• From 1 January 2023, FairPrice will offer discount to offset the additional increase in GST for 500 essential items for six months
• The latest effort is one of several FairPrice initiatives intended to help customers moderate cost

Singapore, 4 November 2022 – Ahead of the implementation of Goods & Services Tax (GST) increase in Singapore, NTUC FairPrice (FairPrice) has announced that it will be offering discount on 500 essential items for the first six months of 2023. This initiative will apply across all FairPrice supermarket retail formats, including FairPrice Online.

The basket of 500 key essential items is selected based on items that customers purchase frequently and serves the top-of-mind needs of customers. They comprise national brand and housebrand items such as fresh fruits, vegetables and meat, staples, dairy, paper products, detergents and household cleaners.

This announcement was preceded by a recent initiative FairPrice took to lower the prices of popular rice products despite cost pressures as rice-producing countries experienced a shift in outputs due to climate change. Earlier this year, FairPrice also took the lead to provide a 10 percent discount on four popular cooking oil products to address concerns on elevated oil prices, as well as providing a special discount for its Pasar fresh eggs (30s) in view of rising egg prices. By taking the lead in these initiatives, FairPrice plays a key role in benchmarking prices in the industry. 

Mr Vipul Chawla, Group CEO, FairPrice Group, said, “Moderating the cost of living has always been our core focus and we are stepping up our efforts to further support our customers amidst the current uncertain economic climate and rising inflation. Providing the discount to offset the GST hike is one of multiple strategies we have in place to ensure the community continues to have access to affordable daily essentials.”

Some of the strategies in place by FairPrice include diversification of sources where food is sourced from over 100 countries around the world. This seeks to protect consumers from price fluctuations, as it avoids over-reliance on any one source. FairPrice also introduced a new Greater Value Every Day campaign to address concerns over the rising cost of living and provide greater value every day to consumers. This enhanced discount scheme includes a price freeze of 50 popular daily essential products every month, and up to 50 percent off for Price Drop Buy Now items. Beyond this, FairPrice also offers a large stable of over 2,000 housebrand items that are priced 10-15 percent cheaper compared to national branded items. (Refer to appendix for more details)

Mr Vipul added, “We anticipate inflationary concerns will continue into 2023. To address this, FairPrice will put in place different schemes to help various segments of the community. FairPrice has journeyed with Singaporeans over the years and we will continue to enhance our efforts to moderate the cost of living as we mark our 50th Anniversary next year.”

FairPrice Group celebrates its 50th anniversary next year as it renews its social mission to moderate the cost of living in Singapore. More details will be shared early next year. 

The start of the initiative will coincide with the implementation of the GST increase to 8% on 1 January 2023.

FairPrice had offered discounts to moderate cost when 3 percent GST was first introduced in 1994. During the last GST revision from 5 percent to 7 percent, FairPrice had also offered discounts to offset the 2 percent GST hike on 400 essential items from July to December 2007.

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Appendix: Fact Sheet on FairPrice and Moderating Cost of Living Measures

FairPrice Group is the only supermarket retailer and F&B operator in Singapore with its own unique social mission to moderate the cost of living. In times of economic uncertainties, FairPrice Group would benchmark prices and keep food and daily essentials available and affordable. 

On a continued basis, FairPrice works with suppliers and government agencies to ramp up food supplies, while exploring alternative sources from more countries. This diversification of sources helps to boost food resilience and is crucial in our efforts to moderate the cost of living. FairPrice had set up a Supply Chain Ops Centre (SCope) which provides end-to-end visibility and supply chain analytics, enabling the retailer to leverage on early warnings, real-time data and analytics to track shipments and inventory of its distribution centres and outlets islandwide. For example, if a shipment of goods experienced transport disruptions, SCope would enable FairPrice to take immediate actions to increase supplies from other sources.

Some schemes FairPrice has to help communities stretch their dollar are:

• Benchmarking prices for daily essentials in Singapore
  • FairPrice took the lead in providing special discounts on daily essentials including eggs, oil and rice.
  • For a week in April, Pasar Fresh Eggs (30s) was offered at a discounted price of S$6.95, from the existing price of S$7.50, while four popular cooking oil products were offered at a special 10 percent discount for a week in May. 
  • In October, FairPrice offered a special 15 percent discount on three popular rice products, which includes Thai Hom Mali grade rice and a healthier brown rice option.  

• Own Brand proposition (Housebrand items) 
  • FairPrice housebrands consist of more than 2,000 items sourced from 55 countries around – from food items such as rice, oil, fresh produce, chilled and frozen food to household items like paper products, toiletries and cleaning agents  – all priced at least 10-15 percent lower than comparable popular brands.
  • These products consist of daily essentials, as FairPrice seeks to provide good value and quality options for basic necessities that are in the shopping basket of almost every customer. 

• In October 2022, FairPrice launched the “Greater Value Every Day” initiative to help address inflationary concerns. This initiative encompasses four main discount and value schemes:
  • Under Everyday Low Price (EDLP), FairPrice curates a basket of over 500 popular daily essentials that are priced low to provide the best value to the community. These items comprise popular grocery items such as fresh fruits, vegetables and meat, staples, dairy, paper products, detergents and household cleaners. To provide greater savings, FairPrice will freeze the prices of 50 items, out of a pool of over 500 popular daily essential items, every month. The list of 50 items will be announced every last Thursday of the month through its print, online and social media advertisements.
  • Price Drop Buy Now offers weekly discounts on items with discounts of up to 50 percent off. Price Drop Buy Now items are renewed weekly and announced every Thursday of the week also through print, online and social media advertisements.  
  • Save Even More consists of the existing discount schemes for Pioneer Generation (PG), Merdeka Generation (MG), Seniors Discount, CHAS Blue card holders, and 5% Stretch Your Dollar Discount between Monday and Friday, in addition to FairPrice Member rebates and Linkpoints. NTUC Union and Link Members will also periodically enjoy discounts of 50 percent for specially selected items.
  • New & Exclusive refers to a range of specially curated products that are exclusive to FairPrice and offer good value. 

• 10% savings on FairPrice App for cooked food
  • NTUC & Link Members are able to enjoy 10% savings exclusively at Kopitiam & Cantine food outlets when they order or pay via the FairPrice app.
  • Promotion applies to transactions made via FairPrice app, including digital payment and Click-&-Collect orders