KUALA LUMPUR – This year’s Ramadan bazaars are proving to be more than just a platform for income generation as they also serve as effective advertising spaces for vendors looking to expand their customer base during the fasting month.
Vendors at the Bangsar Telawi bazaar, many of whom are newcomers to the scene, told Scoop that despite the increased cost of ingredients and materials this year, their stalls are doubling as powerful marketing tools for their businesses.
Seri Banun Hassannar, the proprietor of Nasi Briyani Mak, said participating in the bazaar has been instrumental in promoting her cooking and her restaurant. This is despite the high daily expenses, which sometimes exceed her revenue.
This also comes as food items such as basmati rice, ghee butter, and onions have seen price hikes, she said, adding that cheaper alternatives are not an option.
“Our daily cost is very high, as we sell lamb shank biryani and use high-quality materials. The profit per portion is only about RM4. But, I just really enjoy cooking,” she said when met by Scoop.
“I will not sacrifice the quality of my dishes by changing the recipe. Yes, businesses would want to make a profit, but this is my passion and I want people to know the taste of my food.”
Seri, who followed in her parents’ footsteps to dabble in the food industry, shared that she would marinate her meat for 24 hours before cooking, guaranteeing their soft and mouth watering texture.
Similarly, Thai stall vendor Muhammad Farid Faisal said that while the price of his products remained the same as last year, operating a bazaar stall is an alternative method of promoting his restaurant.
This is despite costs for raw materials having gone up by at least 40% this year, especially for fresh seafood ingredients for his Som Tam dishes, he added.
“We maintain our prices. We can’t just think about ourselves, we have to think about the customers too. We sell our food here to introduce others to our dishes.
“Our sales per day should be enough to break even. Any profit would probably just be enough for duit raya,” the 30-year-old quipped.
To counter the increased cost, Faisal said he would reduce the purchase of less important ingredients, such as vegetables.
Chinese-Muslim pan mee owner Salma Wong said operating such booths helps her business get more publicity, after suffering from the movement control order (MCO) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“My husband and I had a physical restaurant, but we shut down due to the pandemic. After the MCO, we began doing business in Ramadan bazaars and other food fests as they gave us more exposure.
“Our business is doing okay, we get revenue of RM500 a day against RM300 in costs. All our ingredients are home-cooked, so it helps with our profit margin,” she said.
Wong said operating at the bazaar here was enjoyable, as the location offers a decent crowd and rent of about RM500 for the whole fasting month.
Meanwhile, an owner of a newly-opened Wagyu fried rice business who goes by Vijay decided to set up a stall here to market his business, hoping to tap into the food truck industry soon.
Although his daily cost could reach about RM2,000 to RM3,000 due to the meat’s expensive price, he forecasted a profit of about 60% to 70% for Ramadan.
“The profit cannot be at 100%, as we have a lot of costs to cover, but we try to be sustainable as we want the marketing.
“We are not aiming for a bigger profit margin, we want bigger quantities (sold) for exposure. We didn’t plan on selling many dishes on our first few days, but we still managed to sell more than half of our daily target,” he said. – March 17, 2024