"I was caught off-guard," says Ahmedabad-based art conservator, Ananya Krishnan, recalling her last trip home to Kerala in June. "Before heading back to Ahmedabad, I made my usual stop at the local market in Kollam for my favourite banana chips. The bag that used to cost Rs 100 was priced at Rs 150. Puzzled, I asked the shopkeeper why? He explained that the coconut oil used for frying the chips had gone up from Rs 200 to Rs 350 a litre. 'Coconuts aren't cheap any more,' he said."

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Still puzzled, Krishnan voiced her worry to her mother-in-law. Why had coconut, the abundant pride of God's Own Country, become so expensive? "Since mid-2024, Kerala has been grappling with a coconut shortage. Prices have surged, and for many, the everyday coconut has slowly disappeared from the kitchen," her mother-in-law explained.

It's not just Kerala that is feeling the coconut pinch. Across India, coconut prices have soared, with the southern states, including the Konkan (Goa, and parts of Maharashtra) facing a jump in prices, from Rs 15–25 apiece a few years ago to Rs 80–100. Tender coconuts are now being sold for up to Rs 100 in metropolitan markets. The soul of the south Indian tadka, the coconut oil, earlier priced around Rs 150–200 a litre, has jumped to Rs 400–500. The shortage of coconut and its byproducts, has resulted in exorbitant pricing, and is hurting.

The coconut crisis hit celebrations like Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi too. In August during Onam, the 23-dish Onasadya meal, which used to cost Rs 300, was being sold at Rs 500 per head in most restaurants and tiffin-rooms in Kerala, reported The Hindu. Now that the festivals are over, many hoped prices would ease. However, more than a month on, coconut prices haven't cooled. Konkani solkadi isn't as creamy any more, and Kerala's thoran has lost the rich, grated coconut punch.

The crisis hit such a peak in August that thieves in Kerala climbed trees at night and stole coconuts in bulk, reported the Kottayam-based newspaper Manorama. With prices of coconut and its byproducts like oil and powder soaring, some households in southern states, including in Konkan, Maharashtra and Goa, are considering, or have switched to sunflower and groundnut oils, saving coconut oil for those rare, special dishes.

The coconut crisis in India is part of a