Shop like an Egyptian... for Ramadan (Feature)

By Nehal El-Sherif Aug 10, 2010, 3:06 GMT

Cairo - The queues become longer, the sales more intense and the shopping carts are loaded to the top. And this is only the first run to the supermarket, during Cairo's mad buying rush in the days before Ramadan, set to begin mid-week.

People joke that it is like shopping for Christmas in the West, but there the festivities have one fixed day, whereas Ramadan is 30 days of meals and hosting. And no budget can suffice.

At a major shopping centre in the city, one visited primarily by working-class Egyptians, an elderly man mumbled unhappily as he pushed his trolley filled with food stuffs out the large doors.

He paid over 600 pounds (106 dollars) for the goods, he said, adding he believes it only gets more expensive with each passing year. Breaking the fast was breaking the bank.

While maintaining a growth rate of 4.7 per cent in 2009, the economy was several points off its peak of 2007, when foreign investment was pushing up the overall standard of living, even as poverty was still rife.

Costs are also rising quickly in the country, and June's urban inflation rate was 10.7 per cent.

Yet, Tareq Wasfi, aged 50, not quite as affected by the global downturn, walked out of the supermarket with his wife, each pushing their own cart quite contently. The combined bill: 800 pounds (140 dollars).

'This is only the starches,' said Wasfi, rather seriously.

He said he planned on opening up his wallet even further when they head to the butcher to buy meat. Vegetables would add a bit more.

Normally, the family of five spends about 1,000 pounds (176 dollars) a month on food.

'But Ramadan needs an open budget,' said Wasfi, a jeweller at the bazaar in Cairo's historic old city.

During Ramadan, the start of which depends on lunar sightings but is expected to commence on August 11 in Egypt, Muslims are asked to abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset.

Although it is the month of fasting and introspection, consumption rates soar as family gatherings and ravenous appetites at sundown tend to push up the need to supply meals and desserts.

Yet in a country where around quarter of the population lives below the poverty line, some Egyptians are buying less, as the worst off remain stuck in a cycle of destitution.

Sayida Ahmed, 36, cannot afford many treats, as her family already spends 80 per cent of their monthly income on food.

'Everything is getting more expensive. The only thing I bought extra, special for Ramadan, is the yameesh,' said Ahmed, who lives in El-Sharabia, northern Cairo, a downtrodden area of a city that has all extremes of wealth and poverty.

Yameesh, a mix of dried fruits like figs and apricots, is often served with dried dates at the beginning of the iftar, the fast-breaking meal at sunset.

Although she gets invited out by family members to join their iftars, she says she rejects the offers.

'I cannot afford to have them over in return,' she explains the cultural norm.

To help people like Ahmed deal with the strains, Muslims are traditionally requested to boost their charity during the month.

People like Wasfi, the jeweller, take it seriously. His two shopping carts are overloaded, but not all of it will end up in his own pantry, he explains.

'This is of course not only for us,' he says, pointing to the 40 kilos of rice and 120 bags of pasta. 'This is also for charity.'

Supermarket owners also respond to the massive demands of Ramadan in kind.

Mahmoud Ali and his two brothers keep their supermarket open 18 hours a day, seven days a week, to meet shoppers' expectations but also to feed their own families. Ramadan, they say, does not always mean bigger profits, as jockeying between stores drives down prices.

'Shops compete by providing special offers for consumers, so if I do not follow, I will lose my customers,' Ali, 29, said. The family supermarket was giving away many freebies, he noted, just to keep clients loyal.