Groupon was forced to shed a few tears in India when its website crashed.
Onion King Image: Sistak |
Eye wateringly low prices for onions were made available for 24 hours on the discount coupon company, Groupon's, Indian website as it turned the price clock back fourteen years.
Groupon sold 3,000 kilograms of onions - an essential ingredient in Indian cooking - in just 44 minutes as people struggled to take advantage of the nine rupees per kilogram price tag (equivalent to about 15 US cents) before the price headed back up to a the more common 'free-market' price of 100 rupees a kilogram.
The country's worsening economic conditions are the backdrop for supply shortages and rising food prices. With onions a staple diet in India at almost every meal, the subject is food for thought for India's current politicians, although it presented a similar challenge for the late Indira Gandhi, who said once commented that a government had no right to govern if it could not control onion prices!