Salma runs a small hummus & falafel unit from Johor Bahru, Malaysia. She supplies to cafés in Singapore through a distributor. One month, chickpea prices jumped sharply. Import delay, dollar rate, the usual story.

Her distributor told her bluntly:

“Either reduce your price or we’ll cut volumes.”

Instead of quietly reducing portion size or quality (very tempting), Salma did something unusual.

She printed a small A6 note and asked the distributor to staple it to every carton:

“Chickpea prices have increased this month due to import delays.

We have increased our price by SGD 0.20 per pack to maintain quality.

When prices normalise, we will revise it back.”

That’s it.

No apology. No marketing language.

Result?

Two cafés complained. Five said nothing.

One café owner messaged:

“Thanks for explaining. Please don’t reduce quality.”

Orders continued.

Lesson (simple, usable):

People accept price increase.

They hate silent manipulation.

👉 Try this yourself:

If you increase price—say why.

One sentence. Honest reason.

Customers may grumble, but they’ll trust you.