- A wave of bizarre onion-related violence has prompted many humorous memes under #OnionCrisis
- But as prices of the staple vegetable soar, this may be a sign of political turbulence ahead, within India’s borders and beyond
When Saravana Kumar sold 20 smartphones within two days in the tiny town of Pattukottai it was a major cause for celebration – and confirmation of a maverick marketing strategy.
Kumar would usually struggle to sell two handsets a day, but this time those smartphones were flying off the shelves and all because of the free gifts he was giving away with each model.
Those gifts were not headphones, or covers, or cash-back coupons, but something his low-key shop wouldn’t usually even keep in stock: a kilogram of onions.
As soon as Kumar had advertised he would be doling out the vegetables free of charge to smartphone buyers, business began to boom – making his STR Mobiles store the latest setting in a series of tragicomic episodes that have catapulted onions to the top of the economic agenda in India and beyond.
Onion prices in the country have soared tenfold this year, sparking a nationwide outcry, questions in parliament, a spate of bizarre onion-related crime and dozens of viral memes as the outraged citizens of the world’s second most populous nation find themselves unable to afford their staple food.
A kilogram of onions now costs one-third of an average Indian’s daily income, having hit a record high of 200 rupees (US$2.79) per kilogram after unseasonal downpours in key onion-growing states left crops damaged.
And that spells trouble for the leaders of a nation where such spikes have been enough to topple governments in the past.
Back in the Kumar household, there has been a foretaste of the public’s anger.
“My wife is quite upset with me that I was giving away onions for free when prices are rocketing. But it’s a marketing strategy for my small business venture and it paid off, ” says Kumar, adding that he plans to gift the leftover onions to his wife.
Whether or not that placates Mrs Kumar, the rest of the Indian public may well be less forgiving.
In recent days half a dozen onion-linked robberies, assaults, fist-fights and attacks on trucks carrying the vegetable have been reported across the country.
Politicians have been quick to spot an opportunity, with opposition parties rallying in the streets wearing onion garlands and offering onions as wedding gifts.
Such scenes are a political nightmare for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is already under fire for a lacklustre economic performance, and some critics suggest signs of panic are setting in.
A few state governments have started selling onions at a subsidised price while analysts believe the onion crisis was behind the Reserve Bank of India’s surprise move to hold rates steady last week.
There are even signs the crisis is having an impact internationally. India is the world’s second-largest onion producer and makes US$360 million annually by exporting its surplus, but in light of the price rises the government has moved to ban exports of the vegetable and is rushing to import from places like Turkey and Egypt.
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