Restaurant group: No plans to hike prices, but still on the cards

Although it has no plans to hike food prices in the wake of rising cost of poultry and eggs, Malaysian Muslim Restaurant Owners Association (Presma) president Jawahar Ali Taib Khan could not rule out the possibility that a price increase could occur in several eateries.

Jawahar said the usual price would be maintained in many premises since most customers at mamak restaurants are B40 and M40 income earners and civil servants, except in high-end establishments around the capital that may face rising rental costs.

“Perhaps a few places (may experience price increases)… those in more ‘elite’ areas like Hartamas, Bangsar, Taman Tun Dr Ismail… perhaps we will see different pricing. Perhaps they have their own reasons, perhaps the rent is expensive,” he said.

However, he emphasised that customers will have the final say on the matter.

“We can become smart consumers. If the price is too expensive… you can boycott those shops,” he told Malaysiakini yesterday.

Where there are price increases, however, he predicted that it would be small.

“If you can sell at a reasonable price, you can sell more, and that’s better than selling at a high price but making fewer sales. Many of us operate based on that concept,” he said.

He gave an example of a mamak restaurant in the capital that has higher prices than neighbouring restaurants, but it was not an issue for it as customers kept coming because the restaurant is seen as having a hotel-like standard that differentiated it from its competitors.

On Wednesday, the cabinet decided that the ceiling prices of poultry in Peninsular Malaysia will be raised 50 sen to RM9.40 per kilogram, starting today. The ceiling prices of all grades of chicken eggs are to increase by two sen.

The government had initially wanted to float chicken prices but reversed its decision and will instead continue to provide subsidies.

Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Ronald Kiandee said the decision takes into account an increase in the Bantuan Keluarga Malaysia aid announced by Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob recently. - Mkini