Singapore’s labour movement group focuses on curbing prices of groceries and cooked meals

A new NTUC FairPrice Group composed of FairPrice, Foodfare and Kopitiam is moving to curb the price of groceries and cooked meals. The move is aimed at driving greater efficiency in catering to consumers’ shifting needs and changing preferences.

This was announced by FairPrice chief executive Seah Kian Peng, who took on the additional role of NTUC Enterprise group CEO earlier this month.

What this move means to consumers

Mr Seah, who is also an MP for Marine Parade GRC, said that customers’ experience will become more “seamless”, citing the example of how the FairPrice Finest and Kopitiam foodcourt at Funan mall already offers cross-promotions. Foodfare and Kopitiam will also work closer together, he said,.

He further noted that the move was triggered by the fact that less and less people eat at home, with more than 60% of meals now made up of dining out, takeaways and food deliveries. Food now accounts for more than a quarter of the average monthly household expenditure, amounting to S$1,199, he said.

Against this backdrop, the three entities will come together to address the cost of living more efficiently, he added.

“The three (co-operatives) provide food solutions, whether you want to cook at home, eat out or have things delivered… individually we are leaders in our own space. The question we ask ourselves is ‘can we do better?’,” he said at a briefing at Heartbeat @ Bedok.

The new group will have 573 outlets in total, including supermarkets, hawker centres, food courts, coffee shops, pharmacies and convenience stores. These will comprise 375 under supermarket chain FairPrice, 121 under Foodfare and 77 under Kopitiam. FairPrice Group will remain under NTUC Enterprise.

Mr Seah said: “The formation of FairPrice Group seeks to put customers first, provide better value for all and make everything about food easy.”

What is the NTUC?

NTUC Enterprise is the social enterprise arm of the National Trades Union Congress, that aims to help moderate the cost of living for workers through its cooperatives such as supermarket chain FairPrice, food centre operator Foodfare and insurer Income.

Its acquisition of food court operator Kopitiam has made it the largest operator in Singapore, with 64 food courts in total. It also manages 35 coffee shops and 12 hawker centres.

In April, NTUC announced plans to introduce more lower-priced food options at its Foodfare and Kopitiam outlets.

In March, FairPrice initiated a price freeze on a basket of 100 FairPrice house-brand products until the end of June next year.

Earlier this month, it announced plans to add 300 new house-brand products – including green tea and canola oil – to its shelves over the next 12 months. -/TISG