Cause for concern: Hawkers like Tan Hoe Teong, who sells fried fritters at Weld Quay, George Town, is finding it hard to make a decent profit. — K.T.GOH
GEORGE TOWN: The price of cooking oil may have gone down, but the cost of food remains high due to pricey ingredients, say traders.
Fried fritters seller Tan Joo Hai said it was good that cooking oil was cheaper now, but he had to cope with the increase in the price of ingredients such as bananas, yam and potatoes.
His main cost was not cooking oil but the ingredients, he added.
“I did not raise the price when the price of cooking oil went up. This meant I made less profit.
“Although I did not run at a loss, I had to find other ways to cut cost, which meant buying larger amounts of raw material,” said Tan, who has been running a stall in Weld Quay for over 20 years.
He added that he had to negotiate prices with those selling the raw ingredients too.
“This helped to make sure we did not run at a loss.
“And since we didn’t raise the price then, it remains the same now (despite the cheaper cooking oil),” he said.
From Oct 8 until Nov 7, the ceiling price of cooking oil in 5kg bottles is fixed at RM31.50, which is a RM2 drop from last month.
For 3kg bottles, the price has gone down from RM21.20 last month to RM19.90 now.
As for 2kg bottles, they are sold at RM13.50, which is an 80-sen decrease from last month.
These lower prices came about following a decline in crude palm oil (CPO) prices.
The average price of CPO is determined by the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry on the first of every month.
Khor Li Sim, who runs a Hokkien mee stall in Bayan Baru, said she did not even notice that cooking oil had become cheaper as the prices of bee hoon and other ingredients had increased.
“Bee hoon and chilli prices have gone up. You may think that 20 or 30-sen isn’t much, but it is a lot for hawkers like us,” she said, adding that she now has to pay for the delivery whenever she orders ingredients like sugar and flour.
“It was free previously, but now the delivery guy says it costs RM5 to deliver a carton of sugar, so when I order two cartons, it’s RM10 for delivery.
“It does not make sense, but they say it is the only way they can earn some money,” she said.
Khor, who increased the price of her Hokkien mee by 50-sen earlier this year, said she would be maintaining that price.
“I know it was a big increase, but I had no choice.
“Even the wages for those who wash dishes have gone up,” she said, adding that she would have to pay RM100 per night if she wanted to hire someone to wash up.
