Grocery cost may increase up to RM600 per month
THE minimum grocery expenditure for the lower to middle-income families will cost between RM400 and RM600 per month on the rising prices.
(The Malaysian Reserve) – Hargapedia CEO CK Soon (picture) told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR) this calculation is solely based on the essential items per household on average and not including other additional purchases.
“When we talk about spending, it’ll be RM600 on grocery cost per month on average. This is not including the cost of dining out,” Soon told TMR in an interview recently.
“The lowest you can go if you skimp may be about RM400,” he said.
According to him, the item with the highest price increase is cooking oil, with almost 100% hike now than pre-pandemic.
“Some brands which used to sell their 5kg pack for about RM19.90 have their prices rising to RM39,” he said, noting that this is due to higher crude palm oil prices, geopolitical issues and Indonesia’s recent move to ban palm oil export.
Other items which see significant increase in price include: Canned seafood such as mackerel which saw its prices rising to RM7.90 compared to RM4.90 in 2020 and butter which saw its price increased to RM15 from RM4.90 pre-pandemic.
“As long as the oil prices remain high, these grocery prices will continue to go up, especially for products which materials are sourced from outside (Malaysia),” Soon explained.
