Pune home kitchens in Catch 22 situation; tiffin orders soar, but chefs forced to trim operations

The shortage of commercial LPG cylinders amid ongoing global supply disruptions has begun affectingPune’s network of home chefs supplying home-cooked meals and tiffin services, forcing several small food businesses to either pause operations, scale down production, or adopt alternative cooking methods such as induction stoves and other electric appliances.

This is when orders have seen an uptick, thanks to many homes wanting to conserve their cooking gas.

Green Souls Kitchens, located in Hingne Khurd and run by owner Suraj Jadhav, has temporarily stopped operations due to the situation.

The kitchen usually delivers home-style meals to regular customers in nearby residential areas.

“We have paused our services and will resume once the situation becomes stable,” Jadhav said, adding that the business had been serving a steady number of customers before the disruption.

The decision, he said, was taken to avoid uncertainty in daily operations due to LPG availability.

Raashi Verma of Sharan’s Rasoi, who runs a popular cloud-kitchen serving home-cooked food, agrees that food orders have increased of late since the gas supply crisis started, and while their services are not yet disrupted, they are treading with care, accepting only pre-booked orders.

“We have our gas stock as of now, but since our vendors are not committing future supply, we have to wait and watch.

We are cooking dishes that require less gas,” she said.

At Tiffyy – A Homely Tiffin Service, based in Kondhwa, manager Virendra Kumar said the service that delivers home-cooked meals to homes, offices, and students is facing a problem with gas supply.

“So we are taking limited orders for now,” Kumar said.

To cope with the shortage, the kitchen has begun using induction stoves alongside LPG.

Kumar added that although customer demand has increased, the service informs customers in advance that only a limited number of orders are being accepted due to cooking constraints.

“Even though orders have increased, we tell customers that we are accepting limited orders because of the cooking constraints,” he said, adding that this helps them balance rising demand with the available cooking capacity.

Meanwhile, Shree Tiffins, a tiffin service provider based in Shivajinagar and run by owner Jyoti Subedhar, is preparing to adopt alternatives such as electric coil stoves to manage operations if the situation worsens.

The service delivers home-style meals to homes, offices, and students, catering to around 50–80 tiffins daily.

“We will reduce the menu and manage with coil stoves,” Subedhar said, adding that scaling down menu items would help the service continue operating despite fuel constraints.

In contrast, The Health Kitchen, based in Pimple Saudagar and operated by Vaishali Kulkarni, delivers in Pune as well, and has managed to continue operations without major disruption.

The service caters to residents and working professionals seeking healthy, home-cooked meals.

Kulkarni said the kitchen currently has about two months’ worth of LPG stock and has also equipped the kitchen with electric alternatives such as induction stoves, ovens, and Oven Toaster Grills (OTG).

“Right now, we do not have a problem because we have adequate stock and multiple cooking options,” Kulkarni said.

She added that the kitchen had witnessed a surge in customers during the second wave of theCovid-19pandemic, when many residents relied on home-delivered meals, but the number of customers has remained largely stable since then.

(Nilambari Salunke is an intern withTheIndian Express)