How India Eats: Cooling poultry prices keep non-veg thali cost low in February

 
Has the overall cost of a home-cooked thali or a food plate increased in February? Well, it depends on what key food items the consumer picks up for his plate. Rise in cost of vegetables like pulses, rice, onion and tomato made a vegetarian thali expensive while cooling poultry prices dragged the non-vegetarian thali to become cheaper in February on a yearly basis.
 
The average cost of a representative home-cooked vegetarian thali increased 7 percent to Rs 27.50 in February from Rs 25.60 in the same month last year, based on an analysis by Crisil. However, compared to January, the price of the same vegetarian thali has dropped nearly 2 percent from Rs 28.
 
Prices of onion surged 29 percent and tomato jumped 38 percent year-on-year which have kept the vegetarian thali cost higher in February.  However, the picture looks a tad different if prices are compared to the previous month. Both onion and potato costs fell 14 percent and 3 percent in a month respectively impacting the vegetarian thali cost on a monthly basis. Prices of tomato and pulses have remained flat from the previous month.
 
In addition to the vegetable costs, prices of rice and pulses also increased 14 percent and 20 percent year-on-year, respectively. Rice contributes 12 percent and pulses 9 percent to the overall price of a vegetarian thali.
 


 

The average cost of preparing a thali at home is calculated based on input prices prevailing in north, south, east, and west India. The monthly change reflects the impact on the common man’s expenditure. The data also reveals the ingredients (cereals, pulses, broilers, vegetables, spices, edible oil, cooking gas) driving changes in the cost of a thali.

Also read: How India Eats: Rice, pulses, onion amp up thali cost again in January

Similarly, cooling poultry prices had a favourable impact on a non-vegetarian thali. A non-vegetarian thali cost Rs 54 on an average in February, showing a sharp decline of 9 percent from the same month last year. The same thali cost Rs 59.20 last February. The decrease in the cost of the non-veg thali was due to a decline of 20 percent YoY in broiler poultry prices on a high base of last fiscal.
 
“The cost of the non-vegetarian thali rose as prices of broilers, which account for 50 percent of the cost, increased an estimated 10 percent month-on-month due to lower supply amid the spread of bird flu in Andhra Pradesh and increasing temperatures, as well as rising demand ahead of Ramadan,” says Crisil.


 
Retail inflation in January had eased off to a three-month low at 5.1 percent as food prices had declined slightly. Food inflation was at 8.3 percent in January from 9.53 percent in December and 6 percent in the year-ago period. Cereals and products inflation marked the sixth consecutive month of decline, dropping to 7.83 per cent in January after remaining in double digits for 15 consecutive months during September 2022 to November 2023.
 
(Forbes India's monthly series 'How India Eats' takes a look at how the average price of a food plate in India changes every month, indicating the impact on the common man's expenditure, by analysing the Indian thali.)