Dry days ahead

Restaurants and hotels may run out of alcohol in a week If wine traders association continues with embargo on supplies to protest against city bars' refusal to buy inexpensive brands

You just might have to do without your pint of beer from next week. The Pune District Wine Trader's Association has refused to supply liquor to restaurants and hotels to protest against their decision to stop purchasing inexpensive brands.


Scraping from the bottom: Enjoy your cc while it lasts, as the Pune
District Wine Trader's Association says it will not resume supplies till
bars agree to thrash out all problems. representation pic

If the protest continues, restaurants and nightclubs will have a tough time serving liquor to customers in the next 10 days. According to industry insiders, after the entire tax and price hike there are several disagreements between the respective associations of traders and restaurateurs.

Ganesh Shetty, president, Pune Restaurant and Hoteliers' Association, said while it was true that the supply was likely to be cut off, there was a communication problem over the exact reason for the move. "The traders have refused to supply liquor. They informed us and we are still clueless about the exact reason because they haven't shared it with us," Shetty said. "However, it may be that since many of us have refused to purchase the less popular brands, they are annoyed. But after the increase in taxes, we also have to look after our profits. And we are not making any profits."

He also pointed out that the existing stock will last for a week, but if the protest continues, then there might be no supply at restaurants and hotels. Vijay Kutty, president, Pune District Wine Trader's Association, said that they were open to negotiations. "We have two issues, one being restaurants' refusal to purchase the less popular brands as the margin is lower. The other is that we want the credit limit to be reduced from 50 to 25 days," Kutty said. "As business is slow, we are having a tough time. We want immediate payment, which the restaurants are refusing. We are ready to sell liquor to those who agree to our demands."

Restaurant and nightclub owners maintain they are yet to hear the news from the traders and have enough stock for the time being. "I haven't heard the news yet, but I have enough to last the next 20 days," Neil Shah, owner, Curve, said. Nilesh Bhane, owner of a popular restaurant at Hinjewadi, said they were yet to speak to their dealers. "We are indeed facing some disapproval in the business functioning with the dealers," Bhane said. "But this (cutting off the supply) is not the right approach."