Options for food are now wide in city

It was not long ago that one had to negotiate the heavy traffic on narrow roads in old Dhaka to enjoy a Haji biriyani treat. Today the treat has been made available at your doorsteps. An outlet of the premier biryiani has been opened in many localities in the new town. By noon a truck ambles through with its cargo of mouth-watering food to unload it at the outlet. Perhaps they have a number of such vehicles to reach the huge aluminum pots full of biriyani to different  destinations well before lunch time. There is arrangement for taking the food right inside the outlet but those who opt for taking it home are served in packets.
Haji's is not the only biriyani available in areas like Mohammadpur, though. There are Nanna Mian's special too apart from a few others not so famous. Biryiani apart, there is a galore of other types of foods including bakers, sweetmeat shops, icecream parlour, department stores and tailoring shops. In so close proximity do they exist that one is forced to wonder if they are making enough business. Have the Dhakaites suddenly become highly voracious eaters who have stopped cooking at home?
Not many years ago, one had to visit Baily Road or Dhanmondi for ordering quality cakes on the occasion of children's birthdays. Many had to be satisfied with the cakes the ordinary confectionaries produced. Now all the renowned bakery brands are in a serious competition to attract your attention. Which one is not there? Helvetia, Sauslys Food, Cooper's, Mr. Baker, Well Foods, Nutrients --all have opened outlets at a stone's throw distance. Then there are the local ones which have been doing brisk business for long. Their foods may not compare with those of the more fancied bakeries but they are quite popular.
Now one of the brand names has economised on the use of space. Others have not. In fact, the outlets of many are quite large and their establishment cost is likely to be very high. But they are unlikely to make profit if business does not take off at a considerable pace. So far the impression is that customers are not crowding those outlets in great numbers. One of the factors is the high cost. The price of a bread of 500 gram has gone up within the range of Tk 80 to 120 at the top category and a 400 gram between Tk 40 to 55. Breads of the same sizes of lower brands are priced at Tk 50 and Tk 40 respectively. Only a year ago the top grades were available for Tk 50-60. A bread now sells at the price of a cake of yester years.
Inflation does not quire explain the matter. Flour and many other ingredients of cakes have become rather cheaper compared to a few years ago. But the price of bakery products has been shooting up unrelentingly defying the theory of competition among traders. The impression is that the more the number of competitors of food courts is the greater the competition for price hike. Maybe, they want to give the message that each one's quality is superior to others and hence the customers had to be ready to pay higher prices for their products. In free market economy, though, it had to be the opposite.
How do they stay in business is therefore a mystery. If infrequent customers' visits to such outlets are any guide, they should not be claiming to have run a thriving business. Can it be that they are making up for the dull business with skyrocketing of price. Scoop ice cream shops like Movenpick has also made their move to such areas once considered city fringe. But not many young men and women are found hanging out there. Forbidding price is the cause. After all, it has no competitors nearby.
One wonders if the nation is fast becoming one of retail traders provoking the consumptionaholic in people.