Prices of CNY goodies shoot up
Further increases expected as festive period draws closer
FAMILIES planning to entertain with must-have delicacies and goodies this Chinese New Year should start shopping now – or pay even higher prices later.
A check with a dozen stores in Chinatown and Kallang has found that prices of abalone, fish maw, dried scallops, dried sea cucumber, pineapple tarts and mandarin oranges have already risen by up to 30%, compared with the same pre-festival period last year.
The bad news: importers and wholesalers said the prices of most of these items were likely to rise by at least another 10% as the festive period draws closer.
At Sar Mooi Long, a dried goods store at Victoria Wholesale Centre, fish maw is going for S$400 (RM983) per kilo, up from S$300 (RM737) last year.
At neighbouring store Guan Say, 255g cans of abalone (drained weight) are priced at S$158 (RM388) each, up 30%.
Supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice said inclement weather had pushed prices of Fujian ru gan – a popular mandarin orange from Fujian province in China – up 5% from last year’s levels.
Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association’s immediate pastpresident Allan Tan said the prices of most of these items typically inched up each year as transport, rental and labour costs increase.
However, some items have
Prices will go up with each new batch brought in as exporters raise prices to match rising demand. — ALLAN TAN
seen sharper price rice increases because of environmental factors.
Abalone supplies have shrunk this year because of rising sea water temperatures in Australia, a major exporter.
The higher temperatures prevented some abalones from growing big enough to be harvested.
Fish maw is more costly because of overfishing of the red snapper, which produces premium grades of the delicacy.
“Prices will go up with each new batch brought in as exporters raise prices to match rising demand,” said Tan.
In the meantime, the higher prices at stores seem to be prompting customers to tighten their purse strings.
At Eden Cottage, which packs and sells Chinese New Year hampers, customers are spending about S$150 (RM368) per hamper, down from about S$200 (RM491) last year. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network