FairPrice to freeze prices of 100 house brands for next 15 months
This applies to 100 house brand products, including rice, cooking oil and toiletries
To help moderate the rising cost of living and protect shoppers from price fluctuations, FairPrice has pledged to freeze the prices of 100 house brand products for the next 15 months.
More than half of these products also had their prices slashed by up to 30 per cent as of yesterday, in order to ensure all items in the basket of goods are priced at least 20 per cent cheaper than comparable leading brands, the supermarket chain said.
The 100 products include rice, cooking oil, poultry, toiletries and cleaning items.
The vow to hold the prices of these staples steady until June 30, 2020, is an effort to "help cushion Singaporeans against possible price increases for everyday essentials over the next year, regardless of changes in supply and external factors", and to set industry benchmark for prices of these goods, it said.
Members of the Merdeka Generation, which refers to Singaporeans born in the 1950s, will soon be able to enjoy a 3 per cent discount on purchases at all FairPrice outlets on Wednesdays under a $2.7 million scheme.
Under the year-long programme that starts on July 1, they can obtain the discount by showing their Merdeka Generation Card or other valid identification at the cashier counter.
Since 2014, Pioneer Generation shoppers have also been entitled to a 3 per cent discount on purchases every Monday. The discount scheme was extended to include Thursdays in 2017 and will now run an extra year until the end of June next year, FairPrice said.
Pioneer Generation members are Singaporeans who were aged 16 and older in 1965.
Close to $7 million in discounts were given out to senior citizens and Pioneer Generation shoppers last year.
FairPrice chief executive Seah Kian Peng said at a media briefing at the FairPrice Xtra outlet in Kallang Wave Mall yesterday that this is the first time the supermarket chain will be freezing the prices of a basket of goods for such a long period.
The move is part of efforts by the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) group of social enterprises to address cost of living issues, Mr Seah said.
"We always try to hold our prices stable, but there are many things that are out of our control. If there is a poor harvest, if there is a strike, a lot of things can give rise to shocks and therefore it is hard to maintain stable prices," he said.
Details on initiatives to moderate the prices of cooked food through the NTUC Foodfare and Kopitiam food centres will be announced next month, Mr Seah added.
NTUC Enterprise acquired Kopitiam at the end of last year.
In the area of groceries, FairPrice will be broadening the product range of its house brands to new categories, such as over-the-counter medication and soft drinks.
Education efforts on how consumers can stretch their dollar and the house brand options available at its supermarkets will also be stepped up, said Mr Seah.
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