Consumers to dig deeper for Vegetarian Festival fare

       Vegetarians will shoulder a heavier burden during the Vegetarian Festival, due to higher retail prices for ready-to-eat je foods, a Commerce Ministry survey of Yaowarat Road shows. The festival will run from Sunday until October 26.
       However, retail prices of fresh vegetables and other foods should remain unchanged, due to sluggish economic growth affecting consumers' purchasing power.
       Retail prices of instant and ready-to-eat vegetarian foods will cost a minimum of Bt35 a pack, while normal ready-to-eat foods run Bt25 to Bt30 a pack.
       One food retailer in Yaowarat Market said ready-to-eat vegetarian foods were normally more expensive than normal food. However, retail prices for them seem to have climbed despite no corresponding increase in those for raw materials. An earlier survey by the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce showed changing lifestyles had prompted consumers, particularly vegetarians, to choose ready-to-eat, canned and instant foods over fresh foods.
       Sirirat, a Chinese-Thai who plans to eat vegetarian during the festival, urged the government to control retail prices of ready-to-eat foods, because these were necessary for working consumers.
       "Consumers prefer ready-to-eat foods. Raw materials have not gone up much this year, so ready-to-eat foods should not be too expensive," she said. However, a ministry survey found prices of some fresh vegetables and other raw materials had in fact dropped 10-20 per cent year on year.
       Commerce Ministry permanent secretary Yanyong Phuangrach confirmed retail prices of some raw materials were now lower than during last year's festival.
       For instance, non-meat protein is quoted at Bt35 to Bt40 for a 400-gram pack, against Bt40 last year. Vegetarian fish maw is now Bt160 to Bt200 a kilogram, down from Bt200 to Bt300 last year. Soba noodles remain unchanged at Bt55 a kilogram.
       Most fresh-vegetable prices cost the same as last year or have increased slightly, by about Bt5 a kilogram.
       To ensure consumers do not suffer from higher food prices, the ministry will dispatch inspection teams to fresh markets nationwide in a bid to prevent unfair price hikes during this year's vegetarian festival, Yanyong said.