BENGALURU: This summer, the price of Bengaluru’s all-time favourite natural drink—tender coconut—is going north. As of Sunday, a good-quality tender coconut sold by roadside vendors costs over Rs 70, and on online delivery platforms, the starting price is over Rs 80.
Those who opt to go for cheaper tender coconuts—those priced between Rs 25 and 40—complain that there is not even a mouthful of water in them, as most of them are matured ones, and the white flesh is as good as “mature coconut meat”.
“Just a few weeks back, the price of a tender coconut was around Rs 35-40. Now the rates have witnessed a 50% jump. Also, the quantity of water is less,” said Purushotham Shiva, a resident of Chamrajpet.
While Shiva said he opted for sharbat to beat the heat as a glass of it costs only Rs 30, others said they prefer buttermilk and fresh juices and cut fruits.
When TNIE spoke to some of the tender coconut vendors, they said it is usual for the prices to go up during summer months and then come down during the monsoon. But they said that this year, though there is huge demand for them in Bengaluru, there is a short supply of tender coconuts.
“A majority of tender coconuts we get in Bengaluru are from Maddur, Malavalli, Ramanagara, Mandya, Hassan, and Tumakuru. The nuts also come from some parts of Tamil Nadu too. But they are short in supply in Bengaluru,” said a wholesale trader at Chamrajpet, who supplies to many retailers.
He said that the lesser yield is one of the reasons for the price jump and also attributed the short supply in Bengaluru to the nuts also being supplied to parts of North India where there is a huge demand.
Another vendor said that he jumped to the watermelon business as his customers now prefer fruits over tender coconuts.