In all probability, a consumer visiting the neighbourhood grocery shop or a supermarket may not find on the shelf his/her favourite brand of biscuit or the variety of pulses he/she is used to.
Even as the nation-wide lockdown enters the 18th day and the government has relaxed norms for movement of essential commodities, producers, distributors, and traders continue to face challenges that affect availability of the essential food items. Further, prices are up for almost all the products.
On an average, prices are up 10 % to 20 %, says Coimbatore Maligai Merchants Association president Prabhakaran.
Except for rava, all the other essential food products are now available in the market. Even rava will be available from Monday, he says.
However, the traders here pay almost double the cost for transport as the vehicles return without goods, he points out. This has an impact down the supply chain.
There are also problems in loading and unloading the goods because of the time restrictions for these.
C. Durairaj, treasurer of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, explains that if a vehicle is sent to a distributor for loading, it waits for almost a day.
“Earlier, 60 to 70 distributors used to bring branded or packed goods to a supermarket. Now, vehicles are sent to the distributor for loading. Supermarkets may not be able to get products from all the distributors,” he says.
Coimbatore gets pulses from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra and the mills in these States have just resumed operation. “Though availability is not an issue, we may not get the same brand or the grade of the product that we want,” he says.
Labour availability and transport are the main challenges right from production to retail level, he adds.
Consumer demand continues to be good. Those in the city now get the products from all the outlets. The number of wholesale buyers coming from neighbouring districts is on the rise, adds Mr. Prabhakaran.
