Dragon Boat Festival is coming up and the cost of zongzi has increased by more than 20%, so this year everyone will have to eat expensive zongzi!
Every year, the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is the Dragon Boat Festival, and this year’s Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 3 (Friday) of the solar calendar. The most essential food for the Dragon Boat Festival is the zongzi. This year, with the outbreak of severe global inflation, the raw materials for zongzi are also affected and the price of zongzi will rise again this year.
Covid and military tensions between Russia and Ukraine have led to disruptions in the global supply chain, and with the continued decline in the exchange rate of the Malaysian dollar, the raw materials for zongzi have all been adjusted upwards by over 20%.
A large proportion of the country’s rice dumpling leaves are imported from China, and with the weakening of the Malaysian dollar and the increase in shipping costs, the price of rice dumpling leaves has increased by 20 to 40 per cent.
Pork prices have also gone up 6 times in just 5 months, from RM720 per 100kg to RM1240 per 100kg. half of the increase is due to the outbreak of African Swine Fever in various parts of the country, which has resulted in the mass slaughter of pigs. The war has also led to an increase in the price of pig feed.
