Cost of home-cooked meals declined in February: Crisil tracker

The be of preparing both vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals at place, viewed unitedly, declined by 5% on a monthly base in feb, helped by cooling grocery prices, according to a monthly tracker by Crisil Ltd. However, the overall fall in costs masks a skew between average home-cooked veg and non-veg platters. Viewed individually, the cost of an average veg meal fell by 1%, while that of a non-veg plate rose nearly 6%, according to Crisil’s proprietary gauge of home-cooked meals. Many vegetables are also used in meat-based preparations. The decline in the case of veg meals was driven by lower vegetable prices, particularly of onions, tomatoes and potatoes. According to the tracker, tomato prices declined 28% from a year ago to ₹23 per kg in February owing to a 20% increase in market arrivals. An 11% year-on-year fall in LPG prices (to ₹803 per 14.2 kg cylinder in Delhi from ₹903 a year ago) also provided some relief, it said. However, a yearly jump of 11% in the price of onion, 16% in potato and 18% in vegetable oil prevented a sharper fall in the costs of a veg meal, the data showed. This means that while prices of veg ingredients came down in February as compared to January, they still continue to be elevated when compared to the same month a year ago. “Going ahead, the arrival of fresh rabi (winter-sown) crops is expected to keep vegetable prices subdued, offering continued relief for vegetarian thali costs,” Pushan Sharma, director of Crisil Research, said in a note. The increase in the cost of a non-vegetarian platter was driven by an estimated 15% rise in the price of broilers from a year ago. “The surge in the price of broiler, which accounts for about 50% of the cost of a non-vegetarian thali (platter), is attributable to a low base of last year when the price had declined owing to excess supply,” the cost gauge said. Food prices in Asia’s third-biggest economy had been stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and frequent bouts of extreme weather, prompting the country to ban exports of cereals and onions, which were lifted last year. Higher food prices impact poorer households more since they tend to spend more on food as a share of their overall expenditure. A variety of winter-sown crops, which will be harvested by the end of March, are in robust condition, with the government on Monday forecasting a record wheat output of 115.3 million tonnes. “That said, temperature conditions in March will bear watching as above-normal temperatures can impact the shelf life and quality of onions, which need to be stored for the next six months, as well as the quantity and quality of wheat, the most significant crop of the rabi season,” Sharma said.

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