The cost of home-cooked vegetarian meals stabilized in April after falling for four months in a row, while that of non-vegetarian meals increased sequentially due to the consistent rise in broiler chicken prices.
The cost of a vegetarian plate, or thali, remained flat month-on-month at ₹27.4, while non-vegetarian thali became pricier by 3% to ₹56.3 a plate, rating agency Crisil said in its latest monthly report on Wednesday.
Year-on-year, though, the cost of a vegetarian meal increased 8%, while that of non-vegetarian thali decreased 4%.
“Since November 2023, the prices of vegetarian and non-vegetarian thalis have been diverging. The vegetarian thali has become costlier on-year, while the non-vegetarian thali is cheaper,” said Pushan Sharma, director- research, Crisil Market Intelligence and Analytics.
“This is mainly because of declining broiler prices, while the prices of vegetables such as onions, potatoes and tomatoes have risen on a low base.”
A typical vegetarian meal—as per Crisil—includes roti, vegetables (onion, tomato and potato), rice, dal, curd and salad. The non-vegetarian version replaces dal with broiler chicken.
Despite fluctuating commodity prices, the share of ingredients used for arriving at the prices remains constant.
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 such as cereals, pulses, broilers, vegetables, spices, edible oil and cooking gas driving the change in the cost of meals.
The cost of vegetarian thalis was flat last month as prices of onion declined 4% amid new arrivals and as fuel cost reduced 3%, while tomato and potato prices increased, Crisil said.
The rise in non-vegetarian meal prices was mainly due to a 4% on-month increase in broiler chicken prices, which account for half of the thali’s cost. This was because of higher demand and rising input costs.
On a year-on-year basis, a 41%, 40% and 38% jump in prices of onion, tomato and potato, respectively, led to the 8% increase in the cost of a vegetarian meal. This is attributed to lower arrivals of onion amid a significant drop in rabi acreage and damage to potato crop in West Bengal.
Prices of rice and pulses, contributing 20% to the cost of a vegetarian thali, also rose 14% and 20%, respectively on-year amid lower arrivals.
However, prices of cumin, chilli and vegetable oil declined 40%, 31% and 10%, respectively, preventing further increases in the thali cost.
A 12% fall in broiler chicken prices over the year led to a decrease in the cost of non-vegetarian thalis on an annual basis.
“Going ahead, we expect vegetable prices to remain firm, although an anticipated decline in the prices of wheat and pulses will provide some respite,” Sharma said.
India’s retail food inflation eased to 8.52% in March from 8.66% in February.
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