CEREMONIES filled with fun and delicacies to eat have been the foundation of many Nigerian parties. Be it at weddings, birthdays, house-warming, or launching, among others, guests wait patiently for the food aspect, especially those where you serve yourself (buffets) with the hope of eating their fill.
However, the continuous rise in the prices of food items has made households and celebrants cut costs leading to the dearth of buffets at parties.
Economy&Lifestyle discovered that many hosts now serve food as takeaways. Some serve guests themselves in smaller portions in a bid to cut costs.
Kolawole Adeoye, a chef, said to prepare a buffet of varieties of food is more expensive than takeaways.
He said: “To prepare food varieties accompanied with desserts and drinks for 50 guests as a buffet would cost N500,000 but a takeaway of rice, chicken and plantain with meat and fish costs N2,000 per plate and N100,000 for 50 guests.
“Many people now order takeaways at events. This is because prices of foodstuffs are rising daily and money is not easy to come by these days.
“Guests have different appetites for food. Some eat much while some eat a little. Sometimes the meal is not enough for the number of guests as some complaint of not eating.
“What some hosts, who still want to preserve the buffet tradition do in parties now, is that they appoint two to four people at the meal stand who serve the meal to each guest.
“As a guest, you don’t have any option than to accept whatever you are served.
“However, many party hosts pack the takeaways in bags accompanied with drinks for each guest to avoid serving one person twice.
“This has helped a lot in saving costs.”
Mrs Aisha Afolabi, a banker, said even at corporate events, some hosts cut down to serving only breakfast (tea and snacks), sometimes only water.
She said: “It is not only in informal ceremonies that people have stopped this serve-yourself thing. Even in corporate organisations, where you serve yourself and then go home with expensive gifts, spending has been down on.
“They now serve food and drinks as takeaways. Sometimes the drinks might be water or soft drink. Some just serve only water.
“If they don’t do that, how will they address other expenses knowing the state of things in the country and around the globe?”
Samson Adegboyega, a civil servant, said: “I was served takeaway food and drinks in all the parties I attended this year. Even the one that offered a buffet, it was the waiters that served everyone. Two different food were made, unlike before when you would eat and go back to fill your plate with another.
“When I complained, my wife opened my eyes to the fact that people were managing themselves as things, especially food items, are getting expensive each day.
“It is only God that is sustaining many businesses and households this period.”
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS’ Selected Food Price Watch for August 2022, the average price of 1kg of beans (white, black eye, sold loose) rose on a year-on-year basis by 12.9 per cent from N457.98 in August 2021, to N517.23 in August 2022.
It further said: “Similarly, the average price of 1kg beef (boneless) rose by 26 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N1,698 in August 2021 to N2,141 in August 2022.
“In addition, the average price of groundnut oil: one bottle, specify bottle, stood at N1,087 in August 2022, showing an increase of 33 per cent from N812.70 in August 2021.
“In the same vein, the average price of palm oil: (one bottle, specify bottle) increased by 34 per cent from N668.71 in August 2021 to N896.63 in August 2022.”
