CHENNAI: The skyrocketing onion prices have forced small and medium food outlets and catering services to cut down on its use. Kumaravel R, a medium-scale hotelier in north Chennai, said he stopped using onions in sambar and reduced count in aloo masala curry for pooris.
“Every day, at least 25 kg of onion is used for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now, we have stopped onions for breakfast and reduced it to 12 kg for the rest,’’ said the hotelier. Meanwhile, catering service providers said they would not cut down on quantity but increase prices. Saravanan, supervisor of Aruppukottai Arusuvai, said that for marriages or reception, `50 has been increased per leaf. ‘‘A month ago, we were collecting `350 per leaf and now it is `400. We cannot reduce onions in ceremonial dishes,” said Saravanan. He, however, rued the fact that clients failed to understand onion price hike and criticise them for increase in prices.
“The government can import onions from Pakistan and Iran,’ said M Ravi, president of Chennai Hotels Association. ‘‘There has been 30 per cent decrease in usage of onions,’’ he added. Currently, the impact is only slight, but it may hit people, markets and hotels if the issue persists, say members of hotel associations. However, when Express visited some upper-mid range outlets such as Hot Chips, Sangeetha and Saravana Bhavan, the staff said the onion price hike had not impacted them yet.