Nasi padang chain Hjh Maimunah rolls out colour-coded labels for price transparency
Some say this could help reduce confusion for customers.
Bid farewell to erratic nasi padang prices. Popular Malay and Indonesian restaurant Hjh Maimunah is introducing a colour-coded price label system to help diners better understand what they're paying for.
The initiative, in collaboration with the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), will be rolled out across all nine Hjh Maimunah outlets - starting with its "mini" store at Parkway Parade.
According to a press release by Case, seven colour-coded labels will be used to indicate price tiers.
Speciality dishes such as tahu telur (tofu with eggs), ayam bakar (grilled chicken) and telur ikan paes (fish roe eggs) will be marked with grey tags, while other items will fall under different colour categories to signal their price range.
A 21-year-old student who only wanted to be known as Zen told The New Paper that the initiative will help improve price transparency for customers.
"Nasi padang is like cai fan (mixed rice) where the staff will just calculate the amount I have to pay, so I don't actually know how much each dish costs."
She shared that some nasi padang stalls categorise tempeh (fermented soya bean cakes) as a meat dish, while others categorise it as a vegetable dish, making it hard to gauge the total of her order.
"With this colour-coding system, it will help me know which items are pricier than the others."
Earlier in March, Case collaborated with Koufu to introduce colour-coded price labels for their economy rice stalls.
"Since Case rolled out colour-coded price labels with Koufu, we have received many positive feedback that more economy rice stalls are adopting clear price labels for their dishes," said Case president Melvin Yong.
He added that he was glad that the initiative was extending to nasi padang stalls.
"This will provide consumers with more transparent pricing and help customers make informed choices before they order."
Mastura Didih Ibrahim, managing director of Hjh Maimunah, hoped that the collaboration would set a positive example in the food and beverage (F&B) industry.
"Price transparency is not only a mark of good business practice, but also a reflection of the trust and respect we have for our customers," she said.
"We believe this collaboration will set a positive example in the F&B industry and benefit the wider community."