KUCHING, Feb 9 — Orders for cakes in conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration this year have dropped due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said cake makers who were met.
One of them, Dayang Norhajijah Abang Baki, said orders and sales this time were much lower compared to the previous year.
As a matter of fact, she said the same situation was experienced by her during the Christmas and Hari Raya celebrations last year.
“Usually a week before Chinese New Year, there are already many customers who order and buy cakes but this year, orders and sales are very low even though it is less than a week before Chinese New Year,” she said when met at her shop which sells layer cakes (kek lapis) in Kubah Ria on Sunday.
Meanwhile, another cake maker Fadhil Aren said he had to temporarily close his cake orders and sales since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.
He said he did not accept any orders for cakes not only for Chinese New Year celebrations this year, but also for the Hari Raya, Gawai and Christmas celebrations last year.
“Even if there are a few orders I have to reject them as I do not want to waste the ingredients because cakes cannot last long if they are not sold. So I turned to selling biscuits and other durable food products instead,” said Fadhil, who has been running the layer cake business in Kubah Ria since 2013.
As for Nurfadzillah Ali, the orders to make cakes for the Chinese New Year celebration this year had also dropped significantly. Last year she made 150 pans of cake to fulfil orders from customers in conjunction with Chinese New Year but this year she said made only 50.
Nurfadzillah thus added that the Covid-19 pandemic has been very challenging for cake makers like her, especially those who do the business full-time.
She is however determined to continue with her business, which she runs from home, as long as there are orders. — Borneo Post Online
