NTUC FairPrice launches smaller supermarket outlets for budget-conscious shoppers

SINGAPORE — To cater to the more budget-sensitive population, NTUC FairPrice is rolling out a new line of minimart-sized outlets in mature estates that have a higher concentration of lower-income families.

FairPrice Shops, launched on Friday (July 1), are basic, no-frills stores with a smaller but more affordable range of goods. The shops will be conveniently located at void decks of public housing blocks, for example, so that seniors or low-income families do not have to travel far. 

There will be six of such outlets by the end of this year, with two now open at Eunos Crescent and Circuit Road. The other four will be in Ang Mo Kio, Boon Lay, Henderson and Jurong East, with more planned in the future, NTUC Fairprice chief executive Seah Kian Peng said.

Each outlet, carrying some 1,500 products, is on average a tenth the size of a regular FairPrice supermarket — at 1,000sqf to 1,500sqf.

Half of the product mix at these stores will consist of housebrand products and popular essentials at low prices. In comparison, at a typical supermarket, such items make up just 20 per cent of the inventory.

FairPrice Shops will have a new exclusive housebrand range of 30 kinds of fresh vegetables, called Value Fresh, which are priced 5 to 10 per cent lower than the existing FairPrice housebrand range called Pasar. For example, a 200g-pack of “kai lan” (or kale) from Value Fresh will cost S$0.70 compared to a S$0.85 220g-pack from Pasar. A 250g pack of Value Fresh small limes will cost S$1, while the same quantity from Pasar will cost S$1.10.

Mr Seah said that quality would not be compromised, and the lower prices are possible due to FairPrice’s economies of scale and a deliberate intention to shave its profit margins to benefit the low-income group.

NTUC Enterprise chairman Lim Boon Heng said that FairPrice Shops would allow the budget-conscious to have “easy access to the good value daily essentials” because the cost of living continues to be a concern for residents. “We must give this assurance to Singaporeans that we have a format where they can go and be quite sure these are the lowest prices you can find in Singapore,” he said.

Customers also gave feedback that they wanted more FairPrice stores near their homes, Mr Seah said, adding that FairPrice Shops would supplement existing options such as wet markets.

Residents who spoke to TODAY at the Eunos Crescent branch, which was launched last December, did not notice a significant difference in prices compared to other FairPrice stores, but they said that the store was conveniently located. 

Ms Bao Yi Xiang, 66, felt that the store was too small and limited in variety, but still visits it multiple times a week because it is close to her home.

Ms Tan Moi, 70, who lives across the road, goes to the outlet three to four times a week so that she may buy items that are heavier in weight, such as fish, eggs and oil. However, she heads to a bigger FairPrice outlet at Joo Chiat when she needs a larger variety of goods.

FairPrice Shop is the latest addition to the supermarket chain’s stable of retail models for different market segments, including FairPrice Finest with a premium product selection, and FairPrice Xtra hypermarts that offer electronic goods and family-sized products.