Toddy: the fading elixir?

As the Kerala State Government plans to set up of a Toddy Corporation, to revive the sector, stakeholders wait for further details

Photos: The  Mullapanthal Toddy shop; glass of toddy  

By Shevlin Sebastian 

There are several Formica-topped tables with red plastic chairs inside the Mullapanthal Toddy shop, in Tripunithura, a suburb of Kochi. The fans hang down from long rods. On most tables there is a brown earthenware pot which contains toddy. As expected, the aroma is that of masala and spices. Through the large grilled windows, you can see the road outside. Buses, cars and auto-rickshaws whiz past, their horns blaring.  

The crowd on this weekday afternoon is decent when you consider that an Omicron pandemic is raging in the state. There are families, a group of girls and a few men, who are sipping down the white-coloured toddy. Many are having tapioca with fish. Other items on the menu include squid, duck, chicken, prawns, beef, and crabs. 

The mood is upbeat but not so for owner Vijaykumar, 55, who has been running this shop for the past 35 years. “The sale of toddy has been going down,” he said. “Yesterday, I only sold 100 litres of toddy. People come now mostly for the food.”

Vijaykumar gave away 26 shops for the workers to run, because he could not make a profit. Now he only runs three shops. 

One major reason is that many bars have sprung up in the vicinity. When he started out, there were only three bars in a 15-km radius at Tripunithura. “Now there are 20 bars,” says Vijaykumar. “Most people prefer to go to bars, because you get a high much faster with whisky, beer and brandy. In my experience, as soon as a bar comes up near a toddy shop, it immediately experiences losses and has to shut down.” 

In the nearby town of Mulanthuruthy, Vijaykumar was running a toddy shop and had sales of 300 litres a day. When a bar and two outlets of the government-run Kerala State Beverages Corporation opened, the daily sales at his shop fell drastically. 

His labour expenses are high. At his Mullapanthal Toddy shop, Vijaykumar has 27 people on his payroll. They include 14 women in the kitchen, apart from servers and cleaners. “But nowadays, I call up the entire staff only on weekends,” he said. “That’s when we have good business.”    

Meanwhile, the State government has announced that it has plans to set up a Toddy Corporation. The corporation will regulate the functioning of the 5000-odd toddy shops. It will buy and distribute toddy. The corporation also has plans to hand over the shops to workers’ cooperatives. 

Asked about this initiative by the state government, Vijaykumar says that he has not yet heard the details of what they are planning to do. “My concern is whether I will be able to buy the toddy as I do now,” he said. “Will there be too much bureaucracy that will slow down the process?” 

Another problem is that landlords are reluctant to rent out premises to toddy shops. “The people in the locality will object,” said Vijaykumar. “I hope the state government can solve this problem.”

Asked about the clientele for toddy, he said they ranged in age from the mid-thirties to the sixties. “Many of them are locals,” he said. “There are labourers, transport drivers, and office workers.” 

KP Murali is the secretary of the Tripunithura branch of the Toddy Workers Union. It belongs to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions. He said that he had read newspaper reports about a Toddy Corporation, but the union had received no details of the policy. “I cannot comment unless I can read a draft,” he said. 

Like Vijaykumar, he admitted the sale of toddy has been declining. “One of the main reasons is that people are opting for other drinks because the kick is much faster,” he said. “The younger generation prefers drugs like heroin and marijuana. These youngsters want an instant high. That is not possible by drinking toddy. It takes time for the kick to happen. But the youth are impatient.”

Asked about the clientele, Murali says, “They are mostly old people who belong to a different generation.” 

The daily wages for a worker in a toddy shop are Rs 470. This has remained static for the past four years. “Without a steady income, the owners cannot raise salaries,” he said.  

Murali paused and said, “The future does not look rosy.” 

(Published in News9Live.com)