ALBAWABA The price of tomatoes rose five-fold in India on the back of a decline in crop productivity due to bad weather.
Man hired bouncers in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi to "protect" the produce in his store amid record high prices of tomatoes across the country.
Ajay Fauji, who runs a grocery business in Lanka area of Varanasi, has deployed two bouncers, he says, to prevent buyers from getting aggressive while haggling the tomato prices.
Tomato prices usually rise during June and July, due to the lack of production of this crop, but India's staple food prices have recently risen due to delayed monsoon, heavy rains and more hot temperatures than usual affecting the country's agricultural areas.
On the other hand McDonald's restaurant chain stopped using tomatoes to prepare meals at most of its branches in northern and eastern India, due to a five-fold rise in prices.
Higher prices can increase the cost of vegetables and other commodities, negatively affecting inflation and food security.
