Cow dung cakes sold in Amazon.com [Amazon.com]
Just like the rest of the world, India’s online market is flocked with items. iPhone, Samsung Galaxy S6, LED TVs, laptop computers are a few of the hottest items. Among the hottest, sits cow dung cakes. Yes. Round, flat, cake-shaped thing is a mixture of hay and cow dung.
In India, cow dung had been the essential item for everyday life for centuries. It is used as fuel for heating, cooking and various places where fire is needed. Well-dried cakes of cow dung are very easy to light fire with, and it burns with constant intensity.
Online retailers including Amazon and eBay are selling cow dung to people who live in urban areas of India. Because of fast growing population in urban areas, its citizens find hard to get cow dung for fuel.
Some retailers are offering large discounts on cow dung cakes if an order is made in large numbers. Some consumers even require gift wrapping for the cakes.
"Cow dung cakes have been listed by multiple sellers on our platform since October and we have received several customer orders 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.’’
The needs for cow dung cakes have spiked in recent Diwali festival season. People use cow dung in rituals carried out at homes, offices, factories and other workplaces. Also, as winter came, people use the cakes as outdoor fuel or for domestic uses.
Cow dung cakes are sold online for U.S$ 1.5~$6 per package. A package contains two to eight pieces of dung cakes weighing about 200 grams each.
아주경제 박세진 기자 = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
