Indian Restaurants Cut Portions and Raise Prices Amid 25% Cost Surge
Indian restaurants are adjusting to a 15 to 25 percent surge in input costs by shrinking portions and trimming menus as retail food inflation continues to climb.
Newsnibs Staff
- 2026-10-14
- Updated 7:47 PM UTC
Restaurants across India are shrinking portions, trimming menus and preparing price increases as input costs climb 15 to 25 percent in recent months. Retail food inflation accelerated to 7.74 percent in September, up from 5.97 percent in August, according to data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. Inflation in food and beverage serving services ran even higher, at 9.39 percent.
Onion prices have doubled from a year earlier. Rice, cooking oil and packaging costs have also risen, and LPG prices remain elevated, a consequence operators trace to disruption from the Israel-Iran war. Gagandeep Singh Sapra of Glisco Kitchens and Kabir Suri of Azure Hospitality both describe these increases as the force driving menu and portion changes at their restaurants.
Raghavendra Padukone, founder of By2Coffee, said operating costs have risen 15 to 20 percent. His menu prices have not moved yet. Most brands expect to hold off on price revisions until Diwali, when many will raise prices in step with the rest of the industry.
The timing cuts against the industry's usual pattern. The festive season typically brings a high-sales period for restaurants, but customers are now spending less per order even as the season arrives. Order growth, which climbed 20 percent month-on-month in June and July, has slowed to under one percent since August.
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