 a kilo in certain parts of India - a sharp shift from the usual 40-50 rupees. The costly tomato has wreaked havoc on wallets, in kitchens and even on the streets. McDonald's recently made news - not for adding a new dish - but dropping tomatoes from its menu in most of its outlets in northern and eastern India. It cited the unavailability of quality tomatoes "due to seasonal crop issues" as the reason. The skyrocketing prices have been particularly hard on India's middle and lower classes, who make up the bulk of the population. In the western city of Pune, a vegetable seller allegedly smacked a customer in the face with a weighing scale for bickering over the price of 250g of tomatoes. In India's holiest city Varanasi, a politician reportedly hired two bouncers to prevent people from haggling over tomato prices at his shop. There have been reports of people stealing tomatoes from fields and hijacking tomato-laden trucks. Experts say that bad weather conditions have damaged crops, fuelling shortages in the market and a mismatch between demand and supply. The government has said that the soaring prices are a "temporary problem" and that they will drop in the coming months. Some states have started selling tomatoes at reduced prices at government-run or farmer-backed outlets to help consumers. On 30 June, the Indian government launched a Tomato Grand Challenge Hackathon in Delhi to encourage the public to share ideas to combat the escalating prices. The tomato holds a surprising amount of sway over Indian cooking - it's added to almost every dish. So when it becomes scarce and expensive, it becomes the subject of headlines and){kind=link}
The conundrum over the tomato in India right now is not whether it’s a fruit or a vegetable – it’s that it has become expensive, and ridiculously so.
The price of the everyday staple has been climbing steeply for the past couple of weeks, and now stands at almost 200 rupees (£2; $3) a kilo in certain parts of India – a sharp shift from the usual 40-50 rupees.
The costly tomato has wreaked havoc on wallets, in kitchens and even on the streets.
McDonald’s recently made news – not for adding a new dish – but dropping tomatoes from its menu in most of its outlets in northern and eastern India. It cited the unavailability of quality tomatoes “due to seasonal crop issues” as the reason.
The skyrocketing prices have been particularly hard on India’s middle and lower classes, who make up the bulk of the population.