By: Zaki Salleh
IPOH – The current increase in food prices is not unusual for traders due to the significant increase in the price of basic supplies and raw materials.
The fact is, traders are forced to bear increased costs due to the increase in the price of these goods, so they are forced to raise the price of food.
Among those who were affected were the traders of nasi kandar which is the favourite food of most people of various races.
The operations manager of Al-Mathaam Syed Corner Restaurant, Syed Aminuddin Syed Mohamed said, the situation of rising prices of goods is putting pressure on the business.
According to him, a similar situation is felt by all groups of food traders when they have to adjust the selling price in order not to incur losses.
“It is true that many goods have gone up. Last year, the price of goods went up three times.
“It can be said that between 10 to 30 per cent of raw goods such as chicken, cooking oil, eggs, fish, milk and others have gone up significantly.
“For example, before a single purchase of vegetables at the market cost around RM170 but now it is more than RM400.
“So, for the survival of the business I had to increase the selling price between 10 to 15 per cent depending on the type of food,” he said.
Currently, the price of a plate of nasi kandar with fried chicken and vegetables is RM8.50 compared to RM8 last year.
A glass of teh tarik is now RM1.50 while the previous price was RM1.30
Syed Aminuddin said his party had to raise the price of food in the shop twice since last year.
“At the moment we are still surviving with this kind of price because we also have profit and loss costs that need to be taken into account.
“However, I am very grateful that the customer’s response is still the same as before, in fact they understand our situation better now,” he said.
Meanwhile, a nasi kandar trader in Ipoh town who wants to be known as Kadir said he also had to raise the price of a plate of nasi kandar with chicken and vegetables to RM7.90 compared to RM7 last year.
The price of a plate of nasi kandar two years ago was RM6.50 per plate.
He said, he also minimizes operating costs because he only employs family members.
“There are some costs that we reduce, such as basic raw materials, for example, looking for slightly cheaper raw materials such as spices.
“However, I admit that we cannot last long if the price of goods rises again, we will use other means including having to raise the price of food,” he said.
