Kolkata: Veggie supply picks up, grocery in doldrums

KOLKATA: Even though supply of vegetables managed to weather teething issues and somewhat stabilised on Friday, shortage of staples and grocery has left buyers in the lurch. Only a handful of grocery stores opened on Friday, only to be swarmed by customers. Though store keepers tried to ration the items, most of them ran out of stock by late morning.
Atta, maida, milk, curd, paneer, pulses and edible oils, which flew off the shelves across the city, were hardly replenished.Most of the wholesalers said their delivery mechanism had been largely disrupted by lockdown. Any inkling of an impending shortage triggered a scramble for hoarding. The crisis is more behavioural than real, said Biswanath Agarwal, general secretary of Post Merchants’ Association.

Agarwal assured that the current stock will last not only the lockdown period but much beyond that. “There are some issues with shortage of labourers. But with the help of retailers, we managed to send grocery items to many parts of the city,” he said. However, the distribution of grocery has not been even, leaving the demand-supply gap yawning.
Many buyers who had booked these items with e-tailers are yet to get their deliveries. E-commerce sites like Grofers and BigBasket kept postponing deliveries.
The supply chain in grocery items has suffered a big jolt. Around 60% of Posta-Burrabazar wholesale shops remained shut on Friday. “The ban on intra-state and intra-district truck movement has depleted stocks. Clearing of stocks lying in the warehouses needs labourers, but most of them have left for their homes,” said a Posta Traders’ Association member.
Under strict watch of market monitoring agencies and police, prices of grocery remained static except at a few places. According to markets experts, the supply chain has improved a lot over last few days. With panic buying petering out, they expect the availability of grocery items to improve a lot in a day or two.
Meanwhile, the vegetable supply chain has become a lot more stable, bringing down prices of most items. “The prices of spring-summer vegetables have come down a lot. The situation has improved after the chief minister’s warning against blocking vendors’ way to the market. However, some have stopped coming since they cannot afford hiring goods vehicles,” said Kamal Dey, president of the West Bengal Vendors’ Association.
However, fish and egg supply has suffered a setback with the lockdown. Syed Anwar Maqsood, the secretary of Howrah fish market, said loading of fish from Andhra Pradesh has completely stopped. “From Wednesday, fish prices have gone up by 10%-20%,” he added. Dairy companies are facing similar supply challenges, with several vans getting stopped by police. Milk in tetra packs is sold out in several markets.