THOOTHUKUDI: The price of Kovilpatti kadalaimittai has increased by 25% owing to a sharp rise in the cost of raw materials, including groundnuts, jaggery, cardamom and packaging materials. This is the second price revision for the GI-tagged sweet this year, with the earlier hike effected in January.
Speaking to the media, K Kannan, secretary of the Kadalaimittai Manufacturers and Traders Association, said the association had decided to increase the price of one kilogram of kadalaimittai from Rs 220 to Rs 270. The revised price will come into effect immediately from Tuesday.
Kovilpatti is a major cluster of groundnut candy manufacturers, producing several hundred kilograms of kadalaimittai every day.
Manufacturers said the prices of key raw materials have increased significantly in recent months. The cost of an 80-kg bag of groundnuts has risen to Rs 12,500 from Rs 9,680, while a 30-kg bag of jaggery has increased to Rs 2,200 from Rs 1,300. The price of cardamom has also risen to Rs 3,600 per kg from Rs 2,200. Meanwhile, packaging costs have increased as well. The price of polypropylene covers, which was around Rs 260, has gone up to Rs 330. Manufacturers attributed the rise in packaging costs to the increase in petroleum product prices.
Explaining the second price revision this year, Kannan said the cost of groundnuts had fallen after the January hike, prompting manufacturers to reduce the price of kadalaimittai. However, the steep increase in the prices of jaggery, cardamom and other inputs has now made another hike inevitable.
“When the groundnut price came down after the January hike, manufacturers reduced the price accordingly. But this time, the prices of other input materials have increased sharply, making a revision unavoidable,” Kannan said.