ISLAMABAD: Considered to be most popular and consumed delight of the winter season, dry fruits have turned into a lavish commodity for a common man to buy due to the exorbitant rates amid the prevailing price hike situation.
However, buying dry fruits was no more a priority for majority of the citizens especially those belonging to the low- and middle-income groups as they are finding it hard to buy their daily eatables like vegetables, fruits, wheat flour etc. due to the price hike situation.
The nutritional benefits of dry fruits cannot be ignored in terms of increasing the immunity level to fight diseases due to the cold weather in the ongoing winter season.
Sajid Khan, a dry fruits seller at Karachi Company, said the price of dry fruits has increased along with inflation. “Selling dry fruits is the only source of income for me and it would be difficult to feed my children and run household expenditures if I didn’t earn maximum profit”, he said.
“The trend of offering discounts on special occasions is no longer limited to the clothes, food items and other accessories of daily life but also being adopted by sellers like me to attract buyers due to its high price”, Sajid Khan added.
He said that he sells almonds (without shell) at Rs2800 per kg, Walnut (without shell) at Rs2,200, Pistachio for Rs3,600, apricot for Rs1,200, dried apricot for Rs1600, dried figs for Rs3,200 and Raisin for Rs1,700, dates Rs1,200, Afghani Rewari for Rs1,200 and Cashews for Rs3600.
Since the Pine nuts are not purchased at all by most of the customers due to their sky-rocketing price of around Rs14,000, I also cannot afford to keep that in my stock, he said.
Zahida Amin, a customer at a dry fruits shop at Apbara Market said, “It was my routine from the last many years to buy the whole stock of dry fruits especially almonds and walnuts for the season so that my family can enjoy these with tea”.
But now due to the exorbitant rates of dry fruits and limited purchasing capacity amid the prevailing price hike situation, it is not possible to buy the most wanted nutritional dry fruits which are good for the health, she said.
A public servant Asima Azhar said, “It seems that dry fruits will become a commodity of a certain segment of society that would be able to afford to buy these otherwise people like me can hardly buy such things except peanuts.”
Saleem Khan, a regular customer of dry fruits at Karachi Company said every kind of dry fruit has its nutritional value like almonds are good for the eyes and walnuts for the brain. Dry fruits are essential for kids especially when they are in growing age.
Dry fruits provide you the much-needed nutrients, vitamins and warmth in the chilly winter season. During busy and short winters, one can have instant energy from the dry fruits. No diet plan is complete without these super-healthy foods as they are filled with various nutrients as well as essential fats. Dry fruits also have many skin benefits and thus form a key ingredient in beauty products.
