Bengaluru's meat, fish sales fall 30% as hotels trim menu

A severe shortage of commercial LPG cylinders has crippled Bengaluru’s meat and fish trade, with sales dropping by nearly 30% over the last week. 

As hotels and restaurants cut down on their menus or shut down entirely due to the crisis, the bulk-buy demand has come down. 

Establishments that previously purchased 80 to 100 kg of chicken daily have slashed orders to less than 10 kg.

The situation at major fish markets including Russell Market in Shivajinagar and Yeswantpur market is also dull. Over 220 traders are struggling as hospitality clients who usually buy 20 to 30 kg of seafood are now picking up only 3 to 4 kg. 

In Russell Market, “where 20 tonnes of fish are usually traded daily, the volume has dropped significantly. Traders who used to move 30 kg of fish to single restaurants are now struggling to sell even 5 kg to the same clients,” says a vendor. 

“Our regular business is down by 25 to 30%,” said Syed Khan, a local mutton stall owner. 

“Even with the Ugadi festival approaching, shortage of gas in hotels means they aren’t buying. If they don’t cook, we don’t sell”. 

Wholesale poultry dealers, who typically supply 80 to 100 kg of chicken daily to mid-sized restaurants, said that orders had shrunk to a mere fraction. 

A local wholesaler said: “Last week, I was supplying 1,500 kg of broiler chicken daily to a cluster of hotels. Today, that number is barely 200 kg. When hotels switch to firewood or shut down, our meat just sits in cold storage, costing us additional electricity charges. We’ve had to drop our wholesale price by Rs 25 per kg just to keep the stocks moving, but even at a loss, there are no takers”.