BHUBANESWAR: Eating outside, especially at roadside tiffin stalls, eateries and food joints, has become costlier as the soaring prices of vegetables and grocery items have pushed food vendors and traders to make difficult choices and bring changes to the rate chart of their food items, apart from the menu.
Profit margin of hotels and restaurants, in some cases, has also been affected badly. While prices of tomato, green chilli, and other vegetables have skyrocketed, those kitchen essentials such as potato and onion have also increased marginally in the state capital. Vendors said prices of some of the grocery items have also gone up to certain extent.
“Increasing prices have become a major cause of concern as it is slowing down our business and denting profit margin, forcing us to bring changes to the cost of our tiffin and sweets items,” said Trupti Ranjan Barik, staff of a popular sweets and tiffin stall in Jharpada that has increased the price of its ‘Dosa’ from existing Rs 50 to Rs 60. Barik said even the price of ‘Rasagola’ has increased from Rs 12 to Rs 15, after hike in prices of Chhena and other ingredients.
“The business has become stagnant due to the significant increase in vegetable prices. In just a few days, the cost of vegetables such as brinjal and tomatoes has increased threefold. Drumsticks are priced at Rs 250 per kg, and potatoes at Rs 25. This has forced us to reduce the quantity of vegetables we purchase. Previously, we used to buy vegetables in bulk, but now we purchase only half the quantity. To adapt to the current situation, we have increased the price of our Veg biryani from Rs 70 to Rs 80. However, the prices of non-vegetarian items remain unchanged,” said Ramkrushna Jena, owner of Ashok Fast Food on Janpath road. Jena said dishes containing different kinds of vegetables have also seen a price rise of Rs 10.
Bhabani Shankar Sahoo, Odisha head of popular online food ordering and delivery platform Swiggy, said there has been a change in prices of some of the food items of certain hotels and restaurants connected to the platform.
Their number, however, is very less. “There might be changes to pricing of food items due to hike in the cost of raw materials but it has also affected some other factors including the business volume,” Sahoo said. He, however, said orders from hotels and restaurants on their platform has increased in the recent days due to customer demand.
Hotelier and chairman of Hotels and Restaurants Association of Odisha (HRAO) JK Mohanty said profitability of hotels and restaurants has been badly affected due to the surge in prices of vegetables and other essentials, but they have not revised their food prices yet. “We are still waiting for prices to normalise,” he said.