KUCHING: Eatery operators and stall owners in the city may resort to increasing their food prices if there is no long-term solution to address the price hike on imported white rice as well as other ingredients.
Kuching Coffeeshop and Restaurants Owners Association education chief Kapitan Tan Yit Sheng said running a kopitiam or food stall was never an easy task in that they had to work for long hours in order to sustain their businesses.
“Every time when there is a price increase on a certain item or ingredient; if possible, we try not to raise the prices of our food items as we fear losing customers or causing dissatisfaction.
“But, how long can we do this (without increasing the price)? We also need to sustain our businesses so we cannot absorb the increase (again),” he stressed.
“We are left with no choice but to pass the extra cost to the customers. We can expect to see the price of rice dishes, such as chicken rice or nasi lemak, go up by 50 sen soon,” he said.
Speaking to New Sarawak Tribune, Tan said, if the government could not come out with measures to cope with the rise in the price of imported white rice or increase the production of the staple food locally – they need to focus on boosting the economy.
He believed when the economy is good, with increasing business activities and high paying jobs, consumers will have no issues paying more as they will have higher spending power.
Currently, he said, RM5,000 in household income per month was insufficient to make ends meet; families were struggling to survive and many could not cope with the rising cost of living.
Thus, he said, apart from price control, it is necessary to boost the economy and increase the average household income to RM15,000 per month.
On Sept 1, Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) adjusted the sale price of imported white rice nationwide from RM2,350 a tonne to RM3,200 a tonne, in line with the latest price of imported white rice in the international market.
Consumers Voice Association of Sarawak (COVAS) President Michael Tiong said the current price increase is a result of a worldwide price surge caused by India’s move to halt exports of non-basmati white rice to control rising domestic prices.
Malaysia, he said, which imports about 30 per cent of its rice to meet local demand, relies heavily on imports from India, Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan.
“To address this issue in the long term and protect consumers from external factors, the government should focus on motivating locals to increase domestic rice production and lower prices.
“With ample land and a smaller population, Malaysia has the potential to transition from a net importer to an exporter,” he said.
Tiong felt that short-term solutions, such as government subsidies, may not be economically feasible given the substantial budget already allocated to items like eggs, chicken, petrol and more.
He said consumers should also adopt a more budget-conscious approach to weather this price surge
On Tuesday, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s (KPKM) Agricultural Industry Development Division secretary Datuk Azman Mahmood said the Bernas price adjustment had led to consumers being more inclined to buying local white rice, which is sold at a controlled price of about RM2.60 per kilogramme (kg) or RM26 per 10kg bag.
“When the price of imported white rice increases from RM33 to RM39, it will be a phenomenon and everyone will look for local rice.
“Until about 2021, there was no demand for local rice. Everyone looked for imported rice because there was not much difference in the prices. Now, (there is a difference) RM26 and RM39,” he told Bernama when met at his Putrajaya office.
But the self-sufficiency level (SSL) of the country’s rice supply, which currently stands at 62 per cent, is of concern because the country’s rice supply is vulnerable to supply disruptions.
“On average, Malaysians consume about 80kg of rice per year. But do not forget that we also have foreigners who consume 120kg of rice per person. Our rice consumption is about 200,000 tonnes per month.
“We have no choice, we have to do everything we can to increase domestic production,” he said.
