Iranians will be buying meat online starting Thursday

The 24-hour lines to buy hot and frozen "Tazirati" meat prompted government officials to start selling meat online. The plan will be launched on February 8, and each household can purchase up to three kilograms of government-issued meat per month using their zip code.

The shortage of live livestock and the improper distribution of meat products in the market under the supervision of the government and the Penal Organization have caused the price of meat in the open market to increase by at least 50 percent in recent weeks, making families unable to purchase all types of mutton and beef.

As families' protests against the formation of long, "day and night" lines in front of stores designated by the government and the Penal Organization intensified, officials have recently announced the "online sale of meat."

The goal of the online meat sales plan is to improve people's well-being, prevent long lines, and prevent the activities of brokers.

Iran imports 120 tons of hot and frozen meat from various countries daily. The latest shipment of imported meat, 40 tons, arrived from Kazakhstan at midnight on Monday, February 15.

Government officials always emphasize that they have "no" problems in providing the basic goods needed by the Iranian people.

Three kilos of meat with zip code

The media quoted Reza Salemi, the general manager of the Tehran Province Livestock Support Company, as saying that in the online meat sales plan, each household per zip code can purchase about two to three kilograms of imported hot and frozen meat at a punitive price only once a month.

The price of each kilogram of frozen meat (Brazilian beef) is 29,000 Tomans and hot meat is about 40,000 Tomans, which varies depending on the piece of meat, such as the head or thigh, and of course the country of origin.

On Thursday of this week, February 8, imported meat, known as "market-regulated meat," is scheduled to be sold in two stores through online ordering.

 Online distribution of all goods

Currently, only hot and frozen government-issued red meat is on the online ordering and sales list, but online distribution of chicken will also be implemented in the next phase of this plan.

The online sales plan is not just for sales, and protein products are also supposed to be delivered to the family's door after the buyer places an order; officials have chosen the title "online distribution" for this purpose and said that in this plan, people can purchase the products they need "easily" and receive them at home.

The General Manager of the Tehran Province Livestock Support Company stated that the purpose of implementing this plan is the government's desire to change the distribution system from the existing traditional method to online distribution.

The King of Meat and Chicken

Officials of the Penal Organization have always complained about the presence of brokers buying meat at government prices and selling it on the open market. They believe that these brokers do not need the meat at the approved price and are only brokering to make money.

With the introduction of the plan to sell meat online, some media outlets and social media users have written about the emergence of online meat and poultry brokers and expressed concern that the turbulent and chaotic market is ready for any type of intermediary.

With the start of the two-stage US sanctions and the increase in the prices of basic consumer goods and the exchange rate in the country, Iranian officials have always spoken of the existence of "economic disruptors" and have also said that the arrest and execution of defendants with titles such as the Sultan of Coins and the Sultan of Paper were also carried out in order to deal with these disruptors.

Meanwhile, the head of the judiciary and the prosecutor of Tehran recently called for judges and judicial officers to take a serious stance against economic corruption in the field of market regulation and eliminating speculators.

The reason for the high price of meat?

In Iran, everyone is asking about the reason for the shortage or high price of meat and which institution is responsible for it? Officials and economic experts have cited several factors for the doubling of meat prices.

Hossein Ali Haji Deligani, a representative of the people of Shahin Shahr, mentioned meat smuggling in his speech during the parliament session on Tuesday, January 29, and criticized the government's performance, saying, "The Ministry of Agricultural Jihad's performance in dealing with the price of meat is wrong, and the smuggling of breeding livestock must be stopped."

The Minister of Agricultural Jihad recently said on a television program, "We should be grateful for what is happening."

Live stock is on the way.

In recent days and weeks, the price of meat has been competing with gold. The price of meat at 110,000 tomans per kilo in Tehran last week was not the rate that government officials had expected.

Ali Asghar Maleki, head of the Mutton Union, told ILNA news agency on Tuesday, January 29, that the price of meat had reached 110,000 tomans and that imports of live livestock from Romania would begin soon.

According to Maleki, the government is planning to import 50,000 live sheep from Romania daily to prevent the rise in meat prices.

The head of the Mutton Union had emphasized that with the arrival of sheep from Romania, meat worth 40,000 Tomans will be available on the market. However, the import of live sheep from Romania has not yet been implemented.

Iranian state television announced today, February 6, that the import of live livestock shipments is delayed, with a report showing long lines forming to buy meat on the streets of Tehran and some Iranian cities.

The law enforcement forces are constantly reporting the discovery of live livestock smuggling shipments from Iran to the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf. Iranian media outlets are evaluating the publication of these reports as a sign of the “intensity of action” by the law enforcement forces and intelligence ministry agents in uncovering and neutralizing psychological operations to disrupt the economic system of the Islamic Republic.

Thus, it can be expected that as the prices of meat and poultry increase again, the lines to buy these goods in Iranian markets will become longer.

The increase in the price of basic goods has not left families hesitant in their decision to buy chicken and meat: first chicken and frozen meat, then rice and dairy products. One social media user wrote in response to the plan to sell meat online: “Progress and authority mean moving from the queue for the bathroom in the 1950s to the queue for meat in the 1990s.”

Source: DW