It’s time to change the breakfast culture

People living in Myanmar including Myanmar people still prefer sitting at teashops for their breakfast and that culture is most common to date.
When a person meets with his friend, they go to the nearest teashop to have conversations between them. There are various teashops in every place in the country.
The expenses at the teashop became higher one time later in mid-2022 together with the high commodity prices compared to the previous years, Thakayta resident Ko Hla Oo told the Global New Light of Myanmar (GNLM).
The price for a cup of tea is different depending on the decoration of the teashop. It costs K1,000 per drink at the famous teashop and K800 at small shops and about K600 at vendor shops, said Ko Myo from Tamway Township.
Shops that sell instant tea can have expenses for boiled water and cups and accommodation and they collect an extra K200 which is equal to the price of an instant tea sachet, so the people have to pay K400 per coffee sachet.
The prices of Naan (Indian flat bread), Eikyakway (Youtiao or Yu Char Kway – deep-fried bread strips of Chinese origin) and Paukci (Baogi-Filled steamed bread) are also higher one-time later mid-term of this year than the previous year. Therefore, if a person has snacks and tea for breakfast, it will cost about K1,000, said Ko Kyaw Kyaw, a taxi driver.
Similarly, Myanmar’s traditional breakfast recipes and popular dishes such as coconut noodle soup and Mohinga are priced at K1,500 per dish with fried fritters at the larger shops and K900/1,000 at roadside shops. Other normal breakfast foods that are priced at K1,000 are higher than that price, Ko Than Win from Lanmadaw Township told the GNLM.
Prices of traditional snacks made from sticky rice and boiled beans are higher one time than before. Although people can buy a dish made from sticky rice for K200 previously, now they can buy only K500 at least.
Therefore, it can cost a person between K500 and K1,000 for breakfast. It will cost more for a big family.
Currently, the daily minimum wage for a person is K4,800. When the businesses do not run properly at the Bayintnaung wholesale centre, the owners have to add extra expenses if the wage is lower. A worker can get up to K7,000 per day at least.
Although the income rate does not show an increase, the costs of accommodation and transport charges are becoming higher and higher. The breakfast costs about 20 per cent of the salary of a daily worker. Except for meeting important friends at the teashops, people should drink instant coffee, milo and Ovaltine at their houses for breakfast and it can reduce the breakfast expense to half.
It is K200 per sachet of coffee (wholesale) while K10,500 for 400-gramme Ovaltine, K6,200 for 285-gramme milo, K4,800 per pack of nutritious cereal (20 sachets), K6,000 per pack of 1,000-gramme milk powder and about K3,000 per viss of sugar.
If people make a cup of Ovaltine, it is about K450. It is more nutritious than tea and saves expenses. People should change their breakfast style except those who drink tea, Daw Aye Than from Sangyoung told the GNLM.
Similarly, it can also save expenses if people fry the rice at their houses instead of buying breakfast at shops. It is not sure that those who have surplus income more than expenses need to save money or not, those, who are struggling to balance incomes and expenses control the buying at the shop and make cooking at their houses when food prices are on the rise. If so, they can reduce expenses and maintain their income and expense.
Translated