Sale of dry fruit surges with advent of winter

Exorbitant prices take winter food out of reach of consumers

RAWALPINDI:

With the onset of winter, the sale of dry fruits including peanuts, roasted black gram, boiled eggs, Kashmiri pink tea, soup, chicken broth, roasted fish, and samosas has increased in the open market.

However, the prices of these items have also been increased by 30 to 40 per cent this year, taking them out of the purchasing power of ordinary households.

Meanwhile, the sale and supply of dry fruits in the wholesale market have also increased.

Temporary peanut stalls and carts have cropped up all over the city in streets, markets and intersections.

Peanuts, which are the poor's source of enjoyment in the winter season, were sold at Rs400 per kilogramme last year. This year, the price of peanuts has been increased to Rs600 per kilogramme.

Similarly, the price of per kilogramme of walnuts has been set at Rs500, good quality walnuts at Rs800, almonds at Rs1,000, good quality almonds at Rs1,200 to Rs1,600, black roasted grams at Rs350, pistachios at Rs2,200 to Rs2,500, cashews at Rs2,600 to Rs3,000, walnut kernels at Rs2,100, dates at Rs550, dried figs at Rs700, soup without boiled egg at Rs90, soup with boiled egg at Rs100, special soup at Rs110, chicken broth at Rs100, Kashmiri pink tea at Rs90 per cup, pine nut at Rs10,000 per kg, plain potato-filled samosa at Rs50 per piece, one dozen samosa at Rs550 and the price of samosa and gram has been set at Rs130 per plate.

The substantial increase in the prices of dry fruits has upset ordinary citizens the most.

Impoverished households used to love eating peanuts and black roasted grams in the winter, but this year’s price hike has caused low-salary employees and low-income families to buy fewer peanuts.

Citizens Azam Khan and Nasir Mehmood said: “Although rich people eat cashews, pistachios, and pine nuts, we, the poor people, used to buy peanuts and black gram for our kids in the winter. But now we cannot buy one kilogramme of peanuts for Rs600.”