Price of Supermarket food

[OogieBoogie]

i really don't agree with road.not.taken: Tokyo is way more expensive when you talk about imported product. It's just a dayligh hold up. Stuff like Nutella, cereal, jam, cheese are double the price when you compare with Singapore. When i was buying a small pack of nutella i was really feeling like naughty boy, first for the calories, and second for the outrageous price. When i do my groceries in Singapore, everything look so cheap! Ok, if you're shopping in Parangon yeah it kinda feel like Tokyo, but on east coast... it's cheap cheap, even imported stuff. Except for yogurt maybe which are really expensive i think.

BTW i just checked the cereal in a cold storage as it looks like the reference here, and everything was in the 5/7 SGD range, from frosties, to Froot loops, Special K berries. Except for weird stuff like All Bran (it already a punishment to have them in your plate, but you have to get rid of 11SGD for them) and Smack something (the one with a frog on the box, also about 11SGD)

[road.not.taken]

i really don't agree with road.not.taken: Tokyo is way more expensive when you talk about imported product. It's just a dayligh hold up. Stuff like Nutella, cereal, jam, cheese are double the price when you compare with Singapore.

Tokyo is more expensive, no doubt. I guess my point was, not always now, you can find isolated instances when it's not. A cheap place in Tokyo, compared to an expensive place in Singapore can now be about the same. Used to be Tokyo was always much more expensive, always.

What bothers me is the sharp spike in cost of some foods for no apparent reason. I saw $21 Tropicana the other day $6 individual yoplait yogurts

My daughter is battling mycoplasma and trying to eat a low GI diet. Special K is on the list but was $3 higher this week than last week. It all seems so random and arbitrary: A box of Post Banana Nut Crunch is heavier, has dried fruit and nuts, is imported, and is half the price

[kelsen83]

Try to replace regular favs with local versions/brands.. It's like how "waitrose" products cost a few times more here as compared to in the UK. I won't do Sheng Siong if i can help it, just don't go to Cold Storage, Jason's etc. I try to stock up on items that are having a promotion, and go for housebrands whenever i can.

[OogieBoogie]

i'm just curious
What's the classic/traditional Singaporean breakfast?
Or at least what most of Singaporeans eat for breakfast nowadays?

[Zeenit]

I have been a bit sad just now and checked out the singapore supermarket websites...and places like Cold Storage are not cheap. Blueberries and raspberries are so expensive over there. Please tell me there are cheaper markets in Singapore..

Blueberries are expensive fresh. They do frozen ones that taste fine for trifles etc. But really how often are you going to eat blueberries? Daily?
I buy from NTUC, Carrefour and when I need something - when having a dinner party then I go to Jason's etc. But I am not paying Jason's prices for toilet paper, soap powder etc. And they all home deliver.

[jpatokal]

i'm just curious
What's the classic/traditional Singaporean breakfast?
Or at least what most of Singaporeans eat for breakfast nowadays?

Kaya toast, runny eggs and coffee, of course!

All coffee shops and hawker centres also do S$1 noodles, nasi lemak, chee cheong fun etc for breakfast.

[wnyw]

i'm just curious
What's the classic/traditional Singaporean breakfast?
Or at least what most of Singaporeans eat for breakfast nowadays?

I tried going to local market with my cousin one sunday morning and there's lots of food there for breakfast! I love the beancurd. light breakfast and my kids love the bread with this sweet kaya jam...

[Tammy138]

Hi...I movivng to Singapore next month. Please could you let me know what are the average supermarkets and what are the expensive so I can avoid going?

Sounds like cereal is super expensive there. How about bread and milk? Are they really expensive too?

[sundaymorningstaple]

Jason's, Tierney's, The Market Place (Jason's) which is the closest to Bras Basah Rd as it's in the Raffles City basement, are Expat oriented Grocery stores with prices to match. Cold Storage is also expat & upwardly mobile Singaporean oriented with prices to match (although somewhat higher than the two largest Grocery Chains in Singapore). The two that will save you the most money are NTUC (Co-op) and Sheng Siong. These two cater to the vast majority of Singaporeans and foreigners here that are not on "expat" packages. They have lots of imported foods but do cater to local tastes primarily. They average around 25% cheaper than the first three named.

sms

[road.not.taken]

They average around 25% cheaper than the first three named.

I don't think it's quite 25% ~ I'd put it more like 15% - 20% for the items I buy, and that varies greatly from item to item. The troublesome part is factoring the time spent running to the second (or third!) store because SS or NTUC didn't have ___________________. It's not unlike how it is in America, my parents can stretch grocery shopping into a 3 day extravaganza because they go to so many different places. Not many of us have that kind of time though, the trick is learning what is a good price and stocking up when you see it. I always have a freezer full of bacon ($15.95 at Tanglin vs. $9.95 at Carrefour) and chocolate morsels ($8.95 at Tanglin vs. $4.50 at SS.

[sundaymorningstaple]

I reckon your just splitting hairs again.

[Zeenit]

Personally I had to do trial and error and everyone has a different diet and taste. So for the first few months my food bill was high compare to now.
But NTUC is closest to me so I shop there and Carrefour when I am lazy. Jason's for Xmas.....and it hurts.

[road.not.taken]

I reckon your just splitting hairs again.

Sure, I suppose you would think that, but if you are brand new here I think it's valuable information t know that NTUC is not 25 % cheaper across the board as you suggested. Five or 10 percent may not be much to you, but it is to a lot of people.

[Tammy138]

Thank you everyone...this is really helpful. If I do a mass shopping spree on non food items like toilet paper, cleaning agents etc..does the supermarkets do delivery? and do you need to tip the driver?

[sundaymorningstaple]

See the grocery store links in my signature links page. Check their websites for details. Cold Storage has a pdf catalog you can download with all of their items, etc. Most grocery stores carry household items, cleaning supplies, kitchen utensils, pots, pans, The larger NTUC's and Carrefour and Giant are Hypermarts that carry almost everything. Do a Google for each or check my links page.

sms