Why a vegetarian meal is getting costlier in India
The immediate villain is the spike in tomato rates, but overall food and beverage inflation has also been on the rise
Ratings and research firm Crisil recently had startling information to share. Its research had found that the cost of preparing a vegetarian thali (meal plate) rose 28 per cent in July from June while the cost of a non-vegetarian thali had gone up by less than half of that (11 per cent). The cost of preparing a thali had been increasing sequentially (month on month) for the third month in a row. Also, for the first time since April, the cost of a thali was higher than in the corresponding month the previous year.
The cost of a vegetarian thali went up to Rs 33.7 in July from Rs 26.5 in July 2022. The cost of a non-vegetarian thali was Rs 66.8 in July as against Rs 60 a month ago and Rs 61.3 last July, Crisil’s research found.
The villain of the piece is, of course, tomatoes. As much as 22 per cent of the hike in cost can be attributed solely to tomato prices, which rose 233 per cent—to Rs 110 a kilo in July from Rs 33 a kilo in June, Crisil said in a report. The prices of onion and potato rose 16 per cent and 9 per cent on a sequential basis, contributing further to the increase in cost of a thali.
Chilli and cumin also became more expensive, their prices rising 69 per cent and 16 per cent month on month, respectively, in July. However, given the minimal use of these ingredients in a thali, their cost contribution remains lower than some of the vegetable crops, Crisil said. Higher food prices are a big contributor to higher inflation. ”Inflation, especially food inflation, is a worry, and caused by adverse weather conditions,” D.K. Joshi, chief economist with Crisil, told INDIA TODAY in an interview.
Tomato prices have hogged the limelight since the start of July, as extreme weather conditions played havoc with the crop, impacting production. The price of the vegetable had soared much higher than what the Crisil report suggested, reaching even Rs 200 a kilo in several parts of the country, compelling families to cut down on tomato consumption or take it off the menu. Although the Centre stepped in to make the vegetable available at subsidised rates in some states, those in the farm sector believe that only higher production will offer any respite from the soaring tomato prices.
In India, tomato is cultivated as a rabi crop (usually sown in mid-November or December and harvested in April-May) in parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. However, in some parts of Maharashtra, such as Nashik, and states like Uttar Pradesh, it is sown as a kharif crop, starting in June with the south-west monsoon and ending in October-November, at the end of the monsoon season.
Some of the highest producers of tomato are Madhya Pradesh (13.4 per cent), Karnataka (12.6 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (11.3 per cent), Gujarat (7.2 per cent), Odisha (7 per cent) and West Bengal and Maharashtra (6 per cent each). This year, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh saw a dip in production due to heat waves or erratic rainfall.
As detailed in an INDIA TODAY report last month, it is not tomato prices alone that have been rising. Overall food and beverage inflation rose to 4.63 per cent in June, from 3.35 per cent in May. Vegetable inflation contributes significantly to overall food inflation since they have a high weightage in the CPI (Consumer Price Index, a measure of retail price of goods) food and beverages index.
Coupled with continuing high fuel prices, that has made transportation dearer, these prices have been taxing consumers. In fact, retail inflation rose to 4.8 per cent in June, exceeding analysts’ expectations, after having dipped to a 20-month low of 4.3 per cent in May. Continuing high inflation will delay any chances of the Reserve Bank of India reducing interest rates that could make retail loans cheaper.
The cost of a non-vegetarian thali rose at a slower pace as the price of broiler chicken, comprising more than 50 per cent of the cost, declined 3-5 per cent month on month in July. A 2 per cent on-month decline in the price of vegetable oil provided some respite to the increasing cost of both thalis, Crisil said.
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