CHENNAI: The decision of private milk companies to hike prices has divided city tea shop owners over whether or not to hike the price of hot beverages.
“The per-day collection in tea shops across the city had fallen from Rs 1800 to Rs 1400. Given that a large chunk of the working class population has lost jobs due to a slowdown in the construction field, we have asked our association members not to increase the tea price,” said T Ananthan, president of Chennai Metropolitan Tea Shop Owners’ Association.
According to him, of the 5200 tea shops in the city, over 3200 are affiliated with the outfit. While most shops have a per-day collection of Rs 1000 to RS 1500, about 25 per cent of shops collect Rs 2500 to Rs 3000. “The shops which make above Rs 2500 a day can function without hiking the price. Further increase in tea prices will reduce tea consumption,” he said.
However, some tea shop owners in Ambatur, Korattur, Perambur and Ayanavaram said tea prices would be raised by up to Rs 2 in the next few days.