The rising prices of commodities have taken their toll on the profits of sweet shop owners. While the costs of ingredients are skyrocketing, consumer demand is dipping for the past few months. As a result, traders are facing the dilemma of whether to increase the prices of sweetmeat and farsaan.

Sugar is definitely turning bitter for these traders with their prices crossing Rs 32/kg from Rs 19/kg two months back. And to make matters worse, the situation is not likely to improve. "The prices are expected to rise further," said Ashwin Mehta, treasurer of Ahmedabad Mithai, Farsaan, Dudh and Mava Vepari Mahajan. Besides sugar, prices of mava, milk and ghee have also risen drastically.

The escalating oil prices are also adding to the worries of these sweet shop owners. "Prices of groundnut and palm oil have gone up by around Rs50-60 per 15 kg," said Mehta. Oil being the main ingredient in farsaan business, the soaring prices are eating up the profits of shop owners.

Despite the increasing cost of ingredients, sweet shop owners are hesitant to increase prices of sweets and farsaan products - the reason being the decreasing demand from consumers. "The cost of production has gone up by nearly 30%, while consumer demand has simultaneously gone down by almost 40%," said Murlidhar Agarwal, president of Ahmedabad Mithai, Farsaan, Dudh and Mava Vepari Mahajan.

"If the prices are increased, the demand will go down further," he added. Khaja, which is a very popular during Naagpanchami, has seen a dip of more than 50% in demand compared to last year, said Agarwal, who is also the owner of a sweet shop, Rasmadhur. Thus, the association has decided to maintain status quo as far as the pricing of the products is concerned, keeping in mind the decreasing consumer demand.

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Tag: PRICES, DEMAND, FARSAAN, SHOP, SWEET, SHOP OWNERS, OWNERS, SWEET SHOP, CONSUMER DEMAND, SWEET SHOP OWNERS, MAVA, CONSUMER, OIL, MITHAI, MITHAI FARSAAN, AHMEDABAD, DECREASING, AGARWAL,