Some restaurants report seeing more diners now compared to early months of Middle East crisis
EATERIES in Johor Baru have been able to maintain food prices in recent months, as the cost of cooking ingredients have stabilised despite the ongoing Middle East conflict.
Johor Indian Muslim Entrepreneurs Association (Perusim) secretary Hussien Ibrahim said operators initially took a wait-and-see approach when the conflict erupted on Feb 28.
“The association’s Indian-Muslim restaurant operators agreed unanimously to maintain their prices,” he said.
Hussien however, warned that operators would be heavily impacted if global oil prices continued to rise.
He added that Malaysian consumers were highly price sensitive and increasingly pragmatic, driven by prolonged cost-of-living pressures.
“But most of them are understanding and may accept a minimal hike in prices of food items,” said Hussien.
He said mamak restaurants reported seeing more diners now, especially families, compared to the slower period between March and April.
To pull in customers, Hussein said some eateries had begun serving budget breakfast and lunch sets during the third and fourth weeks of the month.
He said a breakfast of two pieces of roti canai plus a glass of teh tarik or teh O, was offered at RM3.50 to RM5.
A set lunch of plain rice, a chicken dish, vegetables, a hard-boiled egg and a drink goes for RM10.
Meanwhile, Johor Indian Petty Traders and Small Business Association (Jipta) chairman D. Ravindran said the government should look at the core problems forcing some food operators to hike prices.
“Distributors are the ones who determine the prices of ingredients, not the eateries or food operators,” he said.
Ravindran said proactive measures were needed to overcome the high-cost of living impacting the public.
He said the Federal and state governments should constantly engage with consumer groups and business organisations to gather feedback.
“We hope the committee chairman in charge of Johor consumer affairs will meet business and consumer groups regularly if there are issues related to escalating ingredient prices in Johor.”
Ravindran added that consumers could choose which eateries to patronise instead of complaining about exorbitant prices.
