Lighter bags, heavier hearts: Home, restaurant kitchens feel pinch of vegetable price rise

Those who couldn't buy fresh vegetables would smash open an onion, sprinkle salt and eat it with a roti. But even those days are gone with the humble onion just too expensive, says vegetable vendor Imad Khan, recalling the staple image of the poor in India.

About 10 km from the Sahibabad Sabzi Mandi in Ghaziabad where Khan sets up shop, homemaker Poonam Singh in Delhi's Mayur Vihar has not put tomatoes in any dish for almost a month, taking away an essential ingredient from her cooking. Khan and Singh may be at different points on the socio-economic spectrum but sit on the same side of a graph that has put everyday vegetables out of the reach of many in Delhi-NCR.

While restaurateurs and home catering businesses are looking at how to absorb the extra costs and wondering whether they should hike their rates, home cooks are going for alternatives or just doing without.

“How can one make almost anything without onions, tomatoes or potatoes? Not that other vegetables are any cheaper, but these are the essentials for middle class families,” Singh told PTI.

With the staples selling for more than double the rates just last month, vegetable bags are returning home lighter and hearts heavier.

Crop damage across states due to delayed rain is one reason for the skyrocketing prices of vegetables, including those in the gourd family, cauliflower and cabbage. According to the daily retail report by the Department of Consumer Affairs on Friday, potatoes were selling at the national average of nearly Rs 40 per kg going up to Rs 93 per kg, onions at the maximum price of Rs 80 per kg and an average of Rs 44 per kg, and tomatoes at maximum rate of Rs 120 per kg with an average price of Rs 73 per kg.

Khan has been affected by the price rise from two sides - as a seller and consumer – and said the last few weeks have been difficult for business.

“I can still take home some vegetables from the wholesale market at a slightly cheaper rate, but people are hesitating to buy it from the handcart. They come, ask the price, make a face and go away. Prices of all vegetables, without exception, have soared in the last month,” he said.

On Sunday, for instance, at a Mother Dairy retail store, beans were priced at Rs 89 per kg, ridge gourd or torai at Rs 59, cauliflower at Rs 139, capsicum at Rs 119, apple gourd or tinda at Rs 119, and eggplant at Rs 59.

Media professional Mayank Sinha, who loves to cook at home, has switched to ginger-garlic paste and tomato puree for most of his dishes.

“Of course you can't beat the flavour of a fresh tomato, but puree does a pretty good job. It's also much lighter on the pocket,” Sinha said.

He added that even though the price of tomato puree varies between brands, two spoons of the paste makes up for one tomato. And with tomatoes selling upwards of Rs 100 per kg in some places, it makes for good economics.

The inflation has also hit restaurants and catering services trying to absorb the price rise in their production cost for now.

Alok Aggarwal of Indian Republic Canteen in Connaught Place noted that there is a three to four per cent increase in the overall cost. But his is a new business and they cannot afford to “disrupt or change” their pricing structure.

“As a relatively new and exclusively vegetarian restaurant in the heart of the city, addressing the issue of soaring vegetable prices is critical. Given our nascent stage, we cannot afford to disrupt or change our pricing structure, as our customers are still acclimating to our costs and prices. Therefore, we will absorb the increased prices,” Aggarwal said.

The co-founder of the vegetarian restaurant added that they are not intending to switch ingredients or try alternatives.

Vegetable inflation has always been a sticky issue for food businesses, akin to walking a thin line between absorbing the increased cost or passing on the price increase to the customer, added Anup Agarwal of CaterNinja, an online catering brand. Anup and Alok agree the price rise has some seasonal component to it, as it is usually this time of the year “when it pinches a little more than usual due to varying climatic conditions”. But this year is tougher.

The CaterNinja co-founder has also decided to not pass the increased costs to the customers, but only if it “comes under control in the coming weeks”.

“However, if these prices sustain or increase further then we might be required to cut our discounts or even pass on fractional increases in the costs to the consumers,” Anup said.

Rahul Arora of The Big Tree Cafe in Gurugram said the surge in vegetable prices has reduced profit margins by 10-15 per cent.

“While we do experience fluctuations in produce costs seasonally, this year's price hike has been unusually high. Various factors, including supply chain disruptions and adverse weather conditions, have contributed to this aberration,” Arora said.

To address the issue, Arora has implemented a “slight price adjustment” in the menu while exploring seasonal menus to utilise “more cost-effective and readily available ingredients without compromising on quality”.