Veg thali prices up, non-veg meal costs come down in Jan

CHENNAI: At their homes, vegetarians spent 5 per cent more per thali in January 2024 as compared to January 2023 due to higher prices paid for onion, tomato, rice and pulses, as per a report by CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics, a division of CRISIL.

On the other hand, the cost of home cooked non-vegetarian thali came down by 13 per cent last month due to about 26 per cent reduction in cost of chicken as compared to the rates that prevailed in January 2023.

“The cost of the veg thali increased due to a surge of 35% and 20% on-year in prices of onion and tomato, respectively. Prices of rice (accounting for 12% of the veg thali cost) and pulses (9%) also increased 14% and 21% on-year, respectively,” the report notes.

According to the report, the decrease in the cost of the non-veg thali was due to a decline of approximately 26% on-year in broiler prices amid higher production.

The comforting factor for both -- the vegetarians and non-vegetarians -- is that the cost of their thalis fell 6% and 8% respectively in January 2024 as compared to December 2023.

“The easing was due to a decrease of 26% and 16% on-month in prices of onion and tomato, respectively, with higher domestic supply of onion amid export curbs and fresh tomato arrivals from the northern and eastern states,” the CRISIL report said.

The cost of the non-veg thali declined faster due to a decline of 8-10% on-month in prices of broilers, which account for approximately 50%of the cost.

According to CRISIL report, the cost of preparing a vegetarian thali last month was about Rs 28 (Dec’23 Rs 29.7, Jan’23 Rs 26.6) while that of non-vegetarian thali was Rs 52 (Dec’23 Rs 56.4, Jan’23 Rs 59.9).