Kerala's culinary identity in crisis as major coconut crunch throws cooking out of gear

When thieves start forming organised gangs to steal coconuts from trees, you know something has gone wrong with the commodity market. In Kerala, a coconut that once cost Rs 25 now commands Rs 77— an over 200% price jump that has turned the states most essential ingredient into an object of desire, desperation and even crime.

Once G Jayapal used to sleep peacefully at night. These days, the general secretary of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association tosses and turns, haunted by visions of coconuts— not the kind you sip pina coladas from, but the humble brown orbs that have suddenly become more valuable than precious metals on India’s spice coast. #sr_widget.onDemand p, #stock_pro.onDemand p{font-size: 14px;line-height: 1.28;} .onDemand .live_stock{left:17px;padding:1px 3px 1px 5px;font-size:12px;font-weight:600;line-height:18px;top:9px} #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc{margin:0 auto 0;} #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc{color: #024d99;margin-top:10px;} #sr_widget.onDemand .crypto .live_stock .lb-icon{8px 6px 5px 3px !important} #sr_widget.crypto.onDemand a.text{border-bottom:1px solid #ccc;padding-bottom:5px;display:block;width:100%} #sr_widget.onDemand .sr_desc .text p, #stock_pro.onDemand .sr_desc .text p{font-size:12px;font-weight:400;} ...