Bakers don’t see a bright Christmas
Christmas cake by Chris Creations
Without a doubt, rich cake a.k.a Christmas cake is one of Sri Lanka’s favourite treats. Made of varied dried fruits, cashews, semolina, butter, eggs, brandy, rose water and almond essence, it is famously served at weddings, engagement and homecoming parties, and also during the Christmas season, hence the moniker Christmas cake.
Usually bakeries and home bakers across the island start preparing their Christmas cake in mid or late November, but this year owing to the steep increases in the price of cooking gas and cake ingredients, many business owners are facing difficulties.
“When I started my business in December 2019, I had lots of orders.This year however, because of the high prices of cake ingredients I can only make a small profit. Some customers also don’t want to purchase my rich cake, because of the price increase,” said Nalini, who runs Yum Cookies by Nala, from her home in Wellawatte.
“Many of our ingredients have gone up in price; sugar, flour, raisins, cashews. Pumpkin preserve is now twice the price it was last year,” said Christine, the owner of Chris Creations, a family run catering and cake making business in Dehiwala.
Christine now sells a kilo of rich cake at Rs. 3800.
Amila Perera, a home baker from Negombo who runs cakelicious.lk through Instagram says she has been taking the brunt of heavy price increases in ingredients since she started her business early this year.
“Prices are going up daily and it’s difficult for people like me to do costing, because once I get an advance payment for an order I cannot ask for more money if there is an overnight increase in the price of ingredients,” she said.
“When it comes to rich cake, most of the ingredients such as glace cherries are imported and they are quite expensive. It’s difficult to sell a piece of rich cake for Rs. 300, because many of our customers cannot afford it,” she added.
It’s not just the home bakers and caterers who are having a tough time.
“My staff and I were shocked when we ordered the ingredients to start making Christmas cake for the festive season,” said one business owner whose cafe is located in Colombo 3.
“Our pieces of rich cake with almond icing were sold for Rs. 170 last December. This December we are selling them for Rs. 210. A 400 gram pack of uncut rich cake without almond icing was priced at Rs. 1000 last December and this December we are selling it for Rs. 1150,” said the manager of the Fab cafe at Galle Road, Colombo 3.
“Our food items, including rich cake pieces, have seen a 20 percent increase since last year, because we want to give our customers value for their money without compromising on the ingredients and the quality,” said the marketing manager for Perera and Sons Pvt. Ltd.
So will you be enjoying Christmas cake this year?
Searching for an ideal partner? Find your soul mate on Hitad.lk, Sri Lanka's favourite marriage proposals page. With Hitad.lk matrimonial advertisements you have access to thousands of ads from potential suitors who are looking for someone just like you.