West Asia crisis forces leaner menus at India's peak wedding season

LPG shortage forces caterers to rethink menus as India heads into a season of 4 million marriages and ₹60K crore in spending

Alarm bells over the war in West Asia are beginning to drown out wedding bells in India, as the resulting cooking gas crisis casts a shadow over the peak wedding season.

 

The conflict and the resulting cooking gas crunch are forcing wedding planners and caterers to trim menus and scale back celebrations, while many families are cutting down on guest lists as costs climb.

 

When Business Standard spoke to Sriram Kalyanasundaram, founder of leading Chennai-based wedding planner Pranaya Weddings, he had a few wedding functions lined up for the third week of March. However, from being planned initially as gala affairs, they have transformed into low-key functions with reduced menus and, in some cases, fewer invitees — thanks to the looming liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) crisis.

 

“For the past four days, we have been facing challenges. We have changed the menu for all weddings planned for next week. Live counters are being cut, as we will not be able to have gas stoves. We are avoiding menus that require additional cooking. The critical part is that we have to serve the customers as the wedding is scheduled,” Kalyanasundaram said.

 

In fact, his team is shifting to traditional wood-based cooking for several items. Adding to this, sources said the prices of commercial cylinders in the Chennai market were seen as high as ₹4,500 per cylinder on Wednesday, compared with around ₹1,500 before the crisis.

 

For those who think this may be a crisis affecting only a few people, numbers shared by the Confederation of All India Traders (Cait) indicate that around 4 million marriages normally take place during the April–May summer season in India, which itself is a ₹60,000 crore market.

 

Overall, the three wedding seasons (January–March, April–May, and November–December) form a ₹1.8 trillion market in India and boost consumption in the economy.

 

“The war may have some impact on food and may bring some austerity on that side. It is unlikely to have an impact on other aspects,” said Balkrishna Bhartia, president, Cait.

 

A month before India’s wedding catering industry enters its peak season in April–May, the LPG crisis has left it uncertain about planned commitments. Unlike day-to-day service, caterers work on long-term commitments, less flexible menus, and large gatherings.

 

“We have 10–15 orders for March–April and have stock for four to five, that too depending on the number of guests, which may fluctuate gas usage,” said the manager at Kolkata-based Sweet-N-Sour Catering Services.

 

“We cannot bring changes to the menu without discussing it with the client, but we have already given a heads-up to those whose events are planned for March-end,” he added.

 

Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, a leading textile industrialist and owner of renowned Nalli Silks, said the wedding market is already seeing some impact, with several people cutting down on the number of invitees. “Saris and other key items are part of tradition too, and we may not see any immediate impact,” Chetti added.

 

BharatMatrimony, which facilitates over 1,500 marriages a day through its platform, said it is not seeing any immediate impact of the war on the matchmaking industry. “Some marriages are getting impacted as the bride or groom is unable to travel because of a lack of flights from West Asia. Otherwise, there is no impact as of now,” said BharatMatrimony founder Murugavel Janakiraman.

 

“As far as events or weddings are concerned, we will get clarity in a day or two. Guests are anxious and are calling hotels. Hotels are discussing alternative menus that limit gas usage. As much as we avoid doing it, cancellations and postponements are under consideration but will be confirmed in a few days,” said Pradeep Shetty, vice-president of The Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India.

 

Some caterers highlight that even though smaller events like retirement parties are being deferred by 15–20 days, date-specific events have to go ahead, even if it means paying extra to procure cylinders.

 

“We are paying double the price for cylinders. At this point, we can only ask customers to pay us extra because we cannot deny service at the last moment,” said Imran Khan from Delhi-based Haji Catering Service.

 

Another caterer, Chef By Choice, said their agency is charging ₹3,500 per cylinder. “The rates always hovered around ₹1,800–1,900,” he added.

 

A worker at Jaipur’s Rajshri Caters & Events observed that they have an event on Thursday and another on March 25. “For these two events, I have cylinders in stock but no further supply,” he said, adding that he has not stopped taking orders in the hope that the situation will improve in 10–12 days.

 

Hotel owners say that marriages and other parties have already started seeing a major impact.

 

“Marriage menus are cut short in Tamil Nadu, too. In our restaurants, we are running short of LPG,” said D Srinivasan, owner of the Sree Annapoorna restaurant chain in Tamil Nadu.