320,000 pounds of chicken for sale backs up traffic in West Columbia for hours
There was a big turnout for the chicken sale where 320,000 pounds of poultry was available at the South Carolina state farmers market on Tuesday.
Cars were lined up in both directions along U.S. 321 (aka the Charleston Highway) as people tried to get into the West Columbia venue to buy chicken.
“There’s only one way in, and once it gets backed up it becomes congested,” Master Trooper David Jones of the South Carolina Highway Patrol told The State. “It’s hard to get in there once cars get backed up inside the farmers market.”
People were flocking to the House of Raeford Farms sale that started at 9 a.m.
The chicken farm company based in eastern North Carolina brought 8,000 cases that were each filled with 40 pounds of poultry to sell to those looking to stock up during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chicken for sale included tenders ($45), cut wings ($45), drumsticks ($15), and bone-in, skin-on thighs ($15), according to the House of Raeford website.
As of 2 p.m., cars were still lined up and chicken was still for sale in the first-come, first-serve event, House of Raeford spokesman Dave Witter told The State.
“We’ve done these sales for three weeks and they’ve been popular,” Witter said. “Almost all of our events have sold out, and we’ve rarely brought chicken back to the plant.”
That includes two sales across the street from the House of Raeford facility in West Columbia. They were so well received that the farm sought a larger venue to stop tying up traffic in the area.
While making it easier for drivers didn’t work out, the farm’s motivation for the sales seems to be on target.
Witter said consumers are looking to stock their freezers with more meat products since stay at home orders have been issued. Because of the demand, there have been shortages of chicken occurring in grocery stores.
House of Raeford does not do most of its business dealing with those markets, and saw its own demands from its food service customers decrease as restaurants, colleges and more were closed as the confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose.
It needed to get creative to support the farmers who grow its chickens and the employees at House of Raeford processing plants.
The farm came up with the idea of the sales, first at its chicken plants, and has expanded to larger venues as more and more customers have come out for the events.
Between seven and 10 sales are being held on a daily basis in South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia and Louisiana, according to Witter.
“It will go on as long as we think it is benefiting the public as well as our company,” Witter said. “Absolutely it has helped save jobs and the demand is there to get chicken at a discounted price. ... The response has been very positive.”
The sales follow social distancing mandates, according to Witter. He said customers never leave their cars, and House of Raeford employees take the order, receive cash, and then bring the packaged chicken to the cars.
Another sale in the Columbia area is not currently on the farm’s schedule on its website, but Witter said it’s likely there will more as long as there is a demand.
