Rising cooking oil prices have prompted restaurants to hike the prices of fried items like pakodas (fritters) and vadas by 10 per cent from next week.
As they struggle procuring oil from the market due to alleged hoarding, eateries also plan to substitute fried items with alternatives.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers Association (BBHA) is expected to hold a meeting on Wednesday, following their meeting with the chief minister on Tuesday evening, to finalise the hike in the prices of the items.
"Although we don’t have the exact numbers yet, customers will see a positive hike of fried items. As it is only the oil that is getting expensive, the prices of other items will remain the same. Some hoteliers are not able to get enough oil at the markets as many have resorted to hoarding,” P C Rao, President, BBHA, told DH.
Rao added that as homemakers do, restaurants will also figure out ways to reduce the use of oil in cooking, while not compromising on quality.
Restaurants may look to skip fried items in meals on the state front, although no decision has been taken about price hikes. They are also inclining towards alternate options. "Instead of poori, we can provide chapatis or dosas with meals. We could also stop providing papads or bajjis with the meals. We could instead provide them more options with rice items," said Chandrashekhar Hebbar, president of the Karnataka Pradesh Hotel and Restaurants' Association.
Restaurants are also thinking of stopping evening snacks at restaurants and darshinis. "We don’t want to burden the consumers, but oil is very essential to cooking most items. Hence, we are planning to not hike the prices too much. The decision is totally dependent on the prices oil will touch in the coming days” a hotelier said.
Check out latest DH videos here