Consumers overcome cost increase for vegetables by comparing prices

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IPOH folk seem to have learnt how to cope with the constant hikes in vegetable and food prices.

Rather than complain about the latest round of price increases due to the flooding in Thailand and current monsoon season, many practise moderation and make it a point to compare prices prior to making their purchases.

Retiree N. Nagarethinam, 58, said it was impossible to stop buying vegetables since they were an important part of one’s diet.

In need: Business is still good at the Ipoh Central Market despite the rise in vegetable prices.

“The price increase has not affected me much as I constantly compare prices and make it a point to only buy vegetables that are cheaper.

“Perhaps, people can buy less of the expensive varieties,” he suggested.

Jeyagobi: A box of cili padi from Thailand usually costs about RM30 but now it has gone up to RM110.

Even business establishments like Garden Restaurant in Jalan Hussein compare prices among suppliers in order to control costs.

Its chef, Mun Choong Hoe said it was unethical to pass on the extra costs to consumers.

“We cannot be charging our customers an additional RM2 when say, kailan increases RM2 per kilogramme.

“The next best thing to do is compare prices among suppliers and buy from those that offer the best prices,” he said.

According to Cameron Highlands Vegetable Growers Association secretary-general Chay Ee Mong, the bad weather coupled with the shortage of foreign workers in the highlands have caused productivity to drop drastically.

“Farmers used to produce 500 metric tonnes of vegetables daily but our current production only stands at 350 metric tonnes,” he said, adding that 35% of the nation’s vegetable supply came from Cameron Highlands.

Chay said farms in the lowlands were also not spared by the disruptive monsoon season.

I make it a point to buy only vegetables that are cheaper. - N. Nagarethinam

“We hope productivity will return to normal once the monsoon season is over,” he said.

Vegetable seller K. Jeyagobi said business had not been affected much.

“People continue to buy vegetables although they cost more, especially those imported from Thailand. A box of cili padi from Thailand usually costs about RM30 but now it has gone up to RM110,” he said.

Apart from cili padi, vegetable seller Wan Chai said consumers had to pay slightly more for kailan (Chinese broccoli), chillies and sawi.

“They used to be RM4 or RM5 per kilogramme but now it is about RM6 per kilogramme,” she said.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia deputy chairman M. Sarasvathy said the Government should put into place a long-term measure to address the recurrent problem.

“Importing vegetables from China is not an ideal or lasting solution.

“The Government should encourage more people to participate in the agriculture sector and not evict farmers working on its land.

“It should, instead, issue temporary occupancy licences to farmers to enable them to work on idle state land so as to boost our vegetable production,” she said.