The price of the sweet meat has soared due to increasing production costs but faithful fans must have it for the festive season
By
Huang Lijie
Times may be bad but customers are still braving long queues at bak kwa retail stores.
If there is a vow the faithful whisper as they queue for hours for the Chinese New Year must-have snack of bak kwa (barbecued pork), it would probably go: 'To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, to love and to cherish, we will part with $48 for every kilogram.'
Indeed, the economy this year is hardly sizzling, yet the price of traditional bak kwa has soared as in the past, up to $48 per kg.
Major vendors of the sweet meat that LifeStyle interviewed say there has been no let up in the crowds that throng their stores either.
Following a surge in demand, retailers commonly raise their prices in the four weeks leading up to the festive season by about $6 per kg.
For bak kwa chains Bee Cheng Hiang and Fragrance, the price of their traditional slices increased gradually this year from $43 per kg to $48 per kg, matching last year's high.
Similarly, Singapore's oldest bak kwa vendor Kim Hock Guan, which has three stores, raised its price earlier this month from $43 per kg to last year's record of $46 per kg.
At popular bak kwa seller Lim Chee Guan's two outlets in Chinatown - where customers brave the notorious hour-long queues every year - the price of its traditional slice at press time is $48 per kg, just a little shy of last year's $50 per kg. The demand for its sweet meat, however, remains overwhelming, and a 6kg cap on purchases had to be imposed last Tuesday.
Sellers are quick to clarify that the hike is not an attempt to cash in on the festive season.
A Bee Cheng Hiang spokesman says: 'If we can hold the retail price, we're more than happy to hold it, especially in the current economic condition. But our suppliers have raised prices, so we have no choice but to adjust accordingly.'
Mr C.T. Goh, 53, vice-president of the Meat Traders' Association, says that prices of frozen and chilled pork, which most bak kwa sellers use to make the snack, have gone up by about 30 per cent and 10 per cent respectively in the last three to six months due to a drop in supply.
He says supplies of frozen pork from China, a major source, fell significantly in the last few months because of a surge in the mainland's domestic demand.
Stringent health controls in China on the export of food overseas, including frozen pork, is another factor causing a shortfall in supply.
Mr Goh adds that the rising cost of animal feed also caused a dip in the production of frozen pork from Brazil and chilled pork from Australia, both major sources of the meat for Singapore.
Mr Tan Tiong Hwa, 50, managing director of Fragrance, which has 28 outlets here, says the price hike is also prompted by an increase in manpower costs.
He says: 'We have to employ more than 100 temporary helpers during this period to cope with the rush.'
Last year, bak kwa prices during the festive season jumped by as much as 16 per cent due to inflation, according to worldwide financial news agency Bloomberg News, which released the first 'bak kwa index' in 2007.
The light-hearted index tracked the prices of four stores every week during the lead-up to the festive season. The index was stopped this year.
Sales figures during this period are a closely guarded secret, but Mr Wilfred Lim, 39, co-owner of Kim Hock Guan, says he has as many customers as last year, and that they are still buying the same amount of bak kwa despite the gloomy economy.
He says: 'The economy may not be doing well, but Chinese New Year is a major celebration for the Chinese and bak kwa is a must-have for the occasion, so customers are still streaming in.'
Similarly, a Bee Cheng Hiang spokesman says that while business from tourists has slipped this year, it has seen a 30 per cent increase from last year in corporate orders. Its year-on-year growth in corporate orders for previous Chinese New Years hovered around the 30 per cent mark too.
Ms S. Hu, 44, a clerk, who joined the queue to buy 500g of Lim Chee Guan's bak kwa last Wednesday, says: 'I usually buy bak kwa during Chinese New Year for my nieces because they like it. I don't spend much on it, but given how the economy is, it would be nice if the retailer could lower the price.'
Still, the high price did not deter marketing manager Jameson Soh, 32, from queuing 90 minutes to buy 5kg - the same amount he bought last year - from Lim Chee Guan last Wednesday.
He says: 'Yes, the economy is not doing well and I guess I could cut down on the bak kwa I buy. But I don't buy it any other time of the year, and whatever I'm buying is for my loved ones, in-laws, parents and aunts, so it's necessary spending that I can afford.'
