Pune: Mithai makers are feeling the pinch of rising milk and sugar prices and passing the cost on to customers ahead of GaneshotsavMilk prices have increased by around 16% in the last four months. Sugar, which was earlier priced at around Rs38 per kg, is now being sold at up to Rs76 per kg in some cases,” said Parmanand Sharma, founder and CEO of Mithaiwala.The impact is already visible. Peda, for instance, is priced at Rs 750–780 per kg, a hike from the previous Rs 550–560 per kg, Sharma said. “Prices of almost all sweets have increased by at least 30%,” he added.The rising cost of cooking gas, which has nearly doubled, and recent increase in milk prices supplied by Mumbai cattle owners, which is up by around Rs10 per litre, is adding to the pressure on sweet manufacturers, industry sources said.“If cattle owners in Pune take a similar decision, there could be another 10% increase in milk prices, which would further push up the prices of sweets,” Sharma said.Sunil Athwani, director, Karachi Sweet Mart, said the rise in input costs was being driven by multiple factors, including supply disruptions, increased cost of LPG and an “increment of 20 to 25% in the prices of raw materials since Feb.”“Sugar prices had also gone up by 50%, but after some govt action they’re 20% higher than what they were at that point in time,” he said.Milk availability has also tightened following the FDA crackdown on spurious milk, Athwani said. “So milk availability has reduced,” he said.“All by-products derived from milk, such as ghee and mawa, have also seen a price increase. Supply disruptions have also affected imported dry fruits, particularly pistachios and almonds,” said Athwani.He put the overall increase in sweet prices at 10-25%, depending on whether they are milk-based or dryfruits-based.Snehal Chourey, owner of Fusion Mithas, said the rise in ingredient costs had occurred over the past one-and-a-half months.“For me, dry fruits are the biggest concern because my main products are completely based on these— almonds, cashews and pistachios,” she said.“Over the last month, there has been a drastic change. Almond and cashew prices have gone up by around 5-7%,” she said.However, she said the increase was significant for a small entrepreneur because she does not buy ingredients in bulk. “I buy the product only when I get the order, so whatever I make is fresh. I don’t have the benefit of buying a product six months ago and keeping it,” she said.Giving an example of the impact on prices, Choury said, “If one of my sweets was priced at Rs 1,200 per kg, I am now quoting Rs 1,350.” She added that the increase depended on the product.A representative of a sweet shop in Viman Nagar said rising prices of milk, sugar and ghee had pushed up the cost of making sweets.“Sugar, ghee and milk — the rates of all of these have gone up,” he said, adding that wholesale prices had increased by around Rs 20-40.He said a laddoo that was earlier priced at Rs 760 per kg was now being sold for Rs 800.Similarly, kaju katli has risen from Rs 1,460 to Rs 1,500 per kg, while peda has increased from Rs 800 to around Rs 840-860 per kg.
