One of the cheapest ways to satisfy your hunger in Thailand is to eat instant ‘Mama’ noodles, which have cost an affordable 6 baht per packet since 2014. However, Mama’s producer said they plan to increase the price of their instant noodles next month to compensate for rising costs of transport and raw materials. Thailand’s Minister of Commerce said he will try to delay the price increase of the “important products” for as long as possible.
Mama’s producer, Thai President Foods, wants to increase wholesale prices of yellow noodles including the popular Tom Yum and minced pork flavours. The prices of white noodles and Mama Cup noodles will remain unchanged.
The company said rising costs of transport and raw materials such as wheat flour and palm oil are the reason they need to increase their prices.
Once the company’s plan is approved by the Ministry of Commerce, wholesale prices of yellow noodles will increase from 143 baht to 145 baht for a pack of 30. The wholesale price for 180 packets will increase from 858 baht to 870 baht.
Meaning the retail price of Mama noodles will go up from 6 baht per packet to 6.50 – 7 baht per packet. While a 1 baht increase might not sound like much, or make a difference to your choices in 7-Eleven, it still represents a significant 16.6% increase in price.
Today, Thailand’s Minister of Commerce Jurin Laksanawisit revealed that the Ministry hasn’t yet approved the proposed increase in prices. Jurin said he wants to freeze the price of the famous household staple for as long as possible, however, prices might need to increase to prevent a noodle shortage…
“We will try to fix the price for as long as possible but at the same time, the business must also survive. If production stops, it would cause a shortage of Mama noodles. Now, we are trying to fix the price of 18 important products which we use in our daily life. However, we must accept that the price of oil plays a large role in affecting the price of the goods. Some prices might have to increase to prevent a halt in production.”
SOURCE: The Nation, Workpoint Today