‘Something else’ edges out pricey tomatoes

NEW DELHI: Whitestone Cottages, a riverside resort located in Himachal Pradesh’s Tirthan Valley has stopped offering tomatoes as part of its salad recipes to guests to keep the kitchen budget in check. “Instead we are substituting it with other seasonal vegetables in the salad and using canned tomato puree for cooking,” said owner Inderpal Singh. As tomato prices show no signs of let-up and supplies of the veggie continue to be patchy, restaurants across the country are looking at alternatives to cope with the situation. Mumbai’s Someplace Else for instance, is using ingredients like red bell pepper, curd and tamarind to infuse sour flavour into food items, said the restobar’s executive chef Parikshit Joshi. “Inspite of having annual fixed rates for vegetables with our vendors, they have given inflated bills or they refuse to deliver citing unavailability. Our input costs have seen a steep increase; in the case of items with tomatoes, they have gone up by 200%,” said Nikhil Chawla, co-owner at Kolkata’s Poach and Marbella’s.

As of July 11, tomatoes were priced at Rs 138 per kg in Delhi, Rs 137 and Rs 145 per kg in Mumbai and Kolkata respectively, according to data provided by the consumer affairs ministry.

Mumbai-based burger joint Bites’ n Grill has reduced the tomato slices that are used in their burgers to maintain profitability and has also stocked up tomato puree. “The multifold increase in prices of tomatoes has severely impacted our business and our operational costs have gone up. As of now, we have not passed on the cost to consumers but we don’t know how long will we be able to manage,” said founder George Kuriakose. “It has become a challenge to procure tomatoes, a staple ingredient in our culinary repertoire at reasonable rates. Costings have gone up by 20%-30% as a lot of our curries are tomato based,” added Ashish Singh, culinary director at Café Delhi Heights. Mysore based White Lake Group of Resorts and Restaurants has suspended a few items like tomato rice, tomato chutney and tomato soup from the menu as it was not being feasible to offer them at the same price. “We have increased our workforce to procure vegetables from the farmers directly,” said managing director Chethan Lingappa.

Restaurants have not yet raised menu prices as they fear such a move will irk consumers and lead to reduced footfalls. “We are taking a hit due to the price change but we are ensuring the guest experience is not hampered,” said Geevarghese, GM, operations at Rajdhani. Some restaurants said that they are hoping for the government to intervene. Last week, some of fast food giant McDonald’s India outlets dropped tomato from its menu, citing non-availability of high grade tomatoes.