The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : No-frill menu order of the day

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Monday, Jun 16, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

No-frill menu order of the day

People who run private catering units are left in the lurch, says Anasuya Menon

Photo: K. Ananthan

FEELING THE HEAT: Caterers at work in their kitchen in city. —

While hotels and eateries are looking for innovative methods to maintain their businesses even in the face of a steady rise in prices, people who run private catering units are left in the lurch.

The prices of vegetables and refined oil have almost doubled and what is far from comforting to them is the rise in the commercial liquefied petroleum gas per cylinder. The price of a cylinder for commercial use has gone up by Rs.70, says a private ca terer in Ramanathapuram. The increase in transportation and labour costs goes without saying, he adds. The cleaning boys at the unit who demanded Rs.60 a day now demands nothing less than Rs.100, he says. The regular customers too have been cutting down on items or going in for cheaper options. Earlier, breakfast orders used to be the standard idli, vadai and pongal combination. Now, people have started omitting one from the list. Even in the case of sweet dishes, people are choosing inexpensive options such as semiya payasam, which works out much cheaper than palada or gothumai payasam. While hotels can measure the quantity in order to reduce wastage, the same thing is not possible in the case of catering units. About 25 to 30 per cent goes as waste, says another caterer who has been in the business for over 20 years. The business is also hit by the labour shortage. With higher-paying options such as hospital and call centre canteens, workers don’t stay on for too long, he says. In addition to all these, the Corporation has increased property taxes to three times, which has put the burden on small catering units, they say.

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