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By Chokkapan S | IMAWS
In a town revered for its French colonial charm, eclectic food and beachside cafés, Puducherry’s hospitality sector finds itself embroiled in a simmering crisis. If one were to pay heed to the leading voices in the local hotel and restaurant industry, a combination of falling occupancy rates, hyper-local competition, lack of food safety enforcement and unregulated influencer marketing are threatening the stability – and survival – of long-standing establishments.
“Over the last 2–3 months, there is almost a 40 per cent drop in hotel occupancies in Puducherry,” laments Anand Gandhiraj, Secretary of the Hotels Association of Pondicherry. “Restaurant walk-ins have also reduced drastically during this period.” But beyond the seasonal dips and inflationary pressures, Anand points to a more structural issue: the unchecked rise of roadside food vendors operating outside the purview of hygiene protocols, tax structures and labour standards.
“Street and roadside vendors have no rent to pay, absolutely no taxes and no additional employees, but are actually eating into our customers and businesses,” he adds. “We’ve already reported this issue to the government. People should be extremely careful about where they eat — especially when it comes to feeding families and children.”
Anand isn’t alone in voicing the industry’s concern. “There are a lot of budget properties and eateries mushrooming in Puducherry,” echoes Manoj Kumar O, Secretary of the Pondicherry Restaurants Association. “Sustaining our businesses has become extremely difficult in the recent times.”
A Cry for a Level-playing Field
Both Anand and Manoj clarify they are not against street vendors. “We believe everyone has the right to earn a living,” they say, “but there needs to be a level-playing field in terms of pricing, taxation, and regulations.”
What adds fuel to the fire, according to Manoj, is the role of social media. “Everything depends on Google and online reviews these days. Only bigger brands with the budget for consistent exposure and publicity are gaining traction. Smaller restaurants are shutting down — some because of the delivery app commissions, others because they can’t keep up with the promotional race.”
Manoj further raises concerns about the influencer economy. “Influencers now demand fixed rates based on our seating capacity and type of restaurant. Even when some businesses engage them, the impact window is short — a week, maybe less, before they move on to their next feature.”
What’s more worrying, he says, is that many influencers actively promote roadside vendors without verifying credentials or FSSAI licences. “A lot of these vendors don’t even hold a basic food safety licence, and that’s dangerous.”
Despite repeated assurances, the promised zoning of street vendors into designated areas hasn’t taken off. “It’s been four years since the idea was floated,” Manoj adds, “but nothing has materialised.”
The Elephant in the Room: No Food Safety Enforcement
Adding urgency to these concerns is the glaring lack of food safety enforcement in Puducherry. In the words of the restaurateurs, complaints to the state Food safety office have led nowhere — because, as it turns out, there are no officers to lodge complaints with. One of the biggest request from the hoteliers there is to have enough manpower.
When Kitchen Herald contacted , an officer from the health department acknowledges the systemic vacuum. “The food safety wing was carved out of the Health Department in 2011–12, but Puducherry’s Food safety office has been functioning without adequate officers ever since”.
Dr S.D. Balakrishnan, the Designated Officer (D.O.) of Puducherry, when asked about the situation said that the department is trying their level best despite some difficulties. “In fact, I’m a food inspector who has been assigned the additional charge of D.O. I try to do the job with help from our laboratory technicians. Despite the region is very vast, the department try to fulfil our duties.”
This admission underscores the scale of the problem. While culinary tourism continues to grow and social media shines a spotlight on Puducherry’s food scene, there is no infrastructure to ensure food safety compliance across hundreds of vendors and eateries.
Missing Local Representation in Culinary Tourism
Ironically, even as food-based tourism events like heritage food festivals and culinary rallies have brought in more tourists, Anand points out that local professionals are often overlooked. “Many such events are headlined by chefs and vendors from other cities. Our own food talent and homegrown brands rarely get that platform,” he points out.
The Road Ahead
Puducherry’s hospitality sector is at a critical juncture. On one hand, there’s increasing footfall driven by tourism and online discovery. On the other hand, there’s a vacuum of regulation and safety oversight.
It is here that the industry leaders are urging authorities to:
- Operationalise the state FSSAI department with full-time officers and field staff
- Create designated zones for street vendors to ensure hygiene and safety standards
- Regulate influencer marketing and its impact on public food choices
- Provide equal representation for local establishments in tourism-driven events
As Puducherry builds its identity as a cultural and culinary destination, its future depends not just on flavour and festivity, but on fairness, regulation and inclusion.
