With the advent of online stores and the mushrooming of retail marts, the once bustling meat markets of Bengaluru hardly have any customers these days, even as two prominent festivals where meat is used, Hosa Thodaku and Eid-ul-Fitr falling on April 10 and 11.
In Johnson Market, the low number of customers has been attributed to parking restrictions. Mohammed Shoaib, owner of K.H. Chicken Centre in Johnson Market, said: “There was a similar sale pattern last year. Because of less parking, fewer customers are coming now.”
The prices of the different varieties of meat too have only seen a slight increase as compared to the previous years, sellers reported.
Chicken, which was selling at ₹240 per kg before the start of Ramzan, was selling at anywhere between ₹260 and ₹300 per kg over the weekend in Johnson Market. Mutton was priced between ₹750 and ₹800 per kg and is expected to go up by ₹20 per kg by Wednesday. At Russel Market, the selling price of lamb was ₹780 per kg and that of eggs was ₹250 for a tray of 30.
However, the prices of fish and other seafood items have gone up considerably in Johnson Market and K.R. Market despite a lesser demand. Seer fish seems to be in demand as its price has jumped from ₹1,150 to ₹1,600 per kg. Salmon was selling at ₹850 per kg, while prawns were being sold at anywhere between ₹450 and ₹850 per kg, depending on the size.
“There is a lot of supply this year. But business is very dull. We are ordering very little fish and seafood. But if there is no demand, we have to throw it away,” said Mohammed Imtiaz, a fish trader in K.R. Market.
There have been fewer customers in all meat markets ever since the COVID-19 lockdowns, meat sellers said. Shoaib Qureshi, president of the Karnataka Jamiatul Quresh, a meat merchants’ association, said: “The big fish will eat the smaller ones. Corporates and big chains have destroyed the city markets. Owing to issues like parking and renovation, customers cannot even enter the meat markets.”
