By R. Vikneswaran
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 (Bernama) -- The inclusion of frozen food under the Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) programme is expected to ease cost-of-living pressures and improve household well-being by ensuring more consistent access to protein, economist Prof Emeritus Dr Barjoyai Bardai said.
The Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia lecturer said the move would help stabilise prices of essential protein sources while strengthening SARA’s role as a social protection mechanism with broad public impact.
“Frozen products such as mixed vegetables, tempeh and marinated chicken help working households, single mothers and the elderly save time by simplifying meal preparation, improving mobility and enabling better household stock management,” he told Bernama.
“Items like chicken, fish and plant-based proteins generally have a longer shelf life, reducing the frequency of shopping trips and transport costs. Expanding SARA to 15 categories covering about 140,000 products allows households to better match their budgets with suitable brands and pack sizes,” he added.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced today at the Prime Minister’s Assembly with the Ministry of National Unity that the SARA programme will be expanded to include frozen food, in addition to basic necessities, following public demand.
Participation by small retail outlets under the programme is also set to increase to 10,000 by year-end, while the coverage radius will be reduced to seven kilometres from the current 10 km.
Barjoyai said the wider range of frozen food options would enable households to maintain protein-rich diets within limited budgets while reducing decision fatigue, a factor that significantly affects daily well-being.
He added that the expanded retail network and shorter travel distance would make SARA more inclusive, particularly for rural and remote communities.
While supporting a ‘local-first’ approach prioritising domestic producers in the frozen food, agriculture and fisheries sectors, Barjoyai stressed that this should be implemented through market-based incentives rather than import restrictions that could limit choice or push prices higher.
He also proposed enhancements to the programme, including SARA price guidelines, stronger cold-chain infrastructure in rural areas through micro-grants for refrigeration equipment, and the use of transaction data for micro-geographic monitoring.
Meanwhile, EB Group of Companies chief executive officer Chris Ooi said the expansion recognises frozen food as a practical and essential food option rather than merely a convenience, and is expected to boost Malaysia’s local food manufacturing and processing industry.
“Many frozen food manufacturers operate local production facilities, so the expansion is likely to generate stronger demand for domestically produced products, helping to stabilise and grow the local food manufacturing base,” she said.
Ooi added that frozen food offers good value, longer shelf life and ease of preparation, making it suitable for households managing both time and budget constraints.
EB Group, headquartered in Kulim, Kedah, will continue to optimise production planning and may introduce phased capacity enhancements supported by automation, process improvements and ongoing investments in food safety and quality, she said.
-- BERNAMA
