LPG shortage casts shadow on wedding catering in Hyderabad

The LPG shortage during the peak wedding season is affecting caterers in Hyderabad, forcing them to reduce menu items and reconsider live food counters. Some are exploring alternatives such as firewood as sourcing and refilling gas cylinders becomes increasingly difficult.

Hyderabad: Amid the auspicious season with scores of weddings planned and lined up this month, the LPG shortage, with its possible impact on catering, appears to be casting a shadow on the celebratory mood.

City-based caterers who have several bookings this wedding season are apprehensive about ways to tackle the situation resulting from LPG shortage. Both the wedding day and subsequent reception usually involve a lavish and sumptuous dinner spread and the caterers are said to be considering alternatives to cooking gas to cater for their orders.

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Among the options, reducing items on the menu is said to be one. “We usually provide at least 16 to 20 items, including soups, sweets, hot dishes, pickles, veg curries and non-veg curries, rice varieties, pulao and biryani. We will have to cut short at least 8 to 10 items due to cooking gas shortage,” a caterer told ‘Telangana Today’.

Another aspect likely to be affected is the live counters for chats, snacks and dosa counters. “We might not be able to manage all that now, given the fuel shortage,” another caterer said.

“Sourcing gas cylinders and having them refilled is going to be tough in coming days if the crisis continues. We have no option but to cut down on menu items and limit the scale of events we can service,” said the owner of Sree Caterers, Adikmet, Santosh Kumar.

The disruption affected catering businesses and customers who depended on the caterers for functions, said Krishna of Krishna Caterers.

Several catering operators concede that cooking gas shortage is giving them anxious times and affecting their ability to manage large orders.

A few caterers like Srinivas (Tirumala Caterers) and Nagaraju (RK Caterers) said they would follow decades-old tradition of preparing food on firewood instead of LPG and restrict items on the menu to below 10 only for the upcoming functions.