A braised duck and kway chap stall owner in Chinatown has come to his fellow hawker’s defence after the latter received criticism for implementing a gas and oil surcharge.
In a Facebook post on April 16, Melvin Chew addressed the negative comments and one-star Google reviews received by 803 Thai Food at 511 Upper Jurong Road after it announced the additional charge starting April 6.
Melvin stressed that hawkers are only raising their prices because costs for ingredients, as well as oil and gas, have gone up due to the Middle East conflict.
“If the suppliers didn’t raise their prices, we wouldn’t,” he explained.
In response to online comments calling the owner of 803 Thai Food “greedy” and “selfish” for the surcharge, Melvin said the stall “only raised its prices by 20 cents”.
This would not even be enough for the stall owner to recoup his losses, let alone profit, he noted.
In fact, some hawkers in Chinatown Complex — where Melvin’s stall is located — have raised their prices by up to a dollar after seeing profits drop by up to 20 per cent, reported CNA on April 13.
‘Survival comes first’
In light of online outrage over some eateries and hawker stalls imposing surcharges or raising food prices, local food critic KF Seetoh gave his two cents regarding the matter in a Facebook post on April 12.
Praising hawkers who raised their prices during this period, he said that these operators understand how “survival comes first”.
He also advised hawkers who continue to offer low prices due to “demanding regulars” to rethink their choices.
“Sure, you may want to help the really poor with cost pricing. But, you and your family come first,” he wrote.
“If you trip over and can’t make ends meet, nor maintain your family’s needs, and shutter, no one will care. At best, you get a passing mention in some post. Your survival must take precedence.”
Hawkers can always revise their prices when the global situation is more stable and gas is no longer in limited supply, he added.
Rising oil and prices
According to a Facebook post on April 5, 803 Thai Food also imposed a 30 per cent surcharge on ala carte items, while delivery costs $1.80 extra.
The stall attributed these additional charges to the rapidly increasing prices of fuel, cooking oil and gas.
In early April, The Straits Times reported that cooking gas prices would see further price increases due to higher transportation costs, among others.
Some hawkers might be spared by the price hikes, however, as some providers offer to absorb the additional costs.
Union Gas, which provides liquefied petroleum gas to older estates and commercial eateries, has kept its prices unchanged for hawker centres to support stallholders, CEO Teo Hark Ping told ST.
But small price adjustments will be made for privately run coffee shops and food courts, which typically have stronger margins.
The spike in costs of raw ingredients and fuel has impacted other F&B businesses as well.
Local TV personality and entrepreneur Shahrizal Salleh — better known as Chef Bob — shared that his businesses will be “bleeding dry” if he does not raise prices.
Meanwhile, owner of Botak Porridge Lim Hwee Yi said she has been “feeling the pain” of rising costs.
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
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