Spike in vegetable prices weighs on kitchen budget

The first three months of the new fiscal have seen kitchen costs surging mainly on account of rise in vegetable prices, according to an Assocham study. The study of 33 markets across the country observed that on an average, retailers are selling vegetables at more than 48.8 per cent of wholesale prices.

‘The analysis is based on the wholesale and retail prices of vegetables in the different markets in India. Wholesale price indicates the price at which retailers are buying from different markets and retail price is the price at which consumers are buying from retailers,’ Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

The study found that cabbage retail and wholesale price gap has increased from 69.4 per cent to 78.1 per cent, brinjal from 62.4 per cent to 66.7 per cent while cauliflower is 59 per cent higher than the wholesale price, among other vegetables. It further reveals that Surat retail and wholesale price gap has increased from 49.7 per cent to 50.8 per cent, Lucknow 48.5 per cent to 54.8 per cent, Shimla 37.9 per cent to 47.3 per cent, Jammu 37.5 per cent to 42.4 per cent and Chennai 34.6 per cent to 37.3 per cent, among other cities.

The study found that onion arrival grew at a rate of 13 per cent during FY14 followed by 

tomato 7.9 per cent and potato fresh arrival grew at a rate of 6.2 per cent.