Ishwarya Prabhakar

27th, September 2024

Restaurants have increased prices by 10 percent and are replacing dishes to cope with the surge in vegetable prices.
Adyar Ananda Bhavan, one of the oldest restaurants in Chennai, said that the rising prices of vegetables like garlic and onion are significantly affecting them. They have slightly increased the prices of North and South Indian thali but “cannot drastically increase dish prices” as it would impact customer reviews, said Shakthi Kumar, senior operation manager at Adyar Ananda Bhavan.
R Swetha, a regular customer at Murugan Idli Shop, said the South Indian restaurant has increased its prices by 5-10 percent, however, the store manager denies the claim. Restaurants have also taken to other means like changing their menu to cope with inflationary prices. For instance, poondu (garlic) chutney has been replaced by other chutneys and sambhar to avoid using garlic.
Tomatoes, onion, carrots, beans, and shallots are now priced between Rs 150/kg and Rs 80/kg as compared to Rs 60/kg in January. The price surge is attributed to transportation challenges and the southwest monsoon, which has damaged crops across several parts of India, making it difficult to import vegetables into Chennai. A report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) said that India’s Consumer Price Food Index (CPFI) reached a record high of 9.36 in June.
The rising prices of vegetables have also impacted the income of many vegetable vendors. “Due to inflation, our business is being severely affected. Around 50 percent of customers try to bargain to decrease the prices of vegetables, while the rest leave without purchasing anything. This has led to a monthly loss of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh,” says Ghansham Das, a vegetable vendor at Koyambedu market, the central market for fruits and vegetables in Chennai.