lvtogel

at December 25, 2025

The 50-year-old, originally from Kolkata in eastern India, told Al Jazeera that rising grocery prices have sent his household budget haywire, in particular, affecting a favourite family snack – fox nuts, popularly known as makhana.

Strong domestic market

Makhanas, as fox nuts are popularly known in India, used to be common in Indian kitchens historically, but like many traditional foods, lost out to the slick marketing campaigns, branding and flavours of Western and more modern Indian snacks.

The pandemic served as a blessing in disguise, bringing fox nuts back in favour because of their immunity benefits. Now, makhanas line Indian supermarket shelves, with flavours ranging from peri peri to tangy tomato, cheese to onion and cream.

Fox nuts India — The Indian government has announced a makhana board to help the sector grow [Gurvinder Singh/Al Jazeera]

Sujay Verma, 43, a software engineer in Kolkata, who is a native of Bihar and grew up eating fox nuts, told Al Jazeera that he gives a plate to his two daughters every day at breakfast.

“We were rushing after the packed food items that were expensive and creating a hole in my pocket. But fox nuts are not only cheap, but also good for health,” he said.

The Indian government has also seen the business potential of fox nuts. Earlier this year, it announced the formation of a makhana board at an initial outlay of one billion rupees ($11m) to institutionalise the value chain and provide training, technical support, quality regulation and export facilitation to businesses.

The drive from the Indian government comes from the top: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a rally earlier this year that he eats fox nuts most days, and that it was time that India took the super food to the world.

Farmers and labourers are also switching to fox nut production from other crops due to higher returns.

Anil Kumar, assistant professor at Bhola Paswan Shastri Agricultural College in Purnia in Bihar, told Al Jazeera that the labourers who collect seeds earn about 2,000 rupees ($22) per day for every 50kg (110lbs) collected. This is more than double the 700 to 900 rupees ($8-$10) paid normally to unskilled labourers in India.

The production of fox nuts was limited to 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) of land in 2010, and farmers were paid 81 rupees ($0.90) per kilogramme, he said. Now, about 40,000 (99,000 acres) hectares of land are being used to cultivate fox nuts, while farmers get 450 rupees ($5) per kilogramme.

“The tariffs won’t hurt us, as the demand is increasing globally,” said Satyajit, from Shakti Sudha Agro Ventures.

https://blac.edu.pl/profile/nevaflood/ · at December 25, 2025

Sarthak Ahuja, an investment banker and author, sounded the alarm in a LinkedIn post. "For the first time in the history of India, the No. 1 reason to take a personal loan is not a medical emergency, home renovation or to buy an asset... but travel," he wrote.

The data paints a sharp contrast with earlier generations, who typically borrowed for essentials or long-term assets. Now, Ahuja says, Gen Z is increasingly using credit to fund what he calls "status-driven consumption."

That includes financing flights to attend expensive concerts and buying iPhones on EMIs, with 70% of iPhone sales now happening via installment payments. In a striking data point, 39% of Gen Z reportedly borrowed money for necessities like rent, groceries, and utilities in 2024.

Ahuja attributes this shift to two primary forces. First, sky-high housing prices have crushed homeownership dreams for many young Indians.

"A young Indian thinks, how can I ever afford to pay a Rs 2 lakh EMI for 20 years to buy a simple house," he noted. In response, they choose to spend on immediate gratification, luxury goods, travel, and social media-fueled experiences.

Second, fintech innovation has removed much of the friction from borrowing. With zero-cost EMIs and Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) schemes embedded directly into checkout pages, loans under Rs 50,000 are often approved in under a minute. This has turbocharged unsecured lending for small-ticket items.

The trend mirrors and contrasts the consumer trajectory of Gen Z in China. Between 2015 and 2019, Chinese youth indulged in similarly aggressive borrowing for status purchases. But post-COVID economic stress has triggered a reversal. "That generation has shifted from revenge spending to revenge saving," Ahuja wrote.

In China, gold, specifically "gold beans" that weigh just one gram, has become a new status symbol among young savers, signaling a pivot toward financial prudence and intellectual capital. "While Indians are thinking I should borrow today because I will earn tomorrow, Chinese are thinking let me save today because I may not have a job tomorrow," Ahuja said.

The shift in India has also redrawn the map for consumer businesses. Direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are now targeting Gen Z more aggressively, banking on their willingness to borrow for Instagram-worthy lifestyles.

Ahuja's takeaway? "If you're getting jealous of someone's holiday or iPhone on social media, don't be, know that it could be on borrowed money."

lvtogel

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