Professional kitchens and shops don’t buy “chicken” — they buy cuts. Whole legs and leg quarters go to the oven and the grill, thighs to stews, pilaf and skewers, drumsticks to bone-in portions, wings to snacks and bar menus, breast and fillet to lean, uniform portions, and whole birds to the rotisserie and the stockpot. The right mix depends on your menu, the labour you have on shift and the yield you actually get from each kilogram. Below is a cut-by-cut guide, limited to what is genuinely in the carne.md catalogue.
What is the difference between a leg, a leg quarter, a thigh and a drumstick?
Trade names vary between markets, so it pays to agree on terms before comparing quotes. A whole leg is the thigh and drumstick together. A leg quarter is the leg with a portion of the back attached — larger, with more bone. The thigh is the upper, meatiest part of the leg; the drumstick is the lower part.
For whole legs, the catalogue lists “Chicken legs Qualiko, dry-frozen (IQF), 14 kg”, in a standard and a superior-grade version, plus “Boneless chicken leg meat, skin-on, Seara 12 kg (6×2 kg) — frozen”. Leg quarters come as “Chicken leg quarters Qualiko, block-frozen (monolith), 10 kg”. Thighs are available frozen, chilled in 0.9 kg trays, and as “Chicken thigh fillet Qualiko (boneless, skinless), 10 kg — frozen”. Drumsticks come as “Chicken drumsticks Qualiko, frozen” and “Chicken drumsticks Qualiko, chilled, 7.2 kg (0.900×8), retail”.
Which cut suits which job in HoReCa?
- Legs and leg quarters — oven trays, grills, the bone-in canteen portion. They tolerate long cooking and stay juicy. Quarters need more trimming but give a generous plate.
- Thighs — stews, pilaf, skewers, shawarma. Boneless skinless thigh goes straight into production with no deboning; for the vertical spit there is also “Shawarma chicken Qualiko, frozen, 10 kg”.
- Drumsticks — easy piece-count portioning: breaded, roasted, on children’s menus and in catering. A consistent size makes per-portion costing simpler.
- Wings — snacks, bars, grills, delivery. The catalogue carries whole wings and wing drumettes, plus ready-marinated “Chicken wings ‘Sweet Chilli’ Qualiko, chilled, 1 kg”.
- Breast and fillet — schnitzels, salads, stir-fries, bowls, lighter menus. For precise portions there is the tenderloin (inner fillet), dry-frozen in 14 kg cases or chilled in trays.
- Whole birds — rotisserie, roasting, stock, in-house butchery. Options include chilled broilers, “Whole chicken for grilling Qualiko (1.8–2.2 kg), frozen” and “Spatchcock poussin (tabaka) Qualiko, frozen, 0.7–1.5 kg”. Which size suits the rotisserie, oven or counter: see our whole chicken guide.
How do you judge the yield of each cut?
Price per kilogram doesn’t tell you what a portion costs. On bone-in cuts, part of the weight you pay for is bone and skin; with fillet, almost everything ends up on the plate. We can’t give you an exact percentage — it depends on size grade, batch and how your kitchen butchers. You can measure it in an hour:
- Weigh the batch; for frozen stock, weigh after full thawing in the fridge so you don’t count water as meat.
- Break it down as usual and separate meat, skin, bone and trim into different containers.
- Divide the clean meat by the starting weight: that is your real yield.
- Divide the price per kilogram by that yield and compare quotes on the result, not on the invoice price.
Then add labour. Deboning in-house makes sense when staff are on shift anyway and the bones go into stock. When the kitchen is running at capacity, boneless thigh or breast fillet can cost less per portion than the per-kilo price suggests.
What works on a retail shelf?
For a chilled counter, Qualiko chilled lines in 0.9 kg trays — thighs, drumsticks, wings, wing drumettes, tenderloin — go straight onto the shelf, eight trays to a 7.2 kg case, with no repacking. For the freezer cabinet there are 0.9 kg and 1 kg bags: wings, boneless skinless breast fillet, liver, hearts. The 10–14 kg cases suit busy kitchens and shops that sell by weight.
Frozen or chilled?
It is a logistics decision, not a quality one. Chilled chicken needs fast turnover and more frequent deliveries. Frozen chicken gives you buffer stock but demands discipline: thaw in the fridge and never refreeze. Items labelled dry-frozen (IQF) are frozen piece by piece, so you take out only what you need; a block-frozen monolith thaws as one piece.
Which chicken cuts are not in the catalogue?
We don’t list chicken halves as a separate item, and we don’t carry chicken feet. If your menu needs them, ask what can be sourced rather than assuming from the catalogue.
How do you order chicken cuts wholesale?
Every chilled and frozen item is collected on the chicken meat page. The minimum order is 70 kg and can be made up of several cuts — drumsticks, wings and fillet in one delivery, for example. The price per kilogram is confirmed by phone together with stock, as it moves from one delivery to the next; we don’t take online payments.
Send an order request or call +373 79 88 33 79 with four details: which cuts, frozen or chilled, expected monthly volume and your town. We deliver in Chișinău and across Moldova with an unbroken cold chain.