KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 — Picture this: a nasi lemak bungkus, a slice of kuih lapis, a kuih seri muka, and a steaming cup of teh tarik. The perfect Malaysian breakfast, right?
But this everyday indulgence could soon cost more, with the prices of coconut milk (santan) and grated coconut (kelapa parut) surging.
Coconut milk is the heart and soul of almost every traditional Malay kuih, and alternatives like evaporated milk just don’t cut it.
Yet with Malaysia grappling with a coconut supply crunch for over six months, hawkers and food caterers are preparing to raise prices.
Hawker Muhammad Syafiq bin Saifullizan, 25, said he will increase the price of his plain nasi lemak from RM3 to RM3.50 next month to cope with rising costs.
Syafiq, who runs a weekday breakfast stall in Taman Tun Dr Ismail (TTDI) here, said he would maintain the price of kuih at RM0.80 for now but may shrink the size and coconut filling of kuih kaswi, kuih koci and kuih ketayap.
“For nasi lemak alone, my mother uses almost 5kg of santan daily — that’s 25kg a week. But the santan price hike has been insane.
“My mother doesn’t have the heart to skimp on coconut filling. She wants customers to feel satisfied.
“But grated coconut can only last about a week, so we have to find ways to cut costs,” he told Malay Mail when met at his stall recently.
Nearby, Mohd Adam bin Atan, 48, said he now spends nearly RM180 a week on packet coconut milk (santan kotak), up from RM100 six months ago.
Although he had already raised the price of kuih tepung pelita from RM0.60 to RM0.80 last month, Adam said another hike is just around the corner.
“Last week, a packet of coconut milk cost RM17. For nasi lemak alone, I use about four packets daily — that’s RM68 a day now. It used to cost only RM40,” he said.
Adam added that the price of cucumber has also shot up from RM1.50 per kg to almost RM5 per kg in the same period, further driving up nasi lemak costs.
Full-time traditional kuih caterer Siti Monaliza Mokhtar, 49, said she’s absorbing even steeper costs because she refuses to compromise on quality by switching to packet coconut milk.
Siti sources between 10kg and 15kg of fresh coconut milk daily from a supplier in Sungai Buloh.
“The price of fresh santan is now RM19 per kg, and grated coconut has jumped from RM7 to RM12 per kg.
“Packaging costs have also risen, so I have no choice but to raise kuih prices. But I’m doing it gradually, so customers don’t feel the pinch.
“For example, I used to sell 100 pieces of kuih talam lapis for RM80, now it’s RM85.
“So far, most of my regulars are still willing to pay because I don’t compromise on taste by using packet coconut milk,” she said.
Outside the Klang Valley, traders are also feeling the squeeze.
On April 21, Berita Harian reported that some hawkers in Gua Musang, Kelantan, had stopped selling laksam and laksa lemak after the price of fresh coconut milk hit RM20 per kg. Many kuih sellers there were also forced to cut down portions.
Last month, coconut milk supply in Kelantan fell after red beetle infestations slashed coconut yields. A slowdown in imports from Indonesia following the long Hari Raya Aidilfitri holidays, coupled with extreme weather in major coconut-producing countries, has made matters worse.
