The New Year is approaching, and every Georgian family is already preparing for this festive event. And so is the ISET-Policy Institute. We are keeping with our tradition and cooking up a special edition of the Khachapuri Index for our readers: a “New Year’s Supra Index”. This Index shows the cost (in GEL) of a standard supra meal for a family of 5-6 people in each of Georgia’s regions. Our supra includes traditional dishes such as khachapuri, mtsvadi, satsivi, trout, fried chicken, salad Olivier, pkhali, cucumber & tomato salad, and – for dessert–gozinaki and fruit.
The cost of preparing a New Year’s supra for 5-6 people averages 149.4 GEL in December 2018, which is about 8% lower than in December 2017. Therefore, preparing a New Year’s supra is less costly in all regions of Georgia now than it was in 2017. The same is true for the most important ingredient of the New Year’s supra – walnuts. Their current price is on average 21.4 GEL per kg, which is 15% lower than in 2017, when the price of walnuts was 25.3 GEL per kg.
The Index takes the lowest value in Guria(135.4 GEL) and the highest in Imereti (159.5 GEL).
Table 1. Cost of a Georgian New Year’s supra measured in GEL
| Region | 2017 | 2018 | % Change |
| Adjara | 166.1 | 153.4 | -7.6% |
| Guria | 144.1 | 135.4 | -6.0% |
| Imereti | 170.1 | 159.5 | -6.2% |
| Kakheti | 154.3 | 145.3 | -5.8% |
| Kvemo Kartli | 163.1 | 151.1 | -7.3% |
| Mtskheta-Mtianeti | 168.7 | 155.1 | -8.1% |
| Racha-Lechkhumi & Kvemo Svaneti | 162.8 | 154.7 | -4.9% |
| Samtskhe-Javakheti | 160.4 | 151.2 | -5.8% |
| Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti | 159.6 | 145.8 | -8.7% |
| Shida Kartli | 166.8 | 142.3 | -14.7% |
Source: AGRIndex based on data provided by the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture of Georgia.
As shown above, the price of a New Year’s supra has gone down in all regions of Georgia compared to last year. The biggest decline was observed in Shida Kartli, where a New Year’s supra costs 15% less than in 2017.
ISET-PI and the Khachapuri Index Team wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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