As the month of Shravan brought down demand and prices of broiler chicken, the cost of home cooked non-vegetarian thali dropped by 12 per cent in August compared with the corresponding month of last year, a research report by Crisil said. It also highlighted that the cost of home cooked vegetarian thali softened by 8 per cent during the period under consideration because of cheaper tomatoes.
Broilers chicken contributes nearly 50 per cent of the cost of a non-vegetarian thali. Its prices dropped nearly 13 per cent, which resulted in lower cost. There were reductions in other inputs such as tomatoes and fuel, which also played a role in lowering the cost of not just non-vegetarian thali, but also of vegetarian thali and that in a bigger way.
According to the report, prices of tomato, which accounted for 14 per cent of the vegetarian thali cost in August, declined 51 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) (from ₹102 per kg to ₹50 per kg) due to fresh arrivals from southern and western States. Also, a 27 per cent drop in fuel cost – to ₹803 for a 14.2 kg LPG cylinder in Delhi in March 2024 from ₹1,103 in August 2023 – contributed to the decline.
Moreover, prices of vegetable oil, chilli and cumin, which together account for less than 5 per cent of the veg thali cost, eased 6 per cent, 30 per cent and 58 per cent y-o-y , respectively. The report said that rise in the prices of onion and potatoes capped the decline in costs of both veg and non-veg thalis
Pushan Sharma, Director- Research, Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics said that prices of the three key vegetables showed a divergent trend in August—onion and potato surged by ₹15 per kg (51 per cent) and ₹13 per kg (53 per cent) y-o-y, respectively, due to lower arrivals, while tomato saw a sharp decline of ₹52 per kg (51 per cent) due to fresh supplies.
Potato prices are likely to remain firm on account of low production y-o-y due to late blight infestations in key producing States such as Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. “Onion prices, on the other hand, could see a further uptick in the near term given the approaching festive season and tight rabi supplies until the kharif stock starts arriving in mandis,” he said.
The cost of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis declined 4 per cent and 3 per cent, respectively month-on-month (m-o-m). The decline was driven by tomato prices, which fell 23 per cent m-o-m ₹50 a kg in August compared with ₹66 per kg in July. For a non-veg thali, the cost decline was due to an estimated 1-3 per cent m-o-m decline in broiler prices, due to the Shravan month in August, when non-veg consumption drops
However, a 2 per cent and 3 per cent m-o-m rise in the prices of potato and onion, respectively, prevented further decline in the thali cost.