SME association looking to mitigate food price hikes

PETALING JAYA: While the cost of food and beverages has gone up in the new year, the SME Association of Malaysia is hoping to mitigate the price hikes by helping those in the food and beverage industry for them to remain competitive and able to cope with increasing operation cost.
Its president, Datuk Michael Kang, told theSun that the association is working on measures to help its members, particularly those operating coffee shops, to remain competitive instead of increasing prices or passing the operating cost to consumers.
"No doubt that prices or cost for food and beverages increased quietly after Jan 1 or when certain festivals draw near, but prices for other essentials or items increased too so it is something that is faced by all industries.
"However, I would like to stress that the association never endorsed any price hike," Kang said.
Kang pointed out that one of the ways they hope to help these operators is by looking at various government policies, cost of doing business and ways to remove market monopoly.
"At the same time, we are also approaching all relevant ministries to work something out but so far it has not been easy or smooth journey," he said.
Meanwhile, a coffee shop operator who only wished to be known as Tan said he is left no choice but to increase the prices of beverages at his coffee shop due to the increased prices of items like sugar and milk.
"I have always tried to maintain prices at an affordable level but as a result of the sugar subsidy being removal recently, its price has gone up tremendously so I have to slightly increase the prices of certain beverages.
"If given a choice, I would prefer not to increase the beverage price as most people are having a hard time coping with increased cost of living and prices," Tan said when met at his coffee shop.