In June 2020, the average cost of cooking one standard portion of Imeretian khachapuri was 3.93 GEL. Compared to the previous year (June 2019), the Khachapuri Index gained 13%. While going up in yearly terms, the Index actually dropped by 4.2% compared to the previous month (May 2020).
Prices of all khachapuri ingredients except for flour decreased in June 2020 (compared to May 2020): cheese lost 6.2%, butter lost 1.1%, eggs lost 7.4%, yeast lost 2%, and milk lost 0.5%. However, the price of flour has gone up by 3.6%.
ISET’s Khachapuri Index is in line with GeoStat’s Consumer Price Index (CPI); both are following the same trend. CPI in June 2020 decreased by 1.4% relative to the previous month (May 2020) and gained 6.1% compared to last year (June 2019).
The decreasing price trend may continue for the next several months. Firstly, the supply of fresh milk is usually higher in the summer period and this might push prices down. Furthermore, the trend is strengthened by the depreciation of the Georgian lari against the US dollar; in June 2020, the GEL/USD exchange rate reached 3.04, 0.26 points higher than June 2019.