COIMBATORE: The disruption in LPG cylinder supply has triggered a surge in demand for alternative cooking equipment, particularly rocket stoves, as they fly off shop shelves and manufacturers say they struggle to keep up with orders.
Manufacturers in Coimbatore—a major hub for commercial kitchen equipment—told TNIE that they are witnessing an unprecedented demand for the firewood-based rocket stove, also known as the turbo stove, besides commercial induction stoves.
According to industry experts, the sudden spike in orders has created a manufacturing problem. Earlier, customers were promised delivery within a week. A shortage of raw materials and limited production capacity are major challenges to meeting demand, say manufacturers.
Shree Vidhya Rajendran, proprietor of Coimbatore-based firm Hot Springs, said the surge began earlier this week and is intensifying.
Vidhya said, “There has been a sharp spike in demand for our turbo stoves since Monday. Earlier, the demand for firewood-based boilers and stoves was minimal.“
According to Vidhya, both commercial and domestic variants are witnessing strong demand. With induction stoves already sold out in many retail outlets, several households have also started considering modernised firewood stoves as a viable alternative.
The company, which typically sells between 100 and 120 turbo stoves per month, has now received orders for more than 5,000 units within a matter of days, Vidhya said.
“We, however, are unable to deliver even 10% of those orders due to numerous challenges,” she remarked.
Rocket stoves available in the market vary widely in size and capacity. Prices range from around Rs 5,000 for smaller domestic units to nearly Rs 2 lakh for larger commercial models.
Depending on the design and size, these stoves can cook meals for as few as three people or cater to larger gatherings of up to 500 people. Their capacity also varies based on vessel size and food quantity, ranging from 3 kg to nearly 100kg.
J Jacob Varghese, a hotelier from Kerala, who travelled to Coimbatore hoping to purchase a rocket stove, said, “As induction stoves are not very cost-efficient for us, we decided to go for rocket stoves. It’s disappointing to return empty-handed after coming all the way from Kerala. We were even ready to pay more than the quoted price, but there was no ready stock available.”
Some are said to even have requested manufacturers to sell their display units.
The manufacturers are ramping up production by deploying additional manpower.