Already reeling under losses amid the ongoing pandemic, sweet shop owners are struggling to meet their daily expenses due to the rising input costs including, the recent hike in the price of milk and fuel and unscheduled power cuts.
They stated that the footfall has already decreased by around 65-70% due to the restrictions imposed amid pandemic and the increasing cost of raw material including milk, dry fruits, and fuel, etc., have further added to their woes.
While the local dairy farmers had increased the milk price by ₹3 per litre in mid of June, the two major milk brands - Verka and Amul- have increased the cost by ₹2 per litre from July onwards.
Charanjit Singh, president of Ludhiana Halwai Association and owner of Kays Lovely Sweets in Jamalpur, said there are around 280 sweetmeat shops here, and the business has been hit badly since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. With the recent hike in milk prices, the manufacturing cost of cheese, khoya, etc., has also increased by ₹20 to 25 per kg. Similarly, the cost of dry fruits, edible oil, ghee, etc., has increased. The price of a commercial LPG cylinder has been hiked by ₹76 from July 1, and now it costs around ₹1,350.”
“With the hike in fuel prices, everything else got costlier due to the rise in transportation costs. The margins are decreasing, and the sector is reeling under crises,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“With the hike in fuel prices, everything else got costlier due to the rise in transportation costs. The margins are decreasing, and the sector is reeling under crises,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}The frequent unscheduled power cuts have further added to their woes, as they have to rely on diesel generators for operating their units at a time when diesel price has crossed the ₹90 mark.
“For the sweet shop owners who have generators of 100KW and above, minimum diesel of ₹3,000 is used every hour for operating the units during power cuts.,” said Singh.
The sweet shop owners stated that restriction on gatherings is one of the major reasons behind the drastic fall in the demand for sweets as fewer wedding events are taking place now.
Bipan Jain, the owner of Sharman Jain Sweets at Rani Jhansi Road, said, “We used to get eight-nine orders for wedding-related events including the sweets which are distributed along with the invitation daily, but no orders are being received now. People are in a dilemma over organising the events even in the coming few months due to the fear regarding the impending third wave.”
The owners stated they cannot even increase the prices of sweets as that will further push away the customers.
Shamsher Singh, the owner of Amanz Sweets in Model Town, said, “The sales are also down due to financial constraints being faced by the residents. People even avoid purchasing samosas, jalebi, etc., for their families due to fear of Covid infection. If we increase prices of sweets now, it will further bring down the sales, and the units will be on a brink of closure.”
Association seeks relaxation in curfew timings, gathering limit
Seeking relief for the sector, Punjab Halwai Association president Narinderpal Singh said the government should extend the curfew relaxation timings for shops from 7:30 pm till at least 9pm, as people nowadays do not have time to go out with their families after returning from work due to imposition of the night curfew. Further, gathering of at least 100 people should be allowed so that more weddings events are organised. This will boost the demand for sweets, he added.