Vegetable prices continue to soar

Vegetables prices increased on Thursday before the strike by vegetable vendors at Khandsa wholesale market in Sector 10A entered came to an end. Vegetable prices have shot up by another 50%-100% in retail stores since Wednesday as supply remained disrupted in Gurgaon.

Although the strike has been called off, it might be a while before vegetable prices stabilise. On Thursday, prices of vegetables such as tomatoes, onions and potatoes had shot up by over 250% and even seasonal vegetables such as gourd, cabbage, cauliflower and carrots had gone up by more than 200%.

Owing to the supply crunch, eggplant, which was available at Rs. 50 per kg a week ago, is now being sold at Rs. 130 a kg. Capsicum, which had already reached Rs. 200 a kg on Wednesday from its usual rate of Rs. 80 a kg, cost R230 a kg on Thursday.

“While vegetable prices are increasing every day, the quality is deteriorating. The local vendor we have is left with limited supplies and he says his store might run out of vegetables soon as the wholesalers are on a strike,” said Arunita Singh of Sector 30.

Another resident, Meena Gupta of Sector 45 said, “I picked up soya beans from the grocery store. I live alone here and as my salary is not very high, I cannot afford to spend so much money on vegetables alone.”

A number of residents are now opting for online stores such as Big Basket, Grofers and Satva Cart for vegetables as they continue to sell the products at lower prices. The portals said they remain relatively unaffected as they do not procure vegetables from a particular market. They also noted a hike in demand in the city.

“We have been receiving a lot of requests from Gurgaon residents. We do not procure vegetables from one particular market or store. The strike has affected our supplies but as we have suppliers in Delhi too, the company is managing,” said a Grofers employee.

Retail store owners, however, remained worried about dropping sales. They said online portals will gain residents’ confidence during the strike, which will affect their businesses in future.

“We support the strike by the wholesalers, but the disruption might have a long-lasting effect on our business. The customers might find the online portals more convenient and their loyalties might change. The major loss will be incurred by us, the retail sellers,” said Jitender Kumar, a retail vendor in Sector 40.