As is customary on my usual Sunday rides, I hunted down a vendor selling that divine elixir of life - tender coconut water - to replenish the precious electrolytes I had lost. I had cycled almost 50km by this point of time, so I drank not one but two of them (with the bonus of "malai" in one of them, which the vendor termed as my "naashta", obviously not knowing better about my appetite).
When I handed over a hundred rupee note to the vendor, I was surprised to get back only 10 rupees. Now I must mention that I am a real nariyal paani connoisseur, and of the various nariyal paani haunts I frequent, I have slowly seen the price of one coconut creep up from Rs. 35 to Rs. 40 over the past few months.
Coconut water is one of my all-time favourite drinks. So the deep analysis below may be boring to most, but if you're as fanatical as me about this drink, it may just be something you're interested in.
There was a time when some level of differential pricing in nariyal paani appeared to be in sway in the city: while you could manage a 35 rupee coconut in some parts of the city, in other posher neighbourhoods, 40 rupees would be the norm.
One of my usual vendors has now started providing two varieties of coconuts ("hamare paas ab do quality ke maal hain"): one, for Rs. 35, and the other - allegedly containing double the quantity of tender coconut water as its counterpart - for Rs. 40. If for an extra five bucks (i.e. 12.5% more), you get 100% more coconut water, the decision is a no-brainer.
The 35 rupee coconuts have now pretty much disappeared from Delhi (barring my trusty vendor supplying do quality ke maal).
Till about 8-10 years ago, these coconuts would cost Rs. 25 in Delhi. At about the same time, in Bangalore, you could get better quality "maal" for Rs. 20. I remember consuming many of these after my afternoon swims in a swimming pool close to my college campus - they would really hit the spot!
While working in Bombay after college, between 2009 and 2012, I saw the price of nariyal paani fluctuate between Rs. 20 to Rs. 30. Of course, in Bombay, you have the luxury of customizing your naariyal paani experience, and can make demands such as "patli malai" (something which the Delhi vendors neither get, nor care about, nor have the competence to achieve). In addition to being served good quality coconuts with plenty of water, you got the satisfaction of watching the guy tap each coconut to ascertain from the sound it produced exactly how much water and what consistency of malai it contained - Bombay is a professional city through and through!
Jogging my memory to remember the price of tender coconuts in other destinations:
- Calcutta (December 2014) - Rs. 30
- Vietnam (March 2015) - a minimum of Rs. 15,000 dong (or about Rs. 40) on average, but upwards of that in more touristy places, where thirsty suckers like me would succumb.
- Trivandrum (September 2015) - Rs. 30 on Kovalam beach, but possibly cheaper in other parts of town that were less touristy?
In circa 2007, I visited Thailand and got to experience the most distinctive tasting coconut water (whose price I don't remember, but it was so yummy that it merits this aside). Tender coconuts in Thailand contain the most flavourful biscuity tasting water! If you're curious about what I mean, you can pick up a bottle of Cool Coco for about Rs. 70 in Delhi - this is the glass bottle with coconut bits floating in it that you may have come across in some supermarkets, not to mention the Supreme Court canteen. I later learnt from a diabetic family friend who was living in Bangkok that the Thai vendors actually inject sugar into these coconuts using syringes! (Apparently this is also a great party hack for injecting alcohol in coconuts.)
Coming back to the present day, I was caught unawares by the sudden inflation in tender coconut water from Rs. 40 (which seemed like only a recent revision) to Rs. 45. So I asked about it, and was told that this was a demand/supply imbalance that originated "peechhee se" - presumably, at some glorious source that supplies tender coconuts to all of Delhi (I'm now picturing myself as Uncle Scrooge jumping in a treasure vault full of green coconuts, though surely this would hurt my behind more than gold coins) - caused by Dengue!
While we have all come to learn that coconut water is an absolute saviour for Dengue, I had not imagined that it had come to affect the coconut water economics drastically enough to cause this inflation overnight (or so it seemed).
So I leave you to mull over naariyal paani economics with these last couple of thoughts:
1. Was the 45 rupee nariyal paani attributable solely to the excess demand caused by Dengue, or could it be the fact that the vendor could command a higher price by virtue of standing near a gate of Lodhi Gardens in the heart of south Delhi?
2. It's obviously no coincidence that coconut water is cheaper, and of a higher quality/quantity, in places closer to the sea such as Bombay, Bangalore, Calcutta and Trivandrum. The cost of a tender coconut in Delhi includes the cost of transporting it to this landlocked market. Where does Delhi get its supply of coconuts from? What is this peechhe ka source? Or are there multiple such sources, and is that why quality/quantity is so variable across vendors in Delhi? Where do you get the most bang for buck?
3. What are the most cost-effective, tasty and preferably low or no-preservative options for packaged coconut water? I know that Tendo (Rs. 40), which comes in tetra-packs is one such option. It claims to be preservative-free and it certainly tastes like it. Then there is Real's packaged coconut water (also ~ Rs. 40), which comes in a small bottle and tastes a little artificial. There's the overpriced Cool Coco (~ Rs. 70) which I mentioned above, which is delicious but full of added sugar, the way the Thais like it, though the small coconut bits are such a tasty novelty!
While some of these alternatives offer the advantage of portability, none of these can really compare with the taste of real tender coconut water (not even Real with a capital 'R'). So I'm probably going to continue shelling out whatever it takes to get that, the alleged Dengue-triggered price hikes notwithstanding.
[POSTSCRIPT: While in Chennai/Pondicherry/Auroville recently, I had the opportunity to drink a 20 rupee nariyal paani on Auro Beach (which we stumbled upon by accident). A couple of days later, en route the Chennai airport, we stopped to at a roadside nariyal paani vendor's stall, where the price was 40 rupees! Clearly, there are many variations in price within even within a relatively short geographical radius.]
