Maria Ngui, the owner of a local bakery, said in previous years she would have to bake 600 loaves of Kek Lapis for three weeks continuously before Chinese New Year to fulfil her orders.
“Apart from the locals, I have customers from Peninsular Malaysia as well,” she said when met at her bakery located at Jalan Main Bazaar here.
“But, this year, things have been slow despite Chinese New Year being only about one month away. Orders are coming in smaller quantities,” she said, adding that she expected a 20% drop in sales.
Kek Lapis Sarawak is more than just a festive cake: it has become an art and represents the identity of Sarawak and is usually served during festive celebrations or open house events. It has also become a must-buy souvenir.
Ngui, who has been baking for 22 years, said although her business was badly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and the movement control orders, she was using her free time to create new flavours and items.
“I was shocked and lost when the MCO was imposed in March last year as I had bought a lot of ingredients and there were over 1,000 loaves of Kek Lapis Sarawak in my bakery.”
She donated the cakes to frontliners, following suggestions by some friends, and closed her bakery for two months.
“I took some rest at home and started to think about new ways to ensure my business continues to survive. I came out with new recipes, cakes and put more focus on promoting them on social media platforms,” she said.
Ngui said baking a good Kek Lapis required a lot of time and effort as it was done layer by layer. That was why she could not sell them at lower prices.
“I also don’t want to compromise on the quality of my ingredients, hence, I maintain the prices between RM20 and RM30 per loaf but I have added more new flavours – such as sakura rose and yogurt,” she said.
Meanwhile, a home-based Kek Lapis Sarawak baker said she too expected sales to drop for Chinese New Year.
“I am preparing 30% less raw ingredients based on the orders I received during Christmas (which was 30% less compared with the previous year),” said the woman who wanted to be known as Novi.
“Besides, I am not accepting orders from neighbouring countries this year as I’m worried the cakes will not arrive on time due to limited flights and various SOPs,” she said, adding she did not want her customers receiving cakes that were no longer “at the best quality”.
Novi, from Sumatra, Indonesia, who has been residing in Kuching after marrying a Sarawakian, also said about 90% of her customers were still placing orders but in lesser quantities.
“The situation (fewer orders) is predictable, it is not only due to the SOPs, where we can’t celebrate Chinese New Year like in the past, but most of the people’s incomes are also affected, hence, they are spending less this year,” she said.