The ‘cartel’ formed by the kopitiams (traditional Chinese style coffee shops) in KL and Selangor has decided to raise the price of drinks starting from January 2011.
A glass of coffee is now priced at RM1.40, up 20 sen from last year. A bowl of noodle is about RM4. So, a simple breakfast at kopitiam costs more than RM5, which isn’t so much cheaper than a breakfast in McDonalds’.
For the record, the breakfast set of ‘2 piece hotcakes’ plus coffee in McDonald’s comes to less than RM5. Better still, in the Golden Arches restaurants, you get cleaner environment, air-conditioning, free coffee refill and free Wifi. You can even pick up a copy of The Sun newspaper in certain outlets.
The kopitiams justify their price hike by citing the increase in material cost. I am sure McDonald’s cannot escape the inflation too, but it somehow manages to keep the price steady. In fact, McDonald’s lowered the price of the breakfast sets in 2010. Also, bear in mind that kopitiams hire lots of low wage migrant workers. Employees in the Golden Arches outlets are predominantly Malaysians.
Two words explain why McDonald’s is able to keep the price low: cost cutting. This is something traditional kopitiams must emulate, if they want to stay competitive in the coming decade. Consumers have choice…
well, one thing you have to consider is how kopitiam and fast food chain are managed and business are run..
ReplyDeleteof course McD will have business plan to help grow business even they are selling cheaper.. but asking kopitiam to do all these strategic enterprise business plan could be more costly..
ReplyDeletein general still, kopitiam is cheaper than McD lah, i mean in MY, don't know what's the case in SG..
ReplyDeletekopitiam is great but to get cheaper food, guess hawker food would do.
ReplyDeleteCould it be the smaller kopitiams do not have the expertise and the economies of scale?
ReplyDeleteSK
ReplyDeleteI know kopitiam and fast food chain are different, but consumers only care about food, price, and value added services.
wenn
Hawker food is for take-away only.
Bananaz
That's what I think.
I'm reminded of how the hypermarts are killing all the small provision shops in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteWill kopitiams become a thing of the past 10 years down the road?
Yes .....agree v u.....I I like coffee ......
ReplyDeleteI love McD bfast....
ReplyDeleteas for kopitiam, we usually go for lunch, most noodle dish are now at RM4.50 in PJ area
as for Bangsar it is RM5
I don't frequent kopitiams and fastfood chains often and am usually not aware of any price hikes. So thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteInflation has caused price increase in both. Foodwise, it's like comparing apples and oranges as each serves different cuisines. If you like Chinese/local food, you get them at the hawker's and for plastic food (for lack of a better word), you go the other way.
ReplyDeleteMcD's may have cleaner environment generally but some of them can be just as noisy and the table sticky. One gripe I have of fastfood chains is the trays. Are they ever washed? Urgghhhh!!
I like old style kopitiams. Somehow, teh C tastes much better than the ones served in modern kopitiams.
ReplyDeleteThat will give smaller hawker to flourish. Let them be.
ReplyDeleteI am in the advertising trade all my life.
ReplyDeleteWe know that pricing factors are often due to their advertising mileage and budget that rules their tags. So they wanna blame inflations when they are the setters!
ReplyDeleteHawker prices are always minimal and slow in hiking coz they never advertise!
ReplyDeleteWhen the massage chair companies first launched their brands in Malaysia, they were cheap and affordable. They just pasted their labels onto the ready made chairs from China which cost dirt cheap then.
ReplyDeleteSlowly they got arrogant and competitive, so their prices hiked scarily adding more buttons, squeezes and even music! After Gong Li comes Andy Lau!! Walau eh, their fees are several millions per year!! Think about the real cost of the chair??
ReplyDeleteFor the record, the breakfast set of ‘2 piece hotcakes’ plus coffee in McDonald’s comes to less than RM5. Better still, in the Golden Arches restaurants, you get cleaner environment, air-conditioning, free coffee refill and free Wifi. Best restaurant Stellenbosch You can even pick up a copy of The Sun newspaper in certain outlets.
ReplyDeleteAnother Smart post from you Admin :)
ReplyDeleteHiya! I simply would like to give an enormous thumbs up for the good data you might have right here on this
ReplyDeletepost. I will be coming back to your blog for more soon.
My web-site - south korean subway map
Hey! I just wish to give a huge thumbs up for the great info you’ve got right here
ReplyDeleteon this post. I can be coming again to your weblog for more soon.
my web blog; download seo in guk feat eun ji - all for you
Howdy! I just wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the nice information you might have here on this post.
ReplyDeleteI might be coming back to your weblog for extra soon.
Look at my weblog; semicolon examples however
Good day! I just want to give a huge thumbs up for the nice information you’ve gotten
ReplyDeletehere on this post. I might be coming again to your
blog for more soon.
Also visit my web page; semicolon use worksheet
Hey! I simply wish to give an enormous thumbs up for the nice data you may have here on this post.
ReplyDeleteI might be coming again to your blog for more soon.
Take a look at my web-site; where to buy semolina flour toronto