If you run — or supply — a shawarma business in Moldova, the real question is not where to find meat. It is which cut, how much of it, and what paperwork to ask the supplier for. Here are the answers: what is in the catalogue, and what we will not promise.
Which chicken cut belongs on a vertical spit
Boneless thigh is the default. It carries more intramuscular fat and connective tissue, so it survives hours on the spit without drying out. The layers bind to each other better, and the shavings stay juicy at the end of the night, not just on the first cut.
Breast is leaner and less forgiving. It dries if the spit runs hot and is shaved infrequently. It does have two real advantages: almost no trim loss when you portion it, and an even appearance that matters if you also sell bowls or lighter wraps. Many kitchens run a mix — thigh as the base, breast for volume and looks.
Both are in the catalogue. Among the frozen chicken lines you will find “Chicken thigh fillet Qualiko (boneless, skinless), 10 kg — frozen” and “Chicken breast Qualiko, frozen”; one line is built for the job and named accordingly, “Shawarma chicken Qualiko, frozen, 10 kg”. If you work from chilled chicken, the two to ask for are “Chicken fillet Qualiko, chilled” and “Chicken thighs Qualiko, chilled, 7.2 kg”.
Frozen or chilled is a logistics decision, not a quality one. Chilled needs fast rotation and more frequent deliveries. Frozen gives you a buffer stock and removes the Friday-evening panic, but it occupies cold-store space and demands discipline at thawing.
How to size your volume instead of guessing it
We will not give you a “normal daily figure”, because there isn’t one. Two shawarma shops on the same street can get through twice as much meat as each other. The method, on the other hand, takes one week:
- Weigh one portion. Do not estimate. Weigh the raw meat that goes into one shawarma, exactly as your counter staff builds it.
- Count portions per day, keeping weekdays and Friday–Saturday separate. The monthly average misleads you; it is the peak that empties the cold store.
- Measure your losses once. Weigh what goes onto the spit and weigh what gets sold off it. The gap covers thaw drip, trimming and cooking shrink. That ratio is yours and it keeps working.
- Multiply by the interval between deliveries and add a buffer for one above-average day. Do not plan to the edge: an empty spit at nine in the evening costs more than slightly too much stock.
- Round up to the pack format, not the other way round. A pack broken open mid-week ruins your stock records and your rotation.
Then compare the result with the 70 kg minimum order. If a single line does not reach the threshold, ask our sales desk whether you can build it from several — how the minimum is made up is settled when you order.
Halal: what the certificate covers and what it does not
MHP, the producer behind the Qualiko brand, holds a Halal certificate for poultry. If you sell Halal, that covers the chicken range — and only that. The pork, beef and turkey in our catalogue are not under that certificate, and we do not claim otherwise.
From the same producer come BRCGS Food Safety, which certifies food safety at the processing site, and GLOBAL S.L.P. (Smart Livestock Practices), which covers farming practices. GMP+ Feed Safety also appears in the producer’s list: that is a feed certification, not a meat certification. We say so because the distinction matters during an inspection. Copies are on the about page and on each product listing — ask before you commit to a contract.
Kebab, gyros and red-meat shawarma
The equipment is the same; only the cut changes. For pork kebab and gyros, the classic choice is boneless collar — the fat is evenly distributed and it shaves cleanly. In the frozen range it is listed as “Pork collar, boneless, 20 kg”, with shoulder and leg in the same 20 kg boneless format; chilled carries the collar and the boneless leg.
On beef we have to be blunt. Our beef range is built around steak — ribeye, striploin, T-bone, ossobuco, tenderloin — not around the vertical spit. If you need beef doner or beef shawarma, ask our sales desk what can be sourced rather than assuming from the catalogue. For burgers there is the “100% beef burger patty Skott Smeat, 720 g box”, and the semi-finished range includes “Mititei dinProvincie”, “Sausages dinProvincie for grilling” and “Chicken breast mini skewers “Herbs and Onion” Qualiko, chilled, 1 kg” — mititei being Romanian grilled minced-meat rolls.
If your shop is outside Chisinau
We deliver in Chisinau and across the country, with an unbroken cold chain. We do not publish fixed route days per town: they depend on the order and the season, and are confirmed by phone together with stock. If you are outside Chisinau, name the town and how often you need deliveries: it changes which pack format we recommend. Conditions are on the delivery page.
How to ask for a quote and get one answer, not three
Prices are not published on the site. Items read “Price on request”, stock is checked with our sales desk, and the price is confirmed on request. We do not process online payments: orders go through the order request form, by phone, or on WhatsApp.
Send us four things: the cut, frozen or chilled, your estimated monthly volume, and your town. Add “Halal” if you need it. Phone +373 79 88 33 79, warehouse at str. Valea Bicului 9, Chisinau, Monday to Friday 9:00–17:00 and Saturday 9:00–14:00. Everything else is on the contact page.