Malaysia’s food SMEs find different ways to offset dip in day sales during Ramadan

Photo: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - JUNE 25, 2015: Vendors selling food at street bazaar catered for iftar or breaking of the fast during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan / ThamKC / Shutterstock.com

KUALA LUMPUR - Operators of small food and beverage businesses in Malaysia are finding different ways to offset the slowdown in day sales during Ramadan, which could drop as much as 50 percent.

While restaurants at hotels remain popular for their Ramadan buffets especially among corporate customers who host iftar for staff and clients, smaller cafés that lose breakfast and lunch revenues compete on price for the iftar crowd or divert resources to catering services, while others prioritize the spirit of giving in the holy month.

Rashedah Ridzwani, owner of Sky Retail Sdn Bhd, which operates Kuala Lumpur’s popular eatery Don’s Warong and two food kiosks in Alamanda Mall Putrajaya, said planning for special iftar buffet menus start at least three months ahead of Ramadan.

CHEAPER RAMADAN BUFFETS

“We are known for our buffet which is only available during Ramadan while on other days we only have a la carte selections.  [The Ramadan buffet] has been a positive step for us to offset the dip in sales during lunch and the buffet has been pretty popular too as we now get reservations as early as two months before Ramadan,” Ridzwani told Salaam Gateway.

Don’s Warong will also extend opening hours until 1am to cater to the post-taraweeh prayers and suhoor crowd.

Businesses such as Don’s Warong compete on price with the hotels’ Ramadan buffets. “Our price is very competitive, almost half [the price of] some hotel buffets,” said Ridzwani.

Don’s Warong earned about a quarter of its total sales last year during Ramadan but Sky Retail’s two other kiosks, Wafflestop and Noah’s Burger, struggle during the holy month.

“Sales at our kiosks drop by more than half every Ramadan. We have tried many ways and promotions to boost sales but it has not worked,” said Ridzwani.

CATERING AND PACKED MEALS

For Suraya Supian’s Foodnest café, which operates within the condominium compound where she lives, sales dip during Ramadan even though her customers are predominantly non-Muslim and Chinese, she said. 

“We open a bit later during [the] fasting month and focus on higher volume times like brunch and lunch. With shorter opening hours, [our] workers’ overtime allowance is reduced, which helps to cut down our overhead cost,” she said, adding that the café will test a Ramadan buffet set meal for a week before deciding to continue or go back to its normal offering.

Like in previous years, Foodnest  also provides catering services for mosques and packed meals for corporate offices whose staff work during iftar hours. This segment helps to offset the company’s drop in sales during the holy month.

SPIRIT OF GIVING

Alia Muhammad Ali, who runs Fickle Food Sdn Bhd, opted to go a a different way for Ramadan. Last year, she set up a coffee kiosk outside a mosque to distribute her Fikcles gourmet coffee.

Fikcles’ “Ramadan Coffee” operations were funded by sadaqah money, or charity, the company collected from customers, family and friends who wanted to give free premium coffee and chocolate drinks to all worshippers at the mosque.

“Every evening, the aroma of delicious freshly brewed coffee fills the mosque area. We are very pleased that our quality gourmet coffee reaches everyone, regardless of their economic status, especially those that usually cannot afford gourmet coffee at fancy cafes,” said Muhammad Ali.

Fikcle also runs a “Warm Up My Tummy” program during Ramadan, a suspended meal concept in which people pay for meals in advance at a discounted rate to be provided for the less fortunate that request for the meal later.

Muhammad Ali said business at her café is affected during the fasting month due to an adjacent Ramadan bazaar that sells over a hundred varieties of food every evening. Regardless, the café continues to offer its Ramadan specials.

Fikcles’ continues to run its Ramadan Coffee and Warm Up My Tummy programs this Ramadan.

© SalaamGateway.com 2016