Frozen chicken, meat and fish: keeping the cold chain in a small shop
Frozen chicken is one of the best-selling lines in any UAE grocery. It is also where things go wrong fastest. A freezer door left open during a July afternoon in Abu Dhabi can undo everything the supplier did to keep the product frozen.
Here is what we tell shops who start taking frozen food from us.
At delivery
- Clear space in the freezer before the van arrives. Frozen stock should not wait on the floor.
- Press the packs. They should be hard. If chicken bends or the box is wet, do not accept it.
- Check the production and expiry date on every carton, not just the top one.
In the shop
- Keep the chest freezer at -18°C or colder. Put a cheap thermometer inside and check it every morning.
- Do not fill above the load line. Cold air needs room to move.
- First in, first out. Move older stock to the top and front.
- Keep raw chicken and meat apart from ready-to-eat frozen items like fries and nuggets.
- Defrost the freezer when ice builds up more than a finger thick.
Once frozen meat or chicken has thawed, it must not be frozen again for sale. If power goes off for hours, call us before you sell anything.
Power cuts and breakdowns
Keep the lid closed. A full, closed chest freezer will usually hold temperature for several hours. Write down what time the power went and what time it came back. That record helps you, your supplier and the municipality inspector.
What we do on our side
Our frozen stock is stored at -18°C at the warehouse in Mussaffah M14 and loaded straight into refrigerated vehicles. We deliver frozen and dry items on the same trip where possible, so you receive one invoice and one delivery.
We supply halal frozen whole chicken and parts, mutton, beef, fish, prawns and frozen vegetables. Call +971 50 661 9205 for this week's frozen list.