When I handed over a hundred rupee note to the vendor, I was surprised to get back only 10 rupees. Now I must mention that I am a real nariyal paani connoisseur, and of the various nariyal paani haunts I frequent, I have slowly seen the price of one coconut creep up from Rs. 35 to Rs. 40 over the past few months.
Coconut water is one of my all-time favourite drinks. So the deep analysis below may be boring to most, but if you're as fanatical as me about this drink, it may just be something you're interested in.
There was a time when some level of differential pricing in nariyal paani appeared to be in sway in the city: while you could manage a 35 rupee coconut in some parts of the city, in other posher neighbourhoods, 40 rupees would be the norm.
One of my usual vendors has now started providing two varieties of coconuts ("hamare paas ab do quality ke maal hain"): one, for Rs. 35, and the other - allegedly containing double the quantity of tender coconut water as its counterpart - for Rs. 40. If for an extra five bucks (i.e. 12.5% more), you get 100% more coconut water, the decision is a no-brainer.
The 35 rupee coconuts have now pretty much disappeared from Delhi (barring my trusty vendor supplying do quality ke maal).
Till about 8-10 years ago, these coconuts would cost Rs. 25 in Delhi. At about the same time, in Bangalore, you could get better quality "maal" for Rs. 20. I remember consuming many of these after my afternoon swims in a swimming pool close to my college campus - they would really hit the spot!
While working in Bombay after college, between 2009 and 2012, I saw the price of nariyal paani fluctuate between Rs. 20 to Rs. 30. Of course, in Bombay, you have the luxury of customizing your naariyal paani experience, and can make demands such as "patli malai" (something which the Delhi vendors neither get, nor care about, nor have the competence to achieve). In addition to being served good quality coconuts with plenty of water, you got the satisfaction of watching the guy tap each coconut to ascertain from the sound it produced exactly how much water and what consistency of malai it contained - Bombay is a professional city through and through!
Jogging my memory to remember the price of tender coconuts in other destinations:
- Calcutta (December 2014) - Rs. 30
- Vietnam (March 2015) - a minimum of Rs. 15,000 dong (or about Rs. 40) on average, but upwards of that in more touristy places, where thirsty suckers like me would succumb.
- Trivandrum (September 2015) - Rs. 30 on Kovalam beach, but possibly cheaper in other parts of town that were less touristy?
In circa 2007, I visited Thailand and got to experience the most distinctive tasting coconut water (whose price I don't remember, but it was so yummy that it merits this aside). Tender coconuts in Thailand contain the most flavourful biscuity tasting water! If you're curious about what I mean, you can pick up a bottle of Cool Coco for about Rs. 70 in Delhi - this is the glass bottle with coconut bits floating in it that you may have come across in some supermarkets, not to mention the Supreme Court canteen. I later learnt from a diabetic family friend who was living in Bangkok that the Thai vendors actually inject sugar into these coconuts using syringes! (Apparently this is also a great party hack for injecting alcohol in coconuts.)
Coming back to the present day, I was caught unawares by the sudden inflation in tender coconut water from Rs. 40 (which seemed like only a recent revision) to Rs. 45. So I asked about it, and was told that this was a demand/supply imbalance that originated "peechhee se" - presumably, at some glorious source that supplies tender coconuts to all of Delhi (I'm now picturing myself as Uncle Scrooge jumping in a treasure vault full of green coconuts, though surely this would hurt my behind more than gold coins) - caused by Dengue!
While we have all come to learn that coconut water is an absolute saviour for Dengue, I had not imagined that it had come to affect the coconut water economics drastically enough to cause this inflation overnight (or so it seemed).
So I leave you to mull over naariyal paani economics with these last couple of thoughts:
1. Was the 45 rupee nariyal paani attributable solely to the excess demand caused by Dengue, or could it be the fact that the vendor could command a higher price by virtue of standing near a gate of Lodhi Gardens in the heart of south Delhi?
2. It's obviously no coincidence that coconut water is cheaper, and of a higher quality/quantity, in places closer to the sea such as Bombay, Bangalore, Calcutta and Trivandrum. The cost of a tender coconut in Delhi includes the cost of transporting it to this landlocked market. Where does Delhi get its supply of coconuts from? What is this peechhe ka source? Or are there multiple such sources, and is that why quality/quantity is so variable across vendors in Delhi? Where do you get the most bang for buck?
3. What are the most cost-effective, tasty and preferably low or no-preservative options for packaged coconut water? I know that Tendo (Rs. 40), which comes in tetra-packs is one such option. It claims to be preservative-free and it certainly tastes like it. Then there is Real's packaged coconut water (also ~ Rs. 40), which comes in a small bottle and tastes a little artificial. There's the overpriced Cool Coco (~ Rs. 70) which I mentioned above, which is delicious but full of added sugar, the way the Thais like it, though the small coconut bits are such a tasty novelty!
While some of these alternatives offer the advantage of portability, none of these can really compare with the taste of real tender coconut water (not even Real with a capital 'R'). So I'm probably going to continue shelling out whatever it takes to get that, the alleged Dengue-triggered price hikes notwithstanding.
[POSTSCRIPT: While in Chennai/Pondicherry/Auroville recently, I had the opportunity to drink a 20 rupee nariyal paani on Auro Beach (which we stumbled upon by accident). A couple of days later, en route the Chennai airport, we stopped to at a roadside nariyal paani vendor's stall, where the price was 40 rupees! Clearly, there are many variations in price within even within a relatively short geographical radius.]
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