1 2 Pune: Dry fruits like almonds and cashews are likely to get more expensive as Diwali comes closer and wholesalers as well as retailers said prices were already inching up over the last two months. Prajakta Kulkarni , who makes fresh kaju katli and modaks to serve during Ganesh festival, said prices of cashews had increased by as much as Rs100 per kg. “Every year, I usually purchase dry fruits in bulk in Aug so that I can make fresh sweets during festivals.
This year, prices have been increasing monthly since May,” she said. Vendors said supply shortage had led to the price rise. “The quantity of stock coming from overseas has reduced over the last few months.
Cashews, which were selling at Rs760 per kg, are at Rs880 now. Almond prices have increased by about Rs50 per kg,” said Kunal Fulsagar, owner of Kunal Dryfruit in Gultekdi. A lot of people were shifting to broken cashews now.
“I bought broken cashews this year, since its price is similar to that of whole cashews earlier. I have substituted it in my preparations,” said Sarita Deshmukh, a resident of Kothrud. Ghansham Jamba, owner of Guru Gobind Dryfruit in Market Yard, said the demand had been impacted because of higher prices.
“The cost of other dry fruits, like walnuts, pista, etc, have been stable. We expect prices of almonds and cashews to be on the higher side because of lack of supply in the market,” he said. Vendors said prices of dry fruits would be a tad higher closer to Diwali since demand fo.
