Restaurants in crisis as grocery stores, veggie shops shut

Restaurants in crisis as grocery stores, veggie shops shut

Yogesh.Kabirdoss@timesgroup.com

Chennai:25.05.2021

The closure of grocery and vegetable shops from Monday has put eateries and restaurants in a fix. Several eateries may run out of essential commodities in the coming days leading to a shutdown later this week and this could impact those depending on food from restaurants, particularly those under home quarantine.

Unlike leading restaurant chains and star hotels with facilities such as cold storage, most standalone restaurants buy commodities on a daily basis. Though many of them have bought a significant quantity of vegetables ahead of the full lockdown, some last a maximum of three days. Besides, the absence of adequate manpower could adversely hit the supply chain from kitchen to delivery of food.

Of the 8,500 eateries and restaurants in and around Chennai, less than 40% are operating now. A chunk of nonvegetarian eateries are unlikely to operate from Tuesday due to the non-availability of meat and fish. With grocery and vegetable shops closed, owners of small time eateries are worried about sourcing essential commodities.

Muthulakshmi, who runs an eatery at Tambaram, said vegetables were available for the next two days. “Later, we have to depend on those sold through mobile mini trucks. If vegetables cannot be sourced, we may have to close down briefly,” she said. The eatery offering breakfast and dinner serves 70-80 parcels daily.

M Ravi, president of The Chennai Hotels Association, said the absence of neighbourhood grocery shops will hit eateries hard. “How can you cook if oil is not available? Moreover, several workers in the hospitality sector have left the city to their hometowns,” he added. Such factors will lead to more number of eateries closing later this week, he said.

On Sunday, eateries and hotels made significant purchases of vegetables at the Koyambedu market where, from Monday, entry for all customers including hoteliers, retail and wholesale traders has been banned.