Sharp rise in price of coconuts

GEORGE TOWN: The reduced supply of coconuts has caused its prices to climb steeply from RM1.20 per fruit to as high as RM2.80.

Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) education officer N.V. Subarrow claimed that some suppliers had also taken the opportunity to increase the price, especially with Thaipusam just around the corner.

Due to the shortage, Subarrow encouraged those who planned to break coconuts for Thaipusam to reduce the number they planned to break and spend their money on charity instead.

“Buying more coconuts will only cause the price to go up further. Since coconut is food, it is better used to fill up someone’s hungry stomach,” he said here yesterday.

He said that in Ipoh, the price of coconuts would hit RM2.50 by next week while in Kuala Lumpur, it was expected to rise to RM3.

Wholesaler P. Sarasvathy, 55, who is selling the fruit for between RM1.80 and RM2 at her shop in Abu Siti Lane, said the shortage had caused her to cut by half the number of coconuts supplied to her retailers.

“I was selling the coconuts at between RM1 and RM1.20 last year. The price increase is to cover the cost of plucking, lifting and transporting the coconuts from Kuala Bernam in Perak.

“It could be due to climate change but at one of the plantations in Ulu Bernam, the trees bore no fruits at all,” she said.

The supply from Kuala Bernam, said Sarasvathy, was barely enough as she was also supplying to several shops and retailers in Penang and Butterworth on a daily basis.

“This is the first time that I have encountered such a problem since I started the business 26 years ago,” she said.

In Petaling Jaya, a coconut distributor known as Narayanan said the price had already increased to RM1.50 from RM1.20 due to higher demand.