In November 2022, the average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian Khachapuri continued its upward trend and reached 6.90 GEL. The latest average price is 4.9% higher month-on-month (compared to October 2022) and 27.3% higher year-on-year (compared to November 2021).

At this time of the year, it is typical for the index to maintain an upward trend and this relates to the increasing price of milk and dairy products. This is due to the seasonal decline of fresh milk, which results in higher demand for imported milk powder used as a substitute for fresh products.

This November, the price of all khachapuri ingredients increased notably on an annual basis: cheese went up by 35.2%, milk – by 21.1%, flour – by 19.9%, butter – by 19.8%, yeast – by 15.1%, and the price of eggs rose by 10.1%. These yearly price increases were largely driven by trends on international markets: uncertainty, soaring inflation, and economic downturns globally have all been highly influenced by Russia’s war in Ukraine. While ingredient shortages and input cost hikes are a particular challenge to the dairy sector. The limited availability of animal feed, due to the war, has equally led to an increase in these base costs. Furthermore, rising energy costs, which also hit fertilizer prices, are contributing to higher milk and dairy product prices.

The prices for key food commodities are still anticipated to surge further due to the holiday-related jump in demand, and they will likely remain on this upward trend due to winter shortages in supply.