KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 (Sin Chew Daily) — Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association president Wong Teu Hoon confirmed that prices of beverage sold at traditional coffee shops in the country will be increased next year by a margin of 20 to 30 sen in smaller towns and rural areas and by 40 to 60 sen in major urban areas.

Wong told Sin Chew Daily coffee shop owners are forced to increase the prices because of a number of factors, including higher wages for migrant workers, higher rents and more expensive gas and daily operating costs.

He said the price hike was inevitable as the prices of beverage had remained unchanged for the past six years, adding that the price increase could be even steeper if the association had not proposed the margin to the operators.

”It will be unfair to regular customers if the margin is too high, but if we don’t increase the price, it will not be fair to traditional coffee shops because of the rising costs.

“We are not just talking about price hike in white sugar, but also wages, rents, gas and daily operating expenses.”

Wong said even the increase in price would not bring any profit to the operators.

“Take 20 sen increase as example, if you sell an average of 100 cups a day, you only have RM20 extra which may not be sufficient to cover the increased expenses.”

He said the salaries paid to foreign workers at coffee shops had increased from RM1,200 to RM1.650, while the annual agency fee had increased from RM6,000 to RM9,500.