Cost of food shopping

[Teenie Bash]

Just come back from our orientation visit. Looked at 'Cold Storage' near our new home on East Coast and nearly fell over at cost of groceries!! Please will someone reassure me that not all supermarkets charge $10 for a box of cereal. Will prob buy a few British goods to ease kids in but keen to try more local brands of our ususal foodstuffs. Any suggestions on where to shop near Tanah Merah? Thanks.

[durain]

forget the cereal. go for local breakfast like nasi lemak, roti canai, congee, bak kut tea, dim sum and have a teh tarik to wash it all down.

[Teenie Bash]

Hmm - maybe I'm not as cosmopolitan as I would like to think. Thanks for your thoughts though!

[sundaymorningstaple]

If you stay out of Cold Storage and Jasons and instead go to NTUC or Sheng Shiong you will save at least 30% on your food bill. You will, however, have to do without some of your normal British fare and learn to use local replacement. However, the new larger NTUC's like the one in Ang Mo Kio at AMK HUB, Festival Market and the one out in Bukit Timah Plaza that apparently carries lots of Australian products (I haven't been there so can make any judgment there). I've been using NTUC and Sheng Shiong for many, many years (primarily AMK Hub & Festival Mkt).

Don't forget how far those British products you are used to using cost to ship here for a limited group of people buying. It's doesn't make sense for a supermarket to import what will only be "possibly" purchased by a small select number of expats. Stores here do not keep warehouses of stocks as it's not cost productive to do so due to spoilage when it's unsold and the economies of scale for Western products (specialty products that is) isn't there so the cheapest shipping methods aren't available for small quantities. Soooooo, when in Rome, do as the Romans do......

Otherwise, welcome to Singapore.

[micknlea]

I tend to use different supermarkets for different things I find. As in most parts of the world even the different branches of the same chain will vary in price.

NTUC is not always cheaper than Cold Storage there are quite a few things that I will only buy in one or the other, I am talking of a difference of over $1 in something that only costs $5 so you can see it takes a while to learn where to buy.

Hopefully someone out your way will give you some hints on where to go, but enjoy the searching and finding out as part of your settling in.

[Matney]

I tend to use different supermarkets for different things I find. As in most parts of the world even the different branches of the same chain will vary in price. .

So once you're here, shop around, check prices and learn to use local items. Wet markets are wonderful places, Bedok interchange has a nice one and as well as the one located near the next bus stop pass Tanah Merah follow the crowd. Tell Jimmy the papaya man 'Hello!'

When I lived on Upper East Road and the Cold Storage you are referring to is probably the one I would go to in a hurry(milk, bread, ice cream, etc). I would do my 'big' shopping at NTUC at the Bedok interchange. It too has some Australian and British products. Just learn to do without some of those things from back home.

Welcome to Singapore! You'll living in the East.

[Teenie Bash]

Thanks for the info everyone - much appreciated!

[durain]

a can of yeo's or ayam brand baked beans are not that expensive.

[RULDS]

Carefour has some good house brand on cereals...

Picked up a box of 'frosted flakes' for about 3.50 (and quite good).

[Biogentic]

forget the rest of the supermarket, sheng shiong is the cheapest!

[sundaymorningstaple]

And once more you show us your total lack of knowledge about anything at all.