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In March 2018, the average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri declined to 3.55 GEL, which is 3.2% lower month-on-month (that is, compared to February 2018), and 4.2% higher year-on-year (compared to March 2017).

The monthly (negative) change in the Index follows the traditional seasonal trend for fresh milk production, which gradually starts to decline in January and February. Compared to March 2018, prices decreased for milk and all dairy products (Milk 1.3%, Cheese 5.4%, butter 0.1%) used in cooking khachapuri. In addition, the price of an egg decreased by 0.4% m/m, and the price of wheat declined by 0.1% m/m.

Details

In March 2018, the average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri declined to 3.55 GEL, which is 3.2% lower month-on-month (that is compared to February 2018), and 4.2% higher year-on-year (compared to March 2017).

The price of khachapuri has dropped in monthly terms (compared to February 2018) in all Georgian cities. At 3.41 GEL, Telavi has seen the largest drop in the Index (-4.7%), followed by Tbilisi (3.73GEL), which dropped by 4%. Batumi (3.53 GEL) and Kutaisi (3.52 GEL) experienced declines of 1.5% and 2.7%, respectively.

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In February 2018, the Khachapuri Index continued its downward trend and dropped to 3.67 GEL. This is 1.2% lower compared to the previous month (January 2018) and 0.3% higher compared to February 2017 (y/y). The main contributors to y/y Khachapuri Index inflation were butter (4.1%), milk (1.7%), and cheese (0.7%), while the price of eggs and wheat dropped (-3.3% and -2.5%, respectively).

Milk and milk product are only drivers of the Khachapuri Index increase in yearly terms. As we have explained in our Food Price Index publication, the reason might be that export of bovine animals increased in 2017. Accordingly, it is not surprising that milk production decreased. According to Geostat preliminary numbers, production of fresh milk has gone down by 7.07%. The lower supply has led to increased prices in milk and milk products. However, there is a growing interest in the dairy sector in Georgia, and hopefully soon we will overcome this milk shortage.

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The average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian khachapuri in the second month of 2018 dropped to 3.67 GEL, which is 1.2% lower month-on-month (compared to January 2018), and only 0.3% higher year-on-year (compared to February 2017).

As we suspected would happen in the previous publication, Khachapuri Index continued declining in monthly terms in all Georgian cities. The highest monthly drop was observed in Kutaisi (-2.9% compared to January 2018).

Markets in all cities offered great bargains for those frugal people among us who care to look for the least expensive ingredients. Kutaisi offers the best saving potential for frugal consumers, who would pay only 3.10 GEL for one portion of khachapuri, saving nearly a solid 17% of the local average price.

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