InterContinetal's Tk20,000 Gold Jilapi sold out in six days
InterContinental Dhaka, one of the five-star hotel in the capital, added a mouth-watering and highly pricey dessert item to their iftar menu this year – gold foil-wrapped jilapi for Tk20,000 per kg – and all the Gold Jilapi have been sold out in less than a week.
The hotel authorities, on Monday, told The Business Standard that they are currently not taking any orders for the dessert item as their stock of edible gold foil has run out.
They, however, did not disclose the volume of Gold Jilapi orders they have delivered so far.
"We started taking pre-orders on our Facebook page last Tuesday and the orders that came in till 11am Monday morning have been sold out," said Maruf Hossain, an official of the hotel.
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"We got great response last week and we will inform our customers when we will start taking orders again,"
Capital's five-star hotel Intercontinental, Dhaka announced the sale of Jilapi wrapped in gold through a Facebook post on Tuesday of last week. The post said that the price of special Jilapi per kg has been fixed at Tk 20,000.
Hotel officials said they added the special Jilapi, wrapped with a thin coating of gold, which contains 20 to 22 pieces of 24 carat edible gold foil on the occasion of the holy Ramadan. The minimum order quantity was 250 grams.
"We believe food and beverage products are no longer just about eating. People want to enjoy the unique taste and experience of luxury products," said one of the hotel officials.
After the news broke that gold-wrapped Jilapi was being sold in a hotel in Dhaka, many expressed surprise on social media, and some even criticised it.
InterContinental Dhaka organises Iftar and Sehri every day during the month of Ramadan. They also serve the traditional saffron jilapi in their dessert menu for Iftar.
While the price of saffron jilapi is Tk1,800 per kg, InterContinental slapped a price tag of Tk20,000 for each kg of their Gold Jilapi.
In July last year, the news of gold-wrapped ice cream country received quite a response. Hotel Sarina, another five-star in the capital's Banani area, sold the special ice cream on their 19th anniversary. The ice cream was priced at Tk99,999.
The idea of sprinkling gold powder on food or drink started back in the 16th century. Among today's culinary items, gold-wrapped donuts, gold-plated pizzas and gold-leaf-wrapped burgers are available in many countries around the world.
