Lull in meat sale on first Sunday after 'Purattasi' as many leave Chennai for hometowns, say traders

Chennai, Oct 19 (PTI) Sale of meat hits a peak on the first Sunday after the end of Tamil month 'Purattasi', when people traditionally abstain from eating meat and seafood.

However, this year, with the Deepavali long weekend coinciding with the first Sunday of 'Aippasi', the Tamil month that follows Purattasi, there has been a lull in the sale, as people have already left the city, said Chennai meat traders.

Every year, during Purattasi, which is dedicated to Lord Vishnu, majority of Hindu consumers abstain from non-vegetarian food, but the market usually rebounds on the first Sunday after Purattasi, selling three to five times more than normal Sundays.

But this Sunday’s sale was even lower than what was sold in his outlets on Sundays usually, said C Balasubramanian, General Manager of Saraswathi Group, which retails chicken in seven locations in and around Chennai, selling nearly 3.5 million kg per annum.

“I would say about 40 per cent less than our usual Sunday sale. This is because most people in Chennai have left to their native places to celebrate the festival with families,” he said.

A salesperson at the Nungambakkam branch of Saraswathi Chicken, R Rajakumar, said during Purattasi, the price had dipped to Rs 200 per kilo, but now it had bounced to Rs 240 to Rs 260.

“We were selling for Rs 240 per kilo in our retail outlets,” he added.

Danniesh, 29, a fish merchant at Chennai’s famous Kasimedu fish wholesale market, said seafood demand is usually stable even during Purattasi, as increasingly people are relaxing rules about eating fish during the month.

“They are more strict about not eating chicken and mutton,” he added.

He also said his case might be different from traditional fish sellers, as he usually caters to a client-base that has more Gen Z people.

Danniesh has gained popularity as ‘Kasimedu Meenavan (fisherman)’, making reels and videos about his daily catch.

He said usually around Deepavali, the prices of the most popular fish, ‘vannjaram’ or Indo-pacific king mackerel, will inevitably go up.

“This time too, it’s been hiked to Rs 1,200 to Rs 1,300 from Rs 800 to Rs 900. Prices of prawns too will see a slight increase around this time — we are selling them today for Rs 450, for Rs 50 more than yesterday,” said Danniesh.

He also said in the case of seafood, the situation is different, as people tend to buy and stock fish a couple of days before Deepavali, fearing lack of supply on the festival day.

“So, we are doing a brisk business today, I am getting a lot of orders on my app as well. It is slightly more than what I used to sell during Purattasi,” added ‘Kasimedu Meenavan’.

S Salauddin, General Secretary of Chennai Mutton Merchant (Retailers) Association, said usually during Purattasi mutton sale is significantly impacted.

“Small time mutton traders lose out nearly Rs 2 lakh a month in sales while big players can lose anywhere between Rs 3 lakh and 4 lakh,” he added.

He also said retailers had a disappointing first 'Aippasi' Sunday in a long while.

“We foresaw the lack of demand, when we saw hordes of people leaving Chennai, so the price today had only a very nominal jump. We are selling it for Rs 750 to Rs 780, from Rs 700,” he said.

To give context, usually during festival day and the day preceding it, mutton prices can shoot up over Rs 1,000, he said.

Hopefully, tomorrow, on Deepavalli, we'll make up for the lack of sales today," added Salauddin. PTI JR ROH