THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The LPG shortage has hit the tourism and hospitality sector in Kerala, forcing restaurants and hotels to alter menus, adopt alternative cooking methods and scale down services.
Hotels are trimming elaborate banquet menus meant for weddings, business meetings and social functions while honouring existing bookings. New large-scale events are also getting cancelled.
Stakeholders said many establishments have cut down Chinese and similar dishes that use up more gas while increasing items such as salads, baked preparations and charcoal-based grills that use comparatively less LPG. In some establishments, the number of food items on offer has gone down sharply, from over 200 to around 50, to save gas.
“Chinese cuisine relies heavily on high-flame cooking and continuous gas use. Due to the shortage, it is difficult to sustain those items. For bulk items like biryani, many have switched to cooking with firewood. We are doing this too,” said Rajagopal Iyer, CEO of Udaya Samudra Group of Hotels.
A few restaurants have cancelled lunch services and are focusing mainly on dinner operations when guest turnout is typically higher. Nadirsha A, whose resort on North Cliff in Varkala has cancelled the lunch menu, said, “Restaurants like us cannot depend more on electric cooking ranges because of huge power bills. We are trying to avoid a shutdown by cutting down on services,” he said.
Large hotel chains say they are attempting to manage the crisis through ‘smart menu planning’.
“Guests come here for a holiday experience, and we have a responsibility to ensure their stay is not disrupted. We are exploring alternative cooking methods and reducing certain extravagances in the menu so that visitors do not feel any sudden change,” said Shilendran M, vice-president of CGH Earth.
Hotels have also begun installing combi ovens, induction cookers and other electrical kitchen equipment to reduce dependence on LPG. However, operators said alternatives such as firewood cooking are restricted in many places due to local by-laws.
“Many small restaurants have started shutting down temporarily. For larger hotels, we can manage with menu engineering or centralised cooking, but for smaller outlets it is much more difficult,” said Manzoor A R, head of sales, marketing and reservations at Abad Group of Hotels.
“For hotels like ours, we still have foreign guests, and they are generally comfortable with items like cold salads, bread and lighter meals, so we can manage. We can increase salad items, which are healthier and