Holy cow! Dung patties are selling like hot cakes
Print Edition
Like consumers around the globe, Indians are flocking to the online marketplace in droves these days. But there鈥檚 one unusual item flying off the virtual shelves: Online retailers say cow dung patties are selling like hot cakes.
The patties 鈥 cow poop mixed with hay and dried in the sun, made mainly by women in rural areas and used to fuel fires 鈥 have long been available in India鈥檚 villages. But online retailers, including Amazon and eBay, are now reaching out to the country鈥檚 ever-increasing urban population, feeding into the desire of older city folks to harken back to their childhood in the village.
Some retailers say they鈥檙e offering discounts for large orders. Some customers are asking for gift wrapping.
鈥淐ow dung cakes have been listed by multiple sellers on our platform since October and we have received several customer orders鈥 since then, said Madhavi Kochar, an Amazon India spokeswoman.
The orders come mostly from cities where it would be difficult to buy dung cakes, she said.
In India, where Hindus have long worshipped cows as sacred, cow dung cakes have been used for centuries for fires, whether for heating, cooking or Hindu rituals. Across rural India, piles of drying cow dung are ubiquitous.
Radhika Agarwal of ShopClues, a major online retailer in India, said demand for the cow dung cakes spiked during the recent Diwali festival season, a time when Hindus conduct prayer ceremonies at their homes, factories and offices. On a recent day, ShopClues鈥 website showed that the patties had sold out.
鈥淎round Diwali, when people do a lot of pujas in their homes and workplaces, there is a lot of demand for cow dung cakes,鈥 she said, referring to rituals performed during the festival.
鈥淚ncreasingly, in the cold weather, people are keeping themselves warm by lighting fires鈥 at outdoor events, Agarwal said, adding that people who grew up in rural areas find the peaty smell of dung fires pleasant. 鈥淚t reminds them of the old days,鈥 she said.
The cakes are sold in packages that contain two to eight pieces weighing 200 grams each. Prices range from 100 (US$1.5) to 400 rupees per package.
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