Ordering chicken in Kerala restaurants could burn a hole in your pocket

Malappuram: A couple of days ago, a street food shop at Melmuri in Malappuram town, popular for its ghee rice and deep fried chicken combo, put up a notice which read: “We have no choice but to increase the price of our most ordered dish from Rs 90 to Rs 100.”

The eatery was forced to make such a decision after the price of chicken and other ingredients saw a hike in the market.

This shop represents hundreds of restaurants across the state taking a hit in terms of revenue due to the increase in the prices of chicken, rice, ginger etc.

The soaring price of chicken has severely affected the restaurant business in Kerala. Based on the current hike, for every 100 kg of chicken a restaurant cooks, the owner(s) lose a margin of around Rs 5,000. Hence, many restaurants are being forced to increase the prices of their dishes to soften the financial blow.

The normal price of chicken was Rs 140-160 per kilogram. Now, each kilo costs around Rs 260 per kilogram.

“We cook around 80 kg of chicken every day in this restaurant. The price of the chicken used to make shawarma has gone up from Rs 175 to Rs 280. The price of chicken bought to cook dishes like alfahm and shawaya has risen to Rs 250 from Rs 200. Restaurants like us, which only sell such Arabian dishes, have been facing a revenue loss of around Rs 4,000,” said Thoufeeq Ahmed, owner of a Turkish restaurant in Malappuram town.

Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) Advisory Board Chairman Moitheenkutty Haji told Onmanorama that they do not have any other choice than to hike the price in order to sustain.

“The hotel industry in the state, unlike other sectors, does not have any support in the form of various schemes. The government has not made any serious intervention to ensure the sustainability of the industry. Thomas Issac, who was finance minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government, convened a meeting of restaurant owners and promised that chicken would sell at a price of Rs 85 for a kilo in Kerala soon. However, it has not materialised.

“The government can encourage young entrepreneurs to invest in the poultry business by providing lucrative offers and subsidiaries so as to avoid the volatility of chicken prices in the Kerala market. But nobody is interested in it”, said Moitheenkutty Haji.

Restaurants predict a 10 per cent hike in the price of dishes if the cost of chicken and other ingredients remains unchanged for a longer period. Many expect a dip in chicken prices soon after Bakrid, similar to what has been observed in previous years.