Consumers- households, hotels, and canteens - have felt the impact of increasing vegetable prices.
And, it is not just the vegetables that are on a price upward trend. After witnessing a steep increase, rate of broiler chicken in Coimbatore has stabilised at ₹ 180 a kg as on Monday. The price had escalated to ₹220 per kg earlier by the end of June and remained same for at least a week. Traders said that the price escalated mainly due to shortage of supply.
“There was a shortage in the supply of broiler chicken as production decreased due to various reasons. Farm owners had reduced production due to soaring temperature which is difficult for young birds to survive. There was also an increase in the price of feeds,” said M. Ansari, a city-based trader of chicken and beef.
On Monday, price of country chicken stood between ₹170 and ₹ 180. According to traders, price of country chicken used to remain higher compared to broiler. Traders said that price of egg changed between ₹4 and ₹ 4.25 in the same period. Many consumers in Erode say that prices of greens have also gone up significantly due to poor rainfall. They say there is a huge demand for vegetables grown in houses and what is available in the local markets.
According to Siva, who serves vegetarian and non-vegetarian food at his mess, use of vegetables or non-vegetarian ingredients cannot be reduced in food. So he bears the additional cost (which is nearly 5%).
(with inputs from Wilson Thomas and M. Soundariya Preetha in Coimbatore and S.P. Saravanan in Erode)