Food vendors mull raising prices as costs increase in July

 

Malaysians may need to fork out more when eating out after an increase in the ceiling price for chicken and eggs and the lifting of cooking oil subsidies.

Food vendors in Petaling Jaya told Malaysiakini that they are still waiting for the new cost of cooking oil and chicken before deciding whether to raise prices again.

This would be the second wave of price hikes for the year. Many of the vendors had to do so in May and June when the chicken supply was tight.

Malaysiakini learned that many food vendors faced difficulties obtaining chicken at the previous ceiling price of RM8.90 per kilogram before July.

Meanwhile, some food vendors said that the previously subsidised 5kg bottle of pure palm cooking oil, which was priced at RM29.70, was still expensive for them as they needed about 5kg per day.

Following the announcement of the lifting of the cooking oil price subsidy, checks by Malaysiakini found that the product was available in limited supply in many supermarkets across major cities such as Petaling Jaya, Penang and Johor Bahru.

Chicken sellers charge cutting fees

Nasi lemak seller Aerah Ali noted that profits had dropped more than 50 percent compared to the pre-Covid era due to the higher price of raw materials.

“Many chicken sellers have started a new system asking buyers to pay if they want their chicken to be chopped up into parts, at maybe 60 sen-80 sen per kg.

“For example, if the ceiling price is RM9.40 per kg now, maybe they will charge 60 sen for cutting fees to make it RM10 per kg.

“We won’t have enough time to chop such a large amount of chicken by ourselves. This was part of their service before. They would cut the chicken into a number of pieces as per our request,” she said.

Ahsiyah Abdul Wahab, a mixed rice business owner, also lamented that many chicken sellers at the wet market are not following the ceiling price.

“They’re still charging RM10 to RM11 per kg as when the chicken was in short supply despite the government saying that supply is back to normal.

“The government should take action at the wet market. We will wait and see how much the chicken and cooking oil will be for July before deciding whether to raise the price.

“Our price had increased a bit previously after costs went up, but it was not too high. Our customers are mainly office workers who need a budget meal,” said the 61-year-old.

Ahsiyah Abdul Wahab

Meanwhile, a roasted meat seller who wished to be known as Chan and restaurant operator Ng Ah Lai told Malaysiakini they are also monitoring the price of raw materials entering July.

They said they would raise their prices by 50 sen if needed.

“If the chicken subsidy from the government (to set ceiling price) was not enough, sellers would pass the cost to us,” Chan said.

Ng Ah Lai

Forced to raise prices

Ahsiyah’s partner Ismail Kassim described himself as a “B40 hawker”.

He said he used to sell normal nasi lemak at RM1 but now has to sell it at RM1.20 to cover his costs, while his nasi lemak with chicken has increased from RM5.50 to RM6 or RM7.

“We were forced to hike prices to sustain our business although we know our customers will not be happy.

“Small vendors like us are more like workers earning salaries instead of taking in profits nowadays,” he added.

Ismail Kassim (middle) and Aerah Ali (right)

Ng also voiced his concerns on pork prices which have skyrocketed even more than chicken this year by over RM500 per 100kg. This is expected to increase by another RM1 per kg starting today.

“For the first time in three years, we increased prices during Chinese New Year. I will raise it again if needed, but I won’t reduce or change the ingredients. This is the most important thing for us cooks,” he said.

The new ceiling price for chicken in Peninsular Malaysia from today has been set at RM9.40 per kg - an increase of RM0.50.

The maximum price of chicken eggs is RM0.45 each for Grade A eggs, RM0.43 for Grade B, and RM0.41 for Grade C - an increase of RM0.02.

Additionally, the government would only subsidise 1kg polybag cooking oil, and the ceiling price for pure palm cooking oil sold in bottles would be lifted from today.

It has to be noted that blended cooking oil, such as Knife, Red Eagle and Neptune brands, are not categorised as controlled items. - Mkini