Food in Bhutan

Rice, maize and buckwheat are staple foods in Bhutan. Typical dishes include the chili-and-cheese dish (ema datshi), kewa datshi with potatoes, shakam datshi with dried meat, jasha maru, phaksha paa, jaju, momo, thukpa, khurle and puta. Chilli often serves as both a vegetable and a seasoning. Rice is often combined with a stew. Suja is butter-and-salt tea, ngaja is milk tea, and ara, banchang and sinchang are traditional alcoholic drinks. Regional cuisine differs considerably. In the west, for example in Paro and Punakha, red and white rice, chilli-and-cheese dishes, meat and dried fish are common. Bumthang is known for buckwheat, khurle, puta and dairy products. In the east, for example in Lhuentse and Trashiyangtse, maize dishes, zoedoe and asham thukpa play a larger role. In the south, especially in Lhotshampa areas, rice, roti, dal, curries and pickles are part of the cuisine. Thimphu, Paro, Punakha and Phuentsholing generally offer the widest selection of local, international and modern dishes; in rural areas, the range is often smaller. National supply is formally organised but regionally and practically fragmented. The Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, together with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Livestock, works among others with the Bhutanese Food and Drug Authority (Bhutan Food and Drug Authority). The Food Corporation of Bhutan Limited operates 26 warehouses, 4 sales outlets, 4 auction yards and 3 regional offices. Strategic food reserves, including the National Strategic Food Reserve and the SAARC Food Reserve, supplement supply. School rations include nine perishable goods. Season, transport routes, regional availability and dependence on imports have a particularly strong effect on prices. When eating out, tourist price guidelines provide a rough indication rather than nationally binding rates: budget meals often cost under 500 Ngultrum (Nu) per person, mid-range options up to about 1,000 Nu, and higher-end options over 2,000 Nu. Local meals and snacks such as momo, juma and thukpa are usually more readily available than international or fusion cuisine. According to the HCES 2025 household budget survey, with 2024 as the reference year, households in Bhutan spent an average of 21,991 Nu per month on food, equivalent to 7,069 Nu per person per month or 40.5 percent of household expenditure. In cities, the figures were an average of 23,728 Nu per household and 9,126 Nu per person, while in rural areas they were 17,194 Nu per household and 5,816 Nu per person. These are averages, not a uniform price list. The 2023 Food Security and Nutrition Policy understands food security as physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe, diverse and nutritious food. It promotes safe food baskets, local procurement for schools, hospitals and other institutions, and a more stable supply. Clinical nutrition counselling, by contrast, belongs to the health sector. Food businesses are subject to the Food Act 2005 and the Food Rules and Regulations 2017. The Bhutanese authority and its departments oversee inspections, testing, certification, licences and monitoring. A food business pays 100 Nu for registration and 500 Nu for the food safety licence (Food Safety License). The application requires supporting documents and an inspection, as well as evidence of good hygiene and manufacturing practice depending on the business. The licence has no fixed expiry period as long as the requirements continue to be met; the authority monitors businesses on a risk basis. Food handlers can attend free training. A health examination, interview and declaration of commitment are part of the procedure in the 20 Dzongkhags. Anyone with symptoms of illness should not handle food. Street vending and time-limited mass catering are not covered by the standard licensing procedure described in 2025; separate requirements apply. Pre-packaged foods must state, in English or Dzongkha, among other things, the ingredients, manufacturer or distributor, origin, lot number and best-before date. A genetically modified component exceeding 5 percent must be labelled. The National Food Testing Laboratory tests, among other things, microbiology, chemicals, residues, contaminants, nutritional values and genetically modified components. Imports may enter only through official border points and require documents on origin, hygiene and, where applicable, analysis. Bhutanese standards, packaging and ingredient controls, and a remaining shelf life of at least 50 percent at import may apply; meat imports are subject to additional biosecurity requirements. Bhutan combines food policy with selective self-sufficiency in rice, grains, vegetables, meat, dairy and eggs. Other approaches include reserves, climate-resilient agriculture, good agricultural practices, organic certification, reducing food loss and waste, and biogas and other uses of livestock waste. The share of irrigated land is intended to increase from a baseline of 29 percent to 57 percent. The Bhutan Organic Standard of 2022 and the Bhutan Food and Drug Authority certification system of 2025 provide frameworks for this; a local product therefore does not automatically carry an organic or agricultural label.