Prices of FairPrice rice to hold till end-Feb

QX179R SG

SINGAPORE: Prices of housebrand rice from Thailand at NTUC FairPrice will remain the same until after the Chinese New Year celebrations, at the end of February 2012.

They cover nine brands, from basic white rice to superior Thai Hom Mali fragrant rice.

NTUC FairPrice CEO Seah Kian Peng said prices of Thai rice appear to have softened in the past week as the flood situation in Thailand improves.

He hopes that this trend will continue.

"We know many of our customers still love Thai rice, so we are making a commitment to hold prices till after the Chinese New Year celebrations. This is part of our social role to help ensure that essential food items will always be available to our customers at stable and affordable prices," he said.

In November, amid concerns about rising Thai rice prices due to the floods in Thailand, FairPrice froze the prices of its housebrand Thai rice till end December 2011 to moderate the cost of daily essentials.

FairPrice said prices of housebrand rice at outlets have remained largely unchanged for the past 12 months.

It has even reduced prices of some of its brands.

For example, a bag of FairPrice Thai white rice cost S$6.95 (5kg pack) in 2009, but it the price has dropped by 10 per cent to S$6.20 (5kg pack) since January this year.

FairPrice Thai Fragrant white rice cost S$7.45 (5kg pack) in 2009 but the price has also dropped - by 8 per cent to S$6.90 (5kg pack) since January this year.

Since November, FairPrice has also been asking consumers to try Vietnamese Jasmine fragrant rice, by holding prices of its FairPrice Jasmine Fragrant Rice from Vietnam till end February 2012.

Sales of Vietnamese rice have increased by more than 10 per cent.

"This shows that our customers are open to trying alternative rice, and this gives us the motivation to continue to source for other alternatives to further boost the reliability and price stability of rice supply for our customers," said Mr Seah.

Apart from Thailand and Vietnam, FairPrice also sources for rice from Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea and the USA.

It stockpiles more than three months' supply to keep prices stable.

- CNA/ck

BanguIzai SG

NTUC things are getting not cheap anymore and items are getting expensive on a week by week comparison

QX179R SG

FairPrice continues to freeze price of rice till end-June

SINGAPORE: Retail chain NTUC FairPrice says it is extending price freeze on all its housebrand rice from Thailand and Vietnam until the end of June 2012.

Its CEO Seah Kian Peng said: "FairPrice was founded to help moderate the cost of living and we will continue to uphold this commitment. We know rice is an important staple for Singaporeans and with rising transport and living costs, we want to do our part to help customers stretch their dollar when it comes to daily essentials."

In November 2011, amidst customers' concerns about rising rice prices due to the flood situations in Thailand, FairPrice took the lead to freeze the prices of its housebrand Thai and Vietnamese rice till end February 2012 to allay consumers' fears.

As one of the major rice importers in Singapore, FairPrice stockpiles more than three months' supply of rice to ensure reliability of supply and stability of price.

Prices of rice are kept stable due to the policy of stockpiling, diversified sourcing, forward buying, direct importing, bulk buying and contract prices with manufacturers.

FairPrice imports rice from diverse sources including Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Pakistan, Japan, Korea and USA.

Retail chains under the Dairy Farm Group, Cold Storage, Shop N Save and Giant have also extended their price freeze on the price of their housebrand rice to end-June 2012.

- CNA/ck/ms