Chaat But Not Street Food: Pani Puri, Sev Puri, Dahi Puri Prices At Mumbai Airport Leave Netizens Perplexed
Sugar Cosmetics COO's post resonated with many social media users, who shared their sentiments at the exorbitant cost of food at airports, particularly popular dishes.
Sugar Cosmetics COO Kaushik Mukherjee took to social media to express his disbelief at the Rs 333 price tag for a plate of pani puri at Mumbai airport.
The photo shared by Mukherjee on X, formerly Twitter, showcased a menu listing pani puri, sev puri and dahi puri, all priced at a staggering Rs 333 each.
Mukherjee wrote, "Real estate is expensive for food stalls at the CSIA Mumbai airport - but I didn’t know THIS expensive." [sic]
While some high-end eateries might offer the dish for over Rs 100, these popular chaat items don't cost more than Rs 30-40 at local food stalls.
Mukherjee's post resonated with many social media users, who shared their sentiments at the exorbitant cost of food at airports, particularly popular dishes. Many pointed out that the 'chaat' is from the hugely popular Elco market eatery at Bandra, where it sells for a premium too.
Elco has pani puri for ~160 in their retail outlets in Bandra. So this does make sense if your company is paying the bill. How will you defend a pani puri plate in front of your finance team is wild.
— Priyank Yadav (@priyank16) April 29, 2024
Whatttt elco is now at airport
— Ashish (@marketkaSafar) April 29, 2024
Great business growth
Started as a food stall
Even at his own shop panipuri is for 120 rs per player
Considering that Elco would sell pani puri at 100+ even back in the day at their outlet in Bandra, this is by no means a far stretch
— Mayuresh Shingore (@mshingore) April 29, 2024
Btw the elco panipuri is below average. Don't waste money
— NOTA Voter (@ivoteforNOTA) April 30, 2024
Elco likha h so nothing surprising here ð¤·ð½
— Sachin Joshi (@joshisachin247) April 29, 2024
Some netizens shared prices of other food items which were also "overpriced" as compared to the rates they usually buy it for.
I am still trying to digest this menu. Food is not affordable , so we might as well just eat the menu card. pic.twitter.com/Mf8jlZoMPv
— Nemesis_99 (@hbchetanjain) April 29, 2024
Please try T2 at Bangalore... Masala Dosa is 750 incl tax!
— Nitin Kavade (@KavadeNitin) April 29, 2024
The Pani Puri is priced just 3.5x here. Fairly reasonable. Try the jumboking vadapav or the dosa at Sukh Sagar near the Arrivals at T2. They are easily priced in the range of 4-5x.
— Vismay Buch (@fundaboy) April 30, 2024
Some just made a joke out of the whole situation. Here are some tweets:
3idiots ka dialogue yaad aa gaya,
— Kinjal Thakkar ð®ð³ (@RanchKinjal) April 29, 2024
Paneer to kuch dino baad sunar ki dukan pe milega itti itti theliyo main ð
Hahahah 333 ka Pani Puri, edhar it's still 10 ka 4 with extra Puri masala ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£ð¤£ people who still buy this need to be counselled ð¤£
— Raveen K Pai (@PaiRaveen) April 29, 2024
The value of that last Sukhi Puri at the end just went up!
— Pradeep Krishnakumar (@pradeep__kk) April 29, 2024
It's generally imposed by airlines for gaseous reason.
— Pun-dit (@Pun__dit) April 30, 2024
seems gold platedâ¦
— Divanshu Sabharwal (@KingSabharwal) April 29, 2024
Running a restaurant at an airport is expensive. Rents tend to be much higher than on the outside, and there are additional costs associated with security, staffing etc.
Once a passenger is past security, they don't have many other options for food. This gives restaurants some leeway to hike their prices. Unlike city centers with a wide variety of restaurants, airports often have a limited number of outlets, which can reduce competition and drive prices up.