In the wake of a recent surge in tomato prices, restaurants in the city are facing a significant challenge as tomatoes go missing from their dishes. The skyrocketing prices of this essential vegetable have taken a toll on the food and beverage industry, forcing even restaurant-goers to grapple with the situation.
While many restaurant owners express their inability to completely eliminate tomatoes or tomato-based dishes from their menus despite the soaring prices, numerous eateries such as bakeries, chaat bandars, and roadside vendors are left with no choice but to either remove tomatoes from their dishes or reduce the quantity.
Ram Prakash Yadav, a roadside vendor running a pani puri/chaat stall in Yousufguda, revealed that he stopped purchasing tomatoes as soon as their prices started to rise at the beginning of the month. “In my stall, I sell bhelpuri for ₹40, and earlier I used to include tomatoes that costed between ₹30 and ₹40 per kilogram. However, now the price of 1 kilogram of tomatoes ranges from ₹120 to ₹140. Increasing the price of my dish would mean losing customers, so I had to stop adding tomatoes,” said Yadav.
