Metro

Thursday May 8, 2008

Price of pork up again

By LOOI SUE-CHERN


THE price increase for pork is taking its toll on butcher, restaurateurs and hawkers.

With the meat’s price increasing for the third time this year from RM6.20 to RM6.50 per kg recently, those selling and buying pork are feeling the heat.

Butcher Ong Kee Chye, 59, said although business was as usual at his stall, the price increase would slowly hurt his livelihood.

“Butchers like me are now bearing a heavier capital. Covering costs is not so easy when customers still come to us with the same amount of money. If it was RM5 then, it is still RM5 now.

Challenging times: A chef at a restaurant preparing bah kut teh.

“We are actually just getting by,” he said in an interview at the Pulau Tikus Market yesterday.

He added that the butchers understood that pig farmers had to raise the price of pork due to price increases of various pro-ducts.

“We know animal feed is becoming more expensive but the price increase is hurting our business.

“The price went up three times recently. I charged my customers 50 sen more each time. They are now paying a total of RM1.50 more for the meat they buy compared to before,” Ong said, adding that he could not afford to give his regular customers extra meat for free anymore.

Another butcher in his 50s, who only wanted to be known as Neoh, said the price increase was bad for business and customers were already opting for cheap alternatives like chicken for their dishes.

“If the price increases again, we have no choice but to keep up with it to survive. I am selling the meat now at 50 sen more due to the latest price increase.

“Food that remains cheap and affordable is easy to sell and buy. It is good for everybody,” he said at the market.

Bah kut teh restaurant proprietor Ho Meng Kuan, 55, agreed that the rise in pork price was bad for those in the business.

“I have been in the bah kut teh business for 23 years. I have never seen pork price increases like these. But there is nothing we can do because the prices of other products are also going up.

Lee: My business is running as usual.

“Pork ribs used to be RM4.80 a kg about 22 years ago. Before the recent price increase, it was RM15. Now it is RM18,” he said at his restaurant at Gurney Drive.

Ho said he would not raise his restaurant’s food prices because business was already challenging enough.

“We depend on regular customers on weekends and holidays. We will try to make do and perhaps serve slightly smaller potions.

“I am lucky because my restaurant is already well-established and I have my regular patrons. For those new in the line, I am not sure how badly this will affect them,” he said.

Koay teow th’ng and bak moay (pork porridge) seller Tan Eow Hui, 26, who also sets up stall at Jalan Pasar, said he would not raise the price of his pork porridge for the time being.

“The price increase for pork affects my business too. I may have to charge customers more in future. For now, I can still cover costs by selling the porridge at RM3 a bowl.

“But I am working longer hours now to sell as many bowls as I can, rather than have to keep leftovers. I do not want to cut down on ingredients in my food. My customers will not be happy,” he said, adding that he anticipated another price increase next month.

However, for some hawkers who are selling pork at a much smaller scale, the price increase is not affecting them too seriously.

A roast chicken and pork rice seller at Jalan Pasar in Pulau Tikus, who wished to be known only as Madam Lee, said she was running her hawker stall as usual.

“I get only about one kg from a supplier every day so the price increase does not make too much of a difference to me. Business is as usual and customers are still coming,” said the 50-year-old hawker.

The Federation of Livestock Farmers Association of Malaysia pig unit chairman Beh Kim Hee said the price increase was due to expensive animal feed and to ensure the survival of small pig farms.

“The animal feed consists of ingredients like rice, corn and beans. Over 90% of the ingredients including vitamins are imported.

“In 2006, corn was around RM500 per metric tonne and local rice was RM300 to RM350. This year, both corn and rice cost over RM900.

“But pork prices here are still the lowest in South-East-Asia,” Beh said but added that the price of pork could still go up.

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