FOOD stall owners at a national agricultural show complained that they are unlikely to cover the cost of operating their stalls, much less turn a profit, due to the higher rent this year, greater competition and lower visitor numbers.

The Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture & Agrotourism Show (MAHA 2018) kicked off on November 25, promising a turnout of more than 3.5 million domestic and foreign visitors for the thousands of food and exhibition stalls set up at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS).

However, food traders said the uncontrolled number of competitors as well as rent that has doubled from last year, have made it hard to even recover their costs.

At the “Food Empire” section of the show, almost 100 food stall owners who were charged RM3,000 rent are frantically trying to increase their sale in the remaining day they have left. Stalls at other spots on the premises were charged anything from RM1,000 to RM5,000 depending on size and location.

Muhamad Najib Mustaffa, who runs a cheese murtabak stall, said the turnout at this year’s event was visibly less then when he had participated two years ago.

“There are too many operators, even right next to the entrance, there are food stalls. The name might be food empire, but there are so few visitors,” Najib told The Malaysian Insight.

“Our cost is close to RM40,000. The rent used to be RM1,500 for a slot, but this time it is RM3,000.”

The MAHA event is held every two years and is organised by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry. This year, the show will be held until tomorrow.

Farid Wachaa, who is running a mango juice stall at the fair, agreed that there was a glut in food stalls this year, compared to the MAHA events in the past.

“It’s not wrong to have many vendors, but it needs to be at a strategic location. This site is too small, because some vendors have a lot of things. So we have a small site, and we are paying double the rent,” said Farid from Johor Baru.

Several stall owners told The Malaysian Insight that vendors who had travelled from the east coast were believed to have shut down their stalls after just five days as they did not think it would be worth their time.

Chief operating officer for MAEPS, Norafizah Rahman, admitted that there was a lack of control on the number of food vendors this year, adding that many stalls were also selling similar food items.

“I admit that we took in too many vendors this time, and it was not controlled. Just foodtrucks alone, there are 120, and this doesn’t include small stalls,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

“At the Food Empire area in the past, there would be 60 stalls, but now there are close to 100. In future, we promise to arrange and organise the vendors more strategically,” she said.

Norafizah also lamented the high number of illegal food vendors at the show, saying that officers and organisers are conducting daily checks to ensure only those with the proper permits are allowed to do business at the site.

“Almost 100 of these illegal traders will take advantage and sell their goods. They have no licenses, and operate by the roadside,” she said.

She also explained that the increase in rent was to cover the cost of having additional infrastructure at this year’s fair.

“We raised the rent to cover the cost of extra facilities we have provided, such as tables, chairs, cleaning services and mobile toilets. We didn’t want this place to look like a night market, so it looks like it’s more high standard.

“The rent was also to cover the cost of promotion and advertisement, as our budget for publicity was halved from last year,” she told The Malaysian Insight.

But nasi briyani seller Noridah Mohd Sidek said MAHA organisers had failed to market the event successfully, as there was not enough visitors to the show, adding that vendors were struggling to recoup their costs even with the extended hours till 10pm.

“It’s full on Saturday and Sunday, but on working days it’s different. If the exhibition ends at 7pm, nobody will come. But even though we are open till 10pm, there’s still nobody.” – December 1, 2018.