GEORGETOWN – With pork prices skyrocketing to their highest in two years, more people are turning to eating fish or chicken and even mutton and beef.
Housewife Allyssa Lim, 48, wants to ensure her family has a meat dish for dinner every day, as pork used to be a staple in their meals.
“Now that pork costs so much, we either eat less of it or opt for fish instead,” she said.
“Fish is not only fresh but also a healthier option.”
Restaurant owner Jacob Quah, 38, said pork has now become a premium item on his menu as customers are choosing more budget-friendly alternatives like chicken and fish.
“I have to maintain a commitment to my local pork supplier, but with the rising costs, I have no choice but to raise the prices of my pork dishes.
“To offer more affordable options, we’ve expanded our menu to include more fish and chicken dishes, as well as mutton and beef choices that customers have responded to positively,” he said.
Mr Pang, a butcher in Jalan Burma, said many in the trade have increased their stock of imported pork.
“Imported pork, such as that from Spain, is about RM30 (S$9.05) per kg, while local pork now goes for around RM40 per kg.
“About 60 per cent of our stock is now imported, and most of it is supplied to restaurants. Some customers have also turned away from pork altogether,” the 55-year-old said during a recent meeting
“They have chosen alternatives like beef, mutton, chicken or fish, which generally have more stable prices.”
Checks at several markets found that popular cuts, such as pork belly, spare ribs and lean meat from local suppliers, are now priced between RM36 and RM46 per kg.
The same parts from imported sources are priced between RM33 and RM39 per kg.
Another butcher, Ms Fiona Ng, 32, also increased her stock of imported pork.
“In the past, imported pork was less preferred because customers valued the freshness of the local variety. But the price of local pork has increased three times since the beginning of this year.
“Currently, a whole pig from local farms is priced at RM1,780 per 100kg, compared to RM1,600 per 100kg just in 2024,” she said, adding that the steep increase has cost them about 20 per cent of their customers.”
According to farmers, African Swine Fever is the primary bane of the pig-rearing industry and the leading cause behind the sky-rocketing prices of pork in the market.
A 2023 outbreak had caused the number of farms in Penang to shrink by 25 per cent as farmers were forced to cull infected livestock, said Penang Pig Farmers Association chairman Wong Fu Sheng.
“There used to be about 160 farms, but now there are only about 120 still in operation,” said Mr Wong.
“To avoid over-crowding of pigs that could heighten the spread of the virus during an outbreak, the remaining farms are also rearing fewer animals.”
Besides Penang, thousands of pigs had to be culled in Selangor and Malacca due to the ASF outbreak, said the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry, which caused supplies of pork to drop and prices to rise. THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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