Home-Cooked Thali Prices Drop Significantly in October
The cost of preparing home-cooked meals saw a substantial decline in October, with vegetarian thalis becoming 17% cheaper and non-vegetarian thalis 12% cheaper compared to the same period last year, according to a recent Crisil report.
Key Takeaways
- Vegetarian thali cost fell 17% year-on-year in October.
- Non-vegetarian thali cost declined 12% year-on-year.
- Sharp drops in vegetable and pulse prices drove the reduction.
Major Price Declines in Vegetables
Vegetable prices led the downward trend. Potato prices plunged 31% year-on-year, supported by a 3-4% increase in Rabi season production. Tomato prices saw an even steeper fall of 40% due to higher supplies from western and southern markets.
Onion prices also decreased as rabi season stock supplies increased ahead of kharif crop arrivals expected from November.
“Pulses saw price corrections as well, supported by an increase in imports of Bengal gram, yellow pea and black gram. In the medium term, onion prices could see a moderate rise, as excess rainfall in August and September in key producer states such as Karnataka and Maharashtra has delayed kharif transplantation and raised yield concerns,” mentioned Pushan Sharma, Director of Crisil Intelligence.
Future Price Outlook
According to the report, potato prices are expected to remain firm in November due to low supplies of early rabi crop, but may ease after cold storages release stocks by mid-December. Tomato prices are likely to stay soft with continued kharif arrivals.
Pulse prices, however, may increase in the near term due to excess rainfall affecting kharif yields and the recent 30% import duty on yellow pea. Sharma noted that if the government extends import duties to other pulses, prices could see a steeper rise.
Non-Vegetarian Thali Trends
The non-vegetarian thali saw a relatively smaller price decline of 12% as broiler prices fell only 6% year-on-year. Since broilers account for approximately half of the non-veg thali cost, the impact was less pronounced than for vegetarian meals, though lower vegetable and pulse prices still contributed to overall cost reduction.
