Tomato, potato prices make home-cooked meals costlier in Dec: CRISIL report

Prices of home-cooked meals increased in December on dearer key kitchen staples like tomato and potato, a report said on Monday.

The average cost of preparing a vegetarian thali was up 6 per cent at Rs 31.6 per plate in December when compared to the year-ago period's Rs 29.7, but was down from preceding November month's rate of Rs 32.7, the report by a unit of rating agency CRISIL said.

In the roti, rice, rate report which seeks to assess the common man's expenditure on food, CRISIL found that a non-vegetarian thali cost was higher by 12 per cent on-year and 3 per cent on-month to Rs 63.3 in December.

Explaining the reasons for the costlier food, the report said tomato prices were up 24 per cent at Rs 47 per kg in December, while potato surged 50 per cent to Rs 36 for a kg on a low base.

A 16 per cent on-year increase in vegetable oil cost due to import duty hikes by the government aggravated it for the common man, it said.

From an on-year perspective, an 11 per cent drop in LPG fuel rates helped temper the impact of the higher costs, the report said.

In the case of a non-vegetarian thali, a 20 per cent increase in the cost of broiler, which has a 50 per cent weight in calculating the overall meal costs, was the primary reason for the increase in overall meal price on-year, the report said, adding that the surge in prices of poultry is due to a low base.

Compared to November, there was a 12 per cent decline in tomato prices amid fresh supplies from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, which helped reduce the cost of vegetarian thali by 3 per cent.

A 12 per cent on-month drop in onion prices and 2 per cent in potato further supported the price decline between November and December, it added.

An 11 per cent surge in the broiler prices due to the cold wave-triggered dip in production, an increase in festive and wedding demand and elevated feed costs led to the 3 per cent growth in the cost of a non-veg thali in December, it said.