The average cost of cooking one standard Imeretian Khachapuri in May 2018 stood at 3.17 GEL, which is 3.4% lower month-on-month (i.e. compared to April 2018). The Khachapuri Index is actually up by 1.1% year-on-year (compared to May 2017), suggesting a slight uptick in annual inflation. The supply of fresh milk is approaching its seasonal peak, and this peak might be earlier than usual this year because of the early spring.

The price of khachapuri has been declining in a continuous manner since January 2018. The cheapest city remains Kutaisi, with an average of 2.90 GEL for one standard Imeretian khachapuri. However, as we predicted in our previous publication, the price decrease in Kutaisi has been transmitted to other cities in Georgia. The largest monthly decrease was observed in Tbilisi, where the Index declined by 7.6% compared to last month. In Telavi, the index went down by 1.4%, and in Batumi, by 3.8%, compared to April 2018.

We assume that prices will go down even further, taking into account an expected increase in fresh milk supply. Furthermore, Lent started on June 5th. Presumably, this will push the Khachapuri Index even further down, as the demand for cheese and other milk products is lower during the Lent period.