Festive spirit turns sour with high cost of ingredients in Chennai

CHENNAI: Get ready to pay more for sweets and savouries during this festival season, as the cost of sweet-essentials such as ghee, oil and dry fruits has shot up, forcing vendors, bakeries and retailers to charge higher prices.

“Demand for ghee-based sweets and cashew sweets is high this Deepavali. And, proportionately, the demand for ghee and cashew has also shot up – almost 40-50% more,” said Puyesh Rathod, Shri Mishti Bhog, Broadway.

“The ghee that we purchased at around Rs 7,500/tin now costs Rs 10,000/tin. We used to buy best-quality cashews at around Rs 550/kg, which now costs Rs 850/kg. Cashew rate has gone up due to labour issues in crop production, but we’re expecting the price to come down. Prices for dry fruits were affected due to the war in Iran. Usually, prices do increase during Deepavali, but not like this year,” added Puyesh.

Wholesale price of palm oil is around Rs 127/litre, which is a sharp increase from around Rs 95 last year. Rate of sunflower, which was around Rs 110/litre last year, is Rs 132/litre this year. “A 27% tax on the import of oil increased the rate,” says Sridhar B of Malabar Oil Centre.

This surge in prices has affected consumer behaviour as well. Vendors and retailers lament that it has adversely impacted sales. “Inflation has affected middle-class families, which is evident this year. Most of the customers who used to purchase sweets have now refrained. The rich are not affected and they prefer quality. But the middle-class and the poor have started avoiding sweets or reducing the purchase quantity due to high costs,” noted Leela S, who sells organic food items in Virugambakkam.

Most items are made manually and not with machines so that adds to the expenses, she pointed out.

“Though we tried not to burden the buyers with the transportation and fuel prices, it does not work. We’re forced to increase the rate,” she added.