As Eid-ul-Azha approaches, families gearing up for the festive feasts are facing a pinch in their pockets, with the cost of spices used in cooking meat hitting new highs.
The prices of kitchen staples like onions, garlic, ginger, and a range of hot spices have surged, casting a shadow over the holiday culinary traditions.
With the festival just around the corner, traders are hinting at further price hikes, adding to the anxiety of budget-conscious households eager to celebrate Eid with their traditional, spice-laden dishes.
Local markets now echo with the grumbles of consumers frustrated by the escalating costs.
The prices of these products have increased by Tk 20 to Tk 70 per kg within a week. The consumers have expressed their annoyance due to the price hike. But they have to buy these products as a lot of ginger, garlic, and onion are used in meat cooking.
Therefore, the demand for these products has increased in view of Eid. And the unscrupulous traders have capitalized on this demand and increased the prices. Traders are not punished as market monitoring is not strengthened by the government.
Talking with this correspondent at Karwan Bazer, a female customer Ambia Akter, a resident of New Eskaton, Dhaka said that already the prices of all things in the market have increased. On top of that, they have to face problems due to the increase in the prices of everyday products like ginger, garlic, and onion.
The retail traders claim that the prices of these products have increased in the wholesale market. So they have to increase the price in the retail market as well, she said.
Visiting different kitchen markets including Karwan Bazar, Rampura, Mohakhali and Mogbazar of the capital showed that prices of ginger have increased at the highest level by Tk60 to 70 per kg. Last week ginger was selling at Tk260-280 per kg, which is now selling at Tk 320 to Tk 360 per kg. Onions were selling at Tk90 per instead of Tk 70 per kg last week, and garlic at Tk 260 to Tk300 per kg instead of Tk 240 last week.
Retail traders say that the price of ginger has increased by Tk 50 to Tk 70 per kg compared to the last 2 weeks. At the beginning of this month, a kg of ginger was Tk 250 to Tk 260. Now selling for Tk320 taka. But the prices of garlic differ slightly in different markets based on quality.
Atiqul Islam, a trader at Karwan Bazar said that there is a high demand for various spices besides ginger, garlic, and onion during Eid-ul-Azha. Due to this, the prices of these products started increasing slowly from the beginning of this month. On average, the prices of these 3 products have increased by Tk 30 to Tk 70 per kg.
The price of green chilli increased by Tk20 per kg and sold this essential curry item at tk 200 to Tk220 per kg on Friday.
He also said, “When we can buy at the additional price, we have to sell at a profit of Tk5-10. Because after buying these products from the market, a part gets lost. So if we don’t make a profit of Tk10 per kg, we have to suffer a loss.”
The prices of vegetables have fallen in the kitchen market of Dhaka as a large number of the population of the capital left the city to enjoy Eid-ul-Azha with their native village home.
The prices of other commodities and fish have remained unchanged since Friday in the kitchen market of Dhaka.
