Tomato prices in India have surged by over 300% recently thanks to very high rainfall and flooding destroying crops in parts of rural India.
As a result, the price of tomatoes has sky rocketed from their usual 40-50 rupees per Kilo to almost 200 Rupees per Kilo.
Masala Essential...
Think of food in India and you think of curry, and tomatoes a crucial ingredient in so many curry dishes. Granted, not all of them, but Chicken Jalfrezi, Lamb Madras, I mean I could go on.... it's at least one of the most common sauce ingredients.
So this hike in tomato prices, this means the cost of any dish which requires tomatoes has increased drastically, just on the basis of this one crucial ingredient!
Prices are so high that McDonalds is taking some dishes which require Tomatoes Off the Menu.
Meanwhile back in May....
The crazy thing about this price hike and the shutting down of selected tomato related dishes is that back in May the market price of tomatoes slumped to 2-3 cents per Kilo in some parts of India, far less than the production costs of said tomatoes.
This was because of a glut at that time.
Some farmers even dumped their crops in protest rather than sell them for such insultingly low prices.
Whither bottling or canning...
Now I'm sure those tomatoes above were of high enough quality to be used fresh, but come on, they could have been made into sauce back in May and then at least we'd have MORE tomatoes on the shelves today albeit in bottled or canned form.
Of course I'm sure the dumping is more ritual than truly on mass, but even so, having actually used them back then would have helped.
Crazy Climate, Crazy Prices...
I'm kind of lost for words on this: err don't waste food: you never know what crazy climate changes are just around the corner... If you get a glut, pay people for it, use the product, you never know if literally in two months time climatic conditions come back the other way!
BONKERS!
Except natural factors, the price of everything including vegetables are going higher in my country as well
i started to prepare a post about tomatoes yesterday, but leofinance drafts didn't save so i lost it. Perhaps later today or tomorrow i'll start again.
Peace and love from Norfolk brother
I always use PeakD - everything LEO is just too unreliable!
Tis tomatoe season in the UK I guess!
The climate is getting very weird. El Niño is early this time around and seems to be much stronger than usual. Probably because we also had a stronger La Niña, which lasted for almost 3 years instead of the normal 6-9 months.
2bitdavinci made an interesting video about it
I know it's scary stuff!
Food processing & packaging industry isn't so developed in India. Farmers in remote area can't even afford to transport these raw tomatoes to the closest food processing units. For many, transportation cost is higher than what market would fetch for the produce itself. Add to it mandi taxes, labour cost and long credit purchases, it somehow makes sense for them to dump it all there only. Yeah, it's a sad situation and we feel the helplessness all around.
Fair points you make, those farmers need more support!
If I were them I would also try to make something to preserve it, even for self-consumption, I also hate to see food wasted, but on the other hand I also get for some farmers the price of producing exceeds the benefit, and they are growing at a loss :(
It's so sad isn't it!
Indeed. I'm an upcycling person even with clothing. I thrift a lot. And with food I hate to see it wasted, though I have a flock of hens that actually won't allow anything go wasted LOL XD
I understand though that the system is not fair and sometimes farmers are not the ones to blame for it. :( And yes, it's extremely sad
Oh you have hens, I am jealous!
I hate waste too, so irrational!
oh my I have a flock of puppies. They fetch ball, jump hoops, recall their name, spin, jump to my lap, play the piano, count up to six, plays app in the phone and even play the xylophone and piano. I am not even kidding. If I had the energy I'd be making them a youtube channel LOL and them going viral (not like their mum hahaha). They are not that young, so maybe that's their plan for retirement, becoming youtube starlets :) I don't care about the eggs. Also technically they're my family's but they're mine in all that matters and I care for them
Wow, they sound truly precious! (Just like you!)
oh my thanks so much for the compliment...
And indeed they are. I took as a hobby to train animals when I had ratties, so I gave it a go with the hens, and I'm way surprised by her memory and abilities, they even teach each other, or learning through phone videos. I confess to be myself most impressed.
Using Tomato puree is not actually popular in Indian households.
Secondly, tomato is part of Indian Salad that can't be replaced by puree and requires raw tomatoes.
I get that but when times are tough...!
We Indians are always influenced by the hype and rumors very easily. In this media has very big role to play.
I guess so!
Expensive tomatoes are causing a lot of concern. Where we used to buy 1kg at a time now we have reduced the consumption by 1/4 i.e. buying only 250 grams.. how come you are tracking the prices of tomatoes here in India? cheers
I just saw it in the news and thought it was interesting!
Wow such a crazy situation specially for the financial situation of many citicens there, i hope it gets better really soon, tank you for sharing. Regards from Venezuela