What happens when veggie prices rise? Hotels start charging more. Kamakshi Fast Food, near T Nagar Railway station, has increased the price of each dish by `2 recently. “We made a small increase in the price of dishes, as the vegetable prices are soaring,” says Srimathi Krishnamurthy, the owner of the joint.
Restaurants have started using alternatives for highly priced vegetables to retain customer satisfaction. Srimathi says, “Tomatoes, onions and potatoes are highly important ingredients in hotels and we can’t avoid them. When the prices of tomatoes are high we substitute or reduce the amount of tomatoes and include other relatively cheaper vegetables”.
Larger chains have no other go but to keep the ball rolling till the price dips. Shankar, Accounts manager of Sangeetha Veg restaurant in Mylapore said, “There is no other go except for accepting the price hit. We have to meet the quality and consumers’ exceptions.”