Chai prices surge as inflation hits dhabas

Tea house owners believe rising prices of ingredients merit their change of rate

KARACHI:

It is no secret that dhoodh patti is the bedrock on which rests the foundation of South Asian culture. This is particularly true for Pakistan, where be it candid conversations among friends, fiery political discourse, matrimonial talks, or business affairs, all things happen over a cup of chai.

However, in the urban metropolis of Karachi, this essential element that seems to glue local culture is having a hard time battling inflation. A cup of tea that would once cost Rs20-30 has now jumped to Rs100 a cup, even at some of the city’s relatively modest tea houses and roadside dhaabas, which hotel owners say is because of the rising price of core ingredients like milk and sugar, as well as the climbing petroleum rates.

Wazir Khan, who has been running the Quetta Inamulllah Hotel in Karachi for over three decades now, recalls selling a cup of tea for merely rupees five; when he newly opened his tea house. Although the price wasn’t steep by then standards either, there would always be ample customers in every season for the business to never slow down. “This is why Quetta hotels started propping up in every part of the city; it was a lucrative, low-investment business for our people,” said Khan, who originally hails from Pashin. “However, it has become increasingly difficult to sustain this business in the last three years, as ingredient prices have skyrocketed and continue to rise: The price of milk has gone up to Rs150 per kilogramme, tea leaves of various varieties range from Rs900 to Rs1,500 per kilogramme, sugar has climbed to Rs85 to Rs90 per kilogramme, while LPG costs Rs240 per kilogramme,” he added.

Per Khan, his tea house mostly caters to workers and wage laborers, so his prices are still cheaper than other dhaabas, but owing to the exorbitant prices of ingredients, he too had to reluctantly up his rates for a cup of tea by rupees five this month. “Now a chainak of tea costs rupees 100, while a single cup goes for rupees 60. Many who cannot afford that also settle for half a cup, which is priced at rupees 30,” said the hotel owner.

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Addressing the overheads that he has to meet, Khan said that paying the employees at his hotel accounts for one of the biggest chunks of his budget, especially after the increase in the minimum wage. “The unofficial minimum wage for a single teahouse worker goes from 15,000 to Rs30,000 per month. Considering the state of our economy, we would have increased our prices a bit more, if the government wasn’t controlling rates,” he opined.

On the other hand, Javed Bhatta, who migrated to the port city almost a decade ago and works at a local hair salon, says that workers like him who live alone rely on small tea houses like the Quetta Inamulllah Hotel to get breakfast. “We could not afford any other place except these small dhabaas, where we could easily get a paratha and a cup of tea for as little as rupees 50, until a few years ago. Now even these places have become difficult for us to afford and our monthly breakfast expense has gone up by Rs300 in just a few months,” he said lamentingly.

Similarly, Rehan Ali, who works at a communication store says that he has to meet multiple clients every day, and most people tend to prefer meeting over tea. “Now this was an affordable outlet until a few years ago, but now tea houses have shot their prices up so much that we have switched to making our own tea for clients instead of ordering from the hotel,” expressed the shop owner.

Per Malik Nadeem Bhatta, a resident of Lahore who came to visit Karachi, tea houses here are considerably more expensive than those in Lahore and Multan. “Prices seem to have surged in Karachi, but most tea houses in Lahore are still charging between rupees 20 to rupees 30 for a cup,” he shared.

Speaking in regard to the surging prices, Chief Minister’s Advisor Waqar Mehdi however believes that the government is making every effort to control inflation. “Further instructions have been issued to the district administration to curb inflation and to take legal action against those selling expensive items,” he told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 31^st, 2022.