Fairprice For the Masses

NTUC Fairprice is Singapore's largest food and drink chain with a retail network of more than 200 stores that are mostly located in the HDB heartlands. Not only does its wide-spread network give it good accessibility from any part of the country, its house brand products (including essentials bread, milk, cooking oil, toilet rolls, rice, sauces, and frozen foods) are priced significantly lower than national brands.

Supermarkets are perhaps one of the most underrated places in travel guides selling the biggest tourist spots, but they are interesting and great places for tourists to peer into the lives of the locals and learn about their food culture and lifestyle - the types of food people eat, the quality of food, the kinds of local produce, etc. And for those who are all bent on weaving deep into the very fabric of the Singapore culture, wet markets can also be an exciting avenue to venture into to purchase fresh produce, meat, fish, vegetables, and groceries, only provided that the foul smells, wet dirty grounds, and communicating with hawkers with limited English would not douse your adventurous enthusiasm.

So, roam into one of the local supermarkets and don't be too surprised if your exploration brings you an even more precious and valuable experience than visiting the most famous monument or biggest entertainment park in the country.

FairPrice's Finest store in Marine Parade opened in early 2010. Unlike its regular supermarkets, a third of Finest's selection is dedicated to more cosmopolitan items and upmarket groceries such as imported cheeses, herbs and spices, wines and air-flown seafood, all of which are enjoying a rising popularity among the higher income consumers. Today Finest has even gone into the Orchard Road shopping belt.

Trolleys formed a beeline at an unexpected spot about 15 minutes walking distance away from their source - the supermarket. The number of inconsiderate customers who have failed to return the supermarket's trolleys after shopping and even pushed them to their very own doorstep is disturbing.