SINGAPORE, March 15 – Major supermarkets in Singapore will soon display unit prices for essential grocery items such as rice, meat, eggs, cooking oils, fruits, and vegetables, its government said yesterday.
Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister Gan