Sweets to be dearer this festive season

Coimbatore: Those mouth-watering, ghee-dripping traditional sweets are likely to be dearer this Diwali, as prices are expected to be at least 10% higher than the previous year. With prices of gram dal and ghee increasing by nearly 50% and 15% respectively in the last two months, sweet and snack manufacturers say they have been left with no choice. Many residents have decided to buy sweets from shops than getting them made traditionally in homes.

The price of Mysore pa and laddoo in mid-range sweet outlets in the city is priced at 260 to 280/kg, compared to 240 to 260 they were priced last Diwali. At some of the well-known sweet shops, sweets priced at 450 per kg have now shot over 500 per kg. "With the cost of raw material rising by 30% to 50% since July, we were forced to increase our prices by around 10% to 15% over the last two months," said the director of Nellai Muthu Vilas, O P Sudhakar.

The situation is the same for even savouries, as prices of snacks like mixture, boondi and sev, have also gone up from around 220 per kg to 240 per kg this year.

Sweet manufacturers say they were forced to take this decision ahead of the festive season, as gram dal, also known as channa dal or Bengal gram, prices were spiraling out of control. "The price of gram dal which was hovering around 45 per kg in mid-2015, went up to 85 to 90 in July. After that it gradually increased every day to stand at 130 to 135 per kg on Wednesday," said proprietor of wholesaler, Devendran and Co, Venkatesh Babu. The price of ghee too which stood at 4,800 per 15kg tin has gone up to 5,500.

While it is common knowledge that pulse prices have been on the increase due to a bad crop last year, leading to a shortage in the market, other factors like delay in arrival of pulse imports and the festive season too seem to have played a role. Though the government announced that pulse imports would start entering the market on September-end, the stocks have not yet reached godowns, say wholesalers. "The imports will likely reach wholesalers in about a month's time or by November," said Babu. "The price of gram dal and ghee usually increases during Diwali, due to the heavy demand," said executive director of Adyar Ananda Bhavan, Vishnu Shankar. "But the extent of price increase of almost 50% was unexpected," said the managing director of Sri Krishna Sweets, M Krishnan.

Because of this situation, families who bring traditional "iyers" or "sweet makers" home to prepare sweets, have decided to just buy them instead. "With raw materials prices going up and "iyers" also increasing their day's fee, we have decided to buy the sweets from shops as it costs almost as much and is hassle-free." said Priya Janakiraman, a Coimbatore resident.