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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western...

Commercial LPG 'evaporates' in Maharashtra

Mumbai : The short supply of commercial LPG cylinders turned ‘grim’ on Wednesday as hundreds of small and medium eateries – on whom the ordinary working Mumbaikars depend on for daily meals – shut down or drastically trimmed menus, on Wednesday.   With an estimated 50,000-plus hotels, restaurants and small food joints, the crunch is beginning to be felt severely, said Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India (FHRAI) vice-president and Hotel and Restaurant Association Western India (HRAWI) spokesperson Pradeep Shetty.   “We are in continuous touch with the concerned authorities, but the situation is very gloomy. There is no response from the Centre or the Ministry of Petroleum on when the situation will ease. We fear that more than 50 pc of all eateries in Mumbai will soon down the shutters. The same will apply to the rest of the state and many other parts of India,” Shetty told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   The shortage of commercial LPG has badly affected multiple sectors, including the hospitality and food industries, mass private or commercial kitchens and even the laundry businesses, industry players said.   At their wits' ends, many restaurateurs resorted to the reliable old iron ‘chulhas’ (stoves) fired by either coal or wood - the prices of which have also shot up and result in pollution - besides delaying the cooking.   Anticipating a larger crisis, even domestic LPG consumers besieged retail dealers in Mumbai, Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Akola, Nagpur to book their second cylinder, with snaky queues in many cities. The stark reality of the 12-days old Gulf war with the disturbed supplies has hit the people and industries in the food supply chains that feed crores daily.   “The ordinary folks leave home in the morning after breakfast, then they rely on the others in the food chain for their lunch or dinner. Many street retailers have also shut down temporarily,” said Shetty.   Dry Snacks A quick survey of some suburban ‘khau gullies’ today revealed that the available items were mostly cold sandwiches, fruit or vegetable salads, cold desserts or ice-creams, cold beverages and packed snacks. Few offered the regular ‘piping hot’ foods that need elaborate cooking, or charging higher than normal menu rates, and even the app-based food delivery system was impacted.   Many people were seen gloomily munching on colorful packets of dry snacks like chips, chivda, sev, gathiya, samosas, etc. for lunch, the usually cheerful ‘chai ki dukaans’ suddenly disappeared from their corners, though soft drinks and tetrapaks were available.   Delay, Scarcity  Maharashtra LPG Dealers Association President Deepak Singh yesterday conceded to “some delays due to supply shortages” of commercial cylinders, but assured that there is no scarcity of domestic cylinders.   “We are adhering to the Centre’s guidelines for a 25 days booking period between 2 cylinders (domestic). The issue is with commercial cylinders but even those are available though less in numbers,” said Singh, adding that guidelines to prioritise educational institutions, hospitals, and defence, are being followed, but others are also getting their supplies.   Despite the assurances, Shetty said that the current status is extremely serious since the past week and the intermittent disruptions have escalated into a near-total halt in supplies in many regions since Monday.   Adding to the dismal picture is the likelihood of local hoteliers associations in different cities like Pune, Palghar, Nagpur, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and more resorting to tough measures from Thursday, including temporary shutdown of their outlets, which have run out of gas stocks.

Food Waste in India’s Hospitality Sector

In my last article, I shared an overview of the wastage of food at the household level. Now, let us move out of the house and look at other sources of food waste by retail consumers. Topmost among the sources are hotels and restaurants. According to the Food Waste Index Report 2021 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), India generates about 68.7 million tons of food waste per year, out of which 11.9 million tons come from the food service sector. This sector includes restaurants, hotels, caterers, canteens, and other establishments that serve food to customers. There are three different modes of food wastage in this sector. Firstly, pre-consumer waste is generated during preparation and storage. Then when the food is served to the customer as per the order, many customers leave some portion of the food in their plates. Many customers prefer to carry packed meals at home or their respective workplaces. However, they may not consume the entire portion of food they have carried. The reasons for food waste in restaurants and hotels are manifold and can be summarised as follows:


  1. Overproduction: Restaurants often prepare various food dishes in excess quantities to avoid running out of stock and to meet the demand of customers. However, they do not consider the average number of customers visiting their restaurants per day. Hence, all the food that is prepared does not get consumed and becomes stale. Such food is discarded in the trash.


  1. Serving portion quantity: Restaurants often serve large portions of food to customers to attract them and satisfy their appetites without even considering their age. People who are in their late 60s and 70s and above do not have such an appetite, but they are served the same portion as given to the youngsters and adults. In general, the said customer may not be able to gulp down the entire food on the plate. I have experienced this many times. For a single person, they serve a portion of food that can be shared by two or three people. So obviously, some food gets left over. The customer may get it packed and take it home, thinking that it will take care of one meal at least. But it rarely happens. Such packed food is kept in the refrigerator and is then discarded the next day.


  1. Customer behaviour: On the contrary, customers often order more food than they can eat or need, either due to a lack of awareness, peer pressure, or impulse buying. They also tend to leave uneaten food on their plates or take away leftovers, but do not consume them later.


  1. Menu variety: Restaurants often offer a wide variety of dishes and cuisines to cater to the different tastes and preferences of customers. However, this also increases the complexity and cost of food preparation and storage, as well as the risk of spoilage and wastage.


  2. Lack of awareness: Both restaurants and customers often lack awareness and knowledge about the causes and consequences of food waste, as well as the best practices and solutions to prevent and reduce it. They also lack incentives and motivation to act against food waste.


More on this next week! Till then, have a good weekend!


(The author is an environmentalist. Views personal.)

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