Food operators don’t want to charge more

Same price: Safiq preparing the nasi lemak for sale at his stall in George Town. — LIM BENG TATT/The Star

GEORGE TOWN: Although they are paying more for imported white rice, food operators here have decided not to raise their prices for now.

Safiq Mansor, 23, who runs a famous nasi lemak stall that his father started in 2000 along Beach Street here, said the new imported white rice pricing would affect his business as he used imported rice to prepare Malaysia’s all-time favourite food.

“As long as I can cope with the monthly expenses, I will maintain the same prices. I only use imported rice because my clients love the taste. While there are some who find my nasi lemak cheap, there are others who say it is expensive.

“My portions are big and I am not stingy. It is subjective when it comes to prices, but I do not want to charge more,” he said.

Safiq who sells around 1,000 to 1,200 packs on a good day, said, “Rice is a staple food and can provide a satisfying meal for most of us, but we can still cope with the price hike.”

Economy rice seller Cheong Kwai Foong, 66, is adopting a wait-and-see approach.

“Everyone takes a different amount of rice, so it would be unfair of me to increase the charges for everyone. Some people, especially women, eat a small portion of rice and plenty of vegetables while most men eat almost double the amount of rice.

“I will only charge more if I feel there is really a need to,” she said, adding that other ingredients have also increased in prices.

At a famous nasi kandar outlet here, its director Muhammad Riyaaz Syed Ibrahim said business would be affected by the recent development, but it would not raise its food prices just yet.

“Our profit margin will go down as we use a lot of imported rice. However, we understand the current economic situation and that the public’s spending power has gone down. We hope that the situation will get better soon,” he said.

Muhammad Riyaaz added that the outlet might turn to local white rice in the near future.

“Once we have done our budget, we will see if we can continue maintaining the same charges now. If we do at any point increase our pricing, we will notify our customers,” he said.

On Sept 1, Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) said that the price of imported white rice had been increased with immediate effect to RM3,200 from RM2,350 per tonne due to unpredictable factors such as climate change, the weakening of the currency exchange rate, high operating costs and conflicts.

The price hike will cost consumers 85sen more for a kilogramme of imported white rice.