VIKRAM NAYAK
VASCO
Vegetable traders and hoteliers in the port town have been struggling to cope with steep onion prices, forcing the vendors to reduce their stocks and the hoteliers to either withdraw onion-based dishes from their menus or reduce the quantity of onions served in side dishes.
“Onion sales have come down drastically and there is no profit in the onion business nowadays. Though there is almost no sale, we have to buy onions and keep them on display in the hope that someone enquiring about onion prices may buy other vegetables,” said a retailer.
“We initially faced losses as we would purchase stocks at Rs 140 from wholesalers and sell them at Rs 150 with a bare minimum margin. While onion stocks would come in bags of 50 kgs, approximately 10 kgs of onions would get damaged. So, a margin of Rs 10 earned us Rs 400 for 40 kgs but the losses caused by damage of 10 kgs would cost us Rs 1,400 and we faced losses of about Rs 1,000 per day,” added the retailer.
Another retailer said there was practically no demand for onions in the port town as prices had gone beyond the reach of the common man.
“Hotel owners have stopped large consumption of onions and we sell only a few kilos here, but every customer wants a daily update of onion rates.
“We have very few customers who buy onions from our stall. Cabbage sales have gone up a bit probably because people try and use more cabbage, instead of onions in their salads,” said the other retailer.
The retailer added that wholesale price of onions was Rs 110 a kg on Saturday and vendors were selling onions at Rs 120 a kg.
Hoteliers in Vasco also admitted the difficult times they have faced on account of steep onion prices.
Madhukar Naik, who runs a famous eatery, Ganesh Hotel in Vasco, said onions had become way expensive and had affected their daily sales as well.
“We have now kept Kanda Bhajiya out of the menu. We can’t charge exorbitant rates to our customers because onion prices have shot up. If we reduce the quantity of Bhajiya in a plate, it is a problem and if we increase the price, it is also a problem,” said Naik.
“We had huge customers in the early morning to eat the Tomato Salad Bhaji, one of Goa’s favourite bhaji dishes. We had to sadly put that also out of the menu because Salad Bhaji is a combination which requires equal proportion of tomatoes and onions.”
“Customers are well aware of the situation and they don’t insist on
these dishes. But we are eagerly awaiting for onion prices to return to normal rates, because we have also seen a drop in our customers. Bigger restaurants can absorb the onion price rise,” said Naik.
Another restaurant manager, Feroz Shaikh, said his restaurant had continued to serve onions but the quantity offered to customers had come down.
“Dishes like Biryani require fried onions in the preparation and we cannot avoid it at all. There are people who eat tandoor and Kebab, which are served with Pudina Chutney and onion rings and we can’t say no to them.”
“Profit and loss is part of business and we have maintained the same quantity of onion in our dishes. However, we have reduced the quantity of onion rings that are given complimentary with dishes like tandoor and Kebabs,” said Shaikh.
