Shawarma shops face wrath of online campaigners

Several restaurants and cafeterias that began charging exorbitant prices for shawarma and other meat dishes, simply to misuse the recent lift of meat subsidies, invited the wrath of online campaigners.

Restaurateurs in Manama area almost doubled the price of a shawarma to 700 fils. However, after a Facebook campaign to boycott such outlets gathered momentum, many reduced the price to 300 fils. 

Meanwhile the Bahrain government has warned the shopkeepers against hiking prices of meat dishes, in the name of the subsidy lift. Industry, Commerce and Tourism Ministry yesterday warned of strict monitoring to prevent exploitation of price rise or unjustified price hiking to control the market and the rights of citizens.

Bahrain had withdrawn government subsidies on meat and poultry products on October 1, as countries across the Persian Gulf scrambled to deal with low global oil prices, which send prices up by three to four times. The price rise, thus, compelled shawarma shop owners, to hike prices. following this, many shawarma lovers expressed their anger on Facebook at the unjustified price hike at certain shops, with the hash tag ‘boycott shawarma.’

However many shawarma shops continued to sell their products at the usual or slightly higher price. One shopkeeper told DT News that for shawarma shops meat was still available in a subsidised rate and that there was no need for them to increase the price of shawarma.

Many shawarma shops are taking advantage of the meat subsidy removal to increase the price for food stuffs. A shopping mall was found selling fresh chicken for BD2.100, whereas the previous price was BD1.300.

Following the lifting of meat subsidies, locally slaughtered Australian sheep now costs BD2.850, while frozen Australian mutton imported by air costs BD2.450 per kilo. Meanwhile, frozen mutton imported from Pakistan and Sudan by air costs BD3.050 per kilo. Yesterday, traders of Manama, Muharraq and Souq Waqef Central Meat Markets refused to purchase meat from Bahrain Livestock Company as there has been fall in demand since the withdrawal of subsidy. The reluctance of traders to sell meat in markets has reduced the availability of meat to customers, further escalating the problem.