Sweets go off hotel menus due to ghee shortage

BENGALURU: Hoteliers in the city are struggling to cope with the shortage of ghee and have decided to remove sweets from their menus for the time being.

A few days ago, hoteliers faced a shortage of milk and curd along with a price hike in the city. There has been a decline in the production of milk due to summer and diseases in cattle while the demand for milk products like ghee, curd and paneer has increased.

As production is not able to meet demand, the hotel industry is facing problems and production of snacks and sweets made from milk products has been stopped for the time being.

Bamul supplies 15 lakh litres of milk daily, but production has dropped by two lakh litres per day now.

The Bengaluru Milk Union (Bamul) normally supplies 15 lakh litres of milk every day, but it has dropped to 13 lakh litres. Taking advantage of the prevailing shortage, some retailers are selling ghee and paneer at higher prices and the hoteliers association has demanded that KMF take action against them.

Krishna Raja, one of the hotel owners in the city.

“We are facing shortage of milk, ghee and butter. For the past two or three months, ghee has not been available. Usually, we buy it directly from the KMF dairy because we are sure about its purity. If we buy from shops, the quality is different. For sweets and some snacks, ghee is important. We have stopped 15 items of sweets that require more ghee. We have requested the authorities to ensure regular supply “, said Krishna Raja, one of the hotel owners in city.

P C Rao, president of the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association.

“We have discussed the shortage of milk with KMF officials. Schools are closed now, so milk is available and will be converted into ghee. The officials told us that first priority would be given to the hotel industry. We faced a 20 per cent of shortage, and it will be resolved in a week’s time”, said PC Rao, president of the Bruhat Bangalore Hotels Association.