Caterers struggle as LPG shortage hits banquets & events

KOLKATA: Arijit and Poulami had planned to celebrate their first wedding anniversary this Sunday. The newlyweds had arranged a small get-together with close family and friends at a restaurant near their home in Dankuni, Hooghly. However, the plan has now been cancelled after the restaurant informed them that it cannot accept party bookings at the moment due to the ongoing shortage of commercial LPG cylinders. “We had already invited our guests. But the restaurant told us they wouldn’t be able to entertain party orders because of the LPG crunch. Now, we will organise the event once things return to normal,” said Arijit.

The LPG crisis has now begun to affect celebrations as well. From weddings, rice ceremonies and corporate events to parties, caterers are struggling to fulfil existing orders.

Many are either refusing large bookings or trimming menus to cope with the shortage. Sujoy Sarkar, Managing Director of Bhojon Catering Services, said they still have seven events lined up. “With the gas stock we currently have, we can manage only the next two events. I don’t know how we will complete the rest. The situation now is even worse than during Covid-19. These bookings were made a year in advance. We could set up stoves using charcoal, but most banquet halls do not permit cooking with charcoal.” Indrajit Das of Sankasree Event Management said he is somewhat relieved that the peak wedding season has just ended. “We recently handled a wedding event where we had to purchase gas cylinders at a much higher cost to complete the event,” he said, adding that he kept induction stoves ready to reheat starters during the programme.

Anjan Chatterjee, owner of Speciality Catering Services of Mainland China and Oh! Calcutta group, said the company will not take any fresh orders for the next 45 days.

According to Sushanta Sengupta, founder-director of Savourites (6 Ballygunge Place), this LPG crisis is severely affecting the restaurant business. “We have several events in our banquets and we have taken advance payments. If the crisis continues, our banquet events and outdoor catering will be hit badly. After Covid-19, this may turn out to be the worst crisis. We should have been informed earlier that something like this might happen instead of waiting for a ceasefire in the Gulf War,” he said.