FOOD vendors, from fancy restaurants to humble street food stall operators, have all warned they will be forced to increase their prices if the cost of ingredients show no signs of levelling out in the next two to three months.

They said the price of ingredients like flour, seasoning, vegetables and meat, particularly pork, have kept on increasing in price since the second half of last year.

They suggested that the government offer incentives or subsidies for the purchase of ingredients.

Federation of Selangor Traders Association chairman Tan Luan Huat said traders can only absorb the increased costs for a short period of time, after which it has to be passed on to the consumers.

Tan said at the end of last year, hawkers who are members of the association made a little price adjustment to the menu prices to ease their cost of doing business.

But the price of pork and vegetables continues to increase unabated, he said.

The supply of pork has been affected by the African swine fever which has swept pig rearing areas in the peninsula.

“The hawkers, for the moment, are holding back from making another price hike as they do not want to scare away their customers.

“For now they will absorb the extra costs but that can’t go on for long,” he added.

Tan is hoping the government will listen to their plight.

To cap food prices, he suggested the government provide hawkers with a subsidy for the purchase of some of the ingredients.

“Otherwise, hawkers would be forced to increase their food prices.”

Tan said the hawkers in Selangor would monitor the situation for the next two to three months before making a decision.

Depending on the area in Selangor, a bowl of noodles, a breakfast staple, is priced between RM7 and RM8.

Tan said with the current price increase in flour and seasoning, a bowl of noodles could cost the unthinkable RM10.

“That’s what we fear. We fear no one would be willing to pay RM10 for a bowl of mee (noodles).

“Our business is at stake.”

Using cheaper substitutes

The head of the complaints unit of the Federation of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Hawkers Associations, Boon Kok Choon, said many of their members are resorting to using cheaper substitutes in their food to cut costs.

Taking wonton mee as an example, Boon said instead of using the usual pork wonton, sellers have substituted them with minced chicken wonton.

Other sellers, he added, have reduced the portion of the food they sold.

“Poultry meat prices are relatively stable, so that’s why most stall operators use it as a substitute.”

Poor business during the Chinese new year period, a period when business is normally brisk, has struck fear among hawkers in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Boon said.

He said in the search for a solution to not raise food prices further, his members have appealed to their landlords, owners of the coffee shops where they have their stalls – to consider reducing the rent of their stalls.

Boon said some coffee shop owners are sympathetic and have promised to reduce the rent by 5 to 15%.

“They understand the difficulties these hawkers face. They have just gone through a pandemic.

“It’ll take a few years before we fully recover.”

Like his peer Tan of the Federation of Selangor Traders Association, Boon also said he hoped the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living would find a solution to arrest rising food prices.

Weak ringgit

Restaurant and Bistro Owners Association vice president Lim Kian Shou would not discount another increase in prices on menus though he said any increase would definitely have a major impact on business.

“The price of meat and vegetables has increased by 30% to 35%. On top of that some restaurants import most of their ingredients to push their menu prices up.

The weak ringgit is not helping, Lim said.

He added that nearly 80% of the restaurants, the majority of them mamak restaurants, have increased their menu prices.

“As to whether there will be another increase, that can’t be answered now. That will depend on the cost of the ingredients, the value of the ringgit and a few other factors,” Lim said. –  February 21, 2023.