ALOR SETAR, April 7 — The Consumers Association of Kedah (CAKE) has detected an increase in prices for flour-based food, especially ‘kuih-muih’ (sweet or savoury snacks) sold at the Ramadan bazaars in the state this year.

Its secretary Mohamad Yusrizal Yusoff said since the Ramadan bazaar started operating on the first day of Ramadan on April 3, CAKE had received several complaints from consumers about the increase in food prices.

"The prices of chicken, eggs, cooking oil, canned milk and flour have risen sharply in the past and that has forced traders to raise the prices of food sold at the bazaar.

"If we notice, last year many traders sold traditional ‘kuih-muih’ at the Ramadan bazaars but not that many this year as the price of flour has gone up and the supply is low,” he said after conducting a check at the Ramadan bazaar at the Stadium Darul Aman here today.

He said the situation caused many traders to opt to sell other types of dishes to avoid receiving complaints from the public.

Mohamad Yusrizal said apart from kuih-related complaints, the association also received complaints about the increase in the price of chicken and canned milk-based dishes.

"In every Ramadan ‘ayam golek’ and ‘ayam percik’ become a mandatory menu sought by the public. However, now the chicken is sold up to RM30 each so it is quite burdensome for those who want to buy,” he said.

Meanwhile, a trader at the Ramadan bazaar, Zulanizan Zakaria, 38, said he had to increase the price of ‘tepung pelita’ to cover the rising cost of goods.

However, he is grateful that customers understand the situation and the response has been very good thus far despite being slightly pricier.

"Thus far, I receive many orders and during this Ramadan, I am able to sell 4,000 pieces of ‘tepung pelita’ daily. The supply of flour thus far is adequate and not a problem as I buy in large quantities from wholesalers,” he said. — Bernama