fresh" sellby date..that date is only there as a guideline for sale as a fresh item....furthermore most stores, including Pick n Pay freeze this particular line.... Does OTMCO think that all these stores in South Africa, just dump the product after it ends it's three day fresh life? Maybe they should stick to town planning and keep out of the retail industry!
I am receiving documentation from County Fair tomorrow and we have already contacted our legal council in Windoek who will look into the matter as to claim for loss of sales....
Lets see how this fiasco concludes......
:nono1:
pls Name and shame this ignoramous so that the rest of us do not have to eat the hormone infested, battery inhumanely reared pieces of protein that smell and taste like fish. I refuse to even order that chicken for our diners as it is so appalling even though it is cheaper than any other chicken in Namibia. I know some catering companies that do use that chicken, but it is bad enough that our children are maturing to quickly due to the growth hormones in food and GSM but I will not risk my integrity and health of our diners and workers to that extent.
NAME THE ASS...LE. PLEASE AFTER ALL HE MADE HIS COMMENTS PUBLIC, WHY PROTECT HIM?????????? image14
Quote from: Skinny on October 01, 2008, 09:57:24 AM
pls Name and shame this ignoramous so that the rest of us do not have to eat the hormone infested, battery inhumanely reared pieces of protein that smell and taste like fish. I refuse to even order that chicken for our diners as it is so appalling even though it is cheaper than any other chicken in Namibia. I know some catering companies that do use that chicken, but it is bad enough that our children are maturing to quickly due to the growth hormones in food and GSM but I will not risk my integrity and health of our diners and workers to that extent.
NAME THE ASS...LE. PLEASE AFTER ALL HE MADE HIS COMMENTS PUBLIC, WHY PROTECT HIM?????????? image14
when will we see your name Skinny or SKINNY?
Skinny, my ol' mate... I will indeed name the person....but let me fisrt get all my paperwork in order 2morrow, so that the legal beavers may start their proceedings.... Lost sales on a month end...Yep! Yep! $$$$$
Yes Mike, don't leave it there. Let the morons pay. But you're right, have your ammunition ready first. shooter
And yes, he did make it a public matter, so let him be the town clown with the single celled sultana brain. hammer
Y'know, now that I think of it, Woollies has some perfectly good chicken.... hmmmm (Mike told me so, he always shops there!!!!)
yellocard
You better not darken the door of Woolies - Traitor policedog-small
LONG LIVE THE CHICKEN! woo_hoo
Here is part of the health inspectors report to the OTMCO!
"On 30 September 2008 at 10h14 a request was submitted by the Enterprise Development & Research Coordinator, ******** at OTMCo, to investigate a complain in terms of expired "Sell By Dates" on chicken at Oranjemund Spar.
Findings
- The chicken is pre-packed and labeled with a "Sell By Date" in South Africa according to the Brand Name requirements.
- At the time of delivery at Spar in Oranjemund, almost 3 days in terms of the "Sell By Date" are lost as result of the traveling time. The chicken is received as a non frozen fresh product and is transferred immediately into a freezer. This is done in order to ensure a better shelve live. It was found that the "Sell By Date" of all the chicken was expired on 26 September 2008.
- After investigation it became clear that, in terms of health standards, the chicken is still fit for human consumption. However, all the chicken in question was removed immediately from the shelves and permission was granted to Oranjemund Spar to hand the chicken out, free of charge, to its own employees.
- Oranjemund Spar Management is advised to keep record of those employees who receives chicken. This will serve as proof that it was not re-packed and sold to the public. The name list should clearly state that the "Sell By Date" has expired and that the chicken is accepted on own risk. Each employee must sign for the number of packages received.
- OTMCo should follow up on the above process.
- Total number of packages removed : 346
"
mike.....why dont you ask your supplier to also include on the packaging the sell by date if frozen at the time of purchase........all he needs to do is see how long his product will keep frozen for and put it on......simple....and no laws broken............or....you look the info up......put your own lables on the things saying....these were fromzen on whatever day........now will a frozen shelf life of ..........sure that would be fine...........
Been there Bev, the problem, is the supplier does a huge batch order for all 163 Spar Stores(who also are allowed to freeze them) , and do not know which is mine on the production line...
2nd off all... when a order comes in, you are looking at about 1200 pkts a week, I cannot afford to have the regular workers stop their current work, especially on a month end, to rewrap and label..... We at Spar also do not like the idea of just sticking out own instore barcode over the original label, it just seems unethical!.....
Maybe a pen at the back of the Spar with live chickens. Tell the customers to go kill one themselves, they wont get any fresher! Charge the same price. You'll save a lot on packaging, freezing, and no worries of stagnant stock! image19
Like that Leon SHuster sketch...were he plays the role of a butcher with a shotgun.,....ouma;s face was a classic when she ordered her meat and he went into the back room, and let off the shot! image201
and this is why the chicken crossed the road.
image201
So Mike, are we all invited for a chicken braai this weekend??? When and what time???
No Braai! The Chicken is FROZEN! rooster
wont it thaw over charcoal???
In Portugal we are having the same problem. A new police corps - ASAE - has been created in order to comply with European Community regulations - they go to fairs and markets and confiscate any contrafactions (clothes, cd's, dvd's), inspect restaurants and coffee shops, canteens, you name it.
At first, everything was okay. They showed efficency and speed of action - but then, they started to annoy centuries old Portuguese habits. They banned wooden spoons from kitchens, they went after the northern, mountain rugged part of Portugal small farmers and cattle raisers and forced them to channel their meat through the abattoirs instead of them having the pigs slauthered in community meetings and having their meat smoked at the fireplace during winter time, banning people from eating cheesed that has been always produced like that since medieval times, etc.
Now, not only these small farmers have gone bankrupt because they cannot afford to send one pig 200 km away to be killed, pay the cost of the abattoir and have the meat return back, but now every ham and sausage tastes the same - like plastic....
I am all for hygiene and food safety - I just feel that there has to be good sense in this, like over there, regarding the fresh chicken. After all, we are now discovering that, although the home smoked hams have been banned from Portugal, the chinese milk subproducts were being sold without restrictions and were not confiscated by ASAE until 2 days ago (in spite of them having been banned from EU for months...)
All these corps are like the old mafia 'protectors' - they scare the daylights out of you and make you pay for services rendered. Forced affiliations with large distributors who put the highest % on markup earnins in their own pocket and leave the producer with a minus profit range if input costs are considered - that's how come those old traditional farmers now all go bankrupt. They are the people who has been the steady suppliers of fresh produce for centuries to their local communities - at affordable prises - now all drop a notch on the poverty scale, for the old regular clientel of those farmers must also now pay higher prices to purchase their goods via 'controlled market channels'. All of this is done under the false pretence of 'FOR THE HEALTH AND GOOD OF ALL' - pure rubbish, I say.
If someone would dare to toutch my wooden spoons, I will burn them at the stake! I mean - for goodness sake, you do wash dishes and other utencils after using them. Have you ever seen what stainless steel or other metal spoons do to your cookware - scrapes off the metal. Sometimes the metal of the spoon reacts to spices etc being used in the dish that is made - the spoon wears off or friggen disentegrates after some time. Yeah - so does a wooden spoon, but is that not safer that consuming all metal alloys? Same goes for the way I process and make my own cheese - no artificial stuff added. I can proof that the cottage cheese I make lasts at least 3x longer than the processed product you buy in the shop. We do not sell milk and only have cows to milk for our own use, but I have the milk tested every month. No milking machine is used - done by hand. Best of this is - this unprocessed, unpasturised milk has a far lower bacterial count than any of the milk of the industries that has undergone all the "germ killing" processes.
I agree - there are people who are small producers who just have no standards at all , but the same goes for the big industries in the market who produce our consumables - they feed us poison and hormones and all other crap !
NOw Hear this! Now Hear this ! Now Hear this! msn emoticon (9)
The Great Namibian Chicken War of 2008 IS Over!
I just had the Health Inspector here, the official one, not the contracting one..... I explained exactly how this chicken thing flies..... He shook his head, agrees that there was a misunderstanding and would like me to put up three posters , one in Afrikaans, One In English and the other in Oshiwambo, to inform the customers why and what the date means on the Frozen Fresh chicken.... Sense has prevailed, the mass destruction of eggs has been avoided....the nation shall be fed.... and I shall call of the Boston Legal types.....
chicken3 rooster chicken woo_hoo
Seems there is still some brain left in some heads
Congrats, that was another exciting story
woo_hoo We can eat chicken again............... chicken3
congrats Let's go buy our chicken at Mike's Spar! cuqui rooster
Did I miss the naming and shaming of ''Mr. I don't want frozen-chicken'' chicken3
Nope, but under advice I cannot release the name of Col. Saunders....
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Our supermarket sells fresh steaks vacumed in plastic. Sometimes the meat is still frozen or again or what ever... What kinda cheat is that. In the end the braai is okay, but still....
i#ll have to take care of the buggers, mes reckons... rooster
I completely understand - but why don't you post a picture of this ape - by an accident of course!
mmmh!
mmmmm!-Chicken......
Mmm cut and paste his face pic into an unlucky fried kitten col Saunders advert ..
Or better your own African fried chicken eaterie ....
Mike,
This guy sounds more like, Corporal Sonders!
grab(1) woo_hoo woo_hoo woo_hoo woo_hoo woo_hoo yeah see if we all stick together we can make things happen hey.... rooster..........well we can think we had some influence....... hammer