Indexes
April 20, 2015 Kh-Index | What's wrong with kutaisi?
20
April
2015
As often discussed on this page, the seasonal dynamics of the Khachapuri Index are mainly driven by extremely sharp fluctuations in the supply of fresh milk, which directly affects the prices of traditional dairy products such as Imeretian cheese. However, these seasonal fluctuations in the price of cheese are consistently sharper in Kutaisi than anywhere else in Georgia. Year after year, we see the price of cheese in Kutaisi exceeding the national maximum in January and falling below the national minimum in June.
A possible explanation has to do with the fact that Kutaisi sits in the heart of a traditional dairy-producing region, with a relatively larger portion of cheese and other dairy products supplied by smallholder farmers. While Tbilisi gets a part of its supplies from all-season quasi-industrial farms, Kutaisi receives almost no fresh milk supply in winter and has too much of it in spring and early summer, when dairy product prices collapse given excess supply and limited cold storage capacity in the region.
What is interesting, however, is that Georgian traders (“speculators”) and processors have not yet learned to take advantage of the existing arbitrage opportunities. Cheese prices would have fluctuated much less (over time and space) had traders invested in refrigerator cars and trucks, and had processors invested in cold storage capacity to stock up Imeruli cheese produced from the relatively abundant and cheap summer milk.
Recent Publications
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March 2024 | Beginning of seasonal drop in Khachapuri Index
01
April
2024
In March 2024, the average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian khachapuri stood at 6.40GEL. This latest average price marks a -1.8% decrease compared to March 2023. Additionally, in month-to-month developments, the price of khachapuri decreased by -6.4% compared to the previous month (February 2024).
February 2024 | The Khachapuri Index increases by 3.3%
04
March
2024
In February 2024, the average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian khachapuri stood at 6.83 GEL, marking a 3.3% increase compared to the previous month. However, in a year-to-year comparison, the price of khachapuri decreased by 1.5% compared to February 2023.
January 2024 | Khachapuri Index continues its upward trend
29
January
2024
In January 2024, the average monthly cost of preparing one standard portion of Imeretian khachapuri increased, ranging between 6.40 GEL (Batumi) and 7.11 GEL (Tbilisi), with an overall average cost of 6.62 GEL. This recent average indicates a 2% increase compared to the preceding month of December 2023. While examining year-to-year trends, the current price of khachapuri is 4.6% lower than in January 2023.
December 2023 | The Khachapuri Index over the decade
28
December
2023
In December 2023, the average cost of preparing one standard Imeretian khachapuri experienced a slight increase, reaching 6.48 GEL. This signifies a 0.2% rise compared to November 2023 and a noteworthy -7.3% decrease compared to December 2022.
November 2023 | Khachapuri Index increased by 5.5%
27
November
2023
In November 2023, the average cost of preparing a standard portion of Imeretian Khachapuri continued its upward climb, reaching 6.47 GEL. This represents a 5.5% increase from the previous month (October 2023) and a 6.9% decrease compared to the same period last year (November 2022).
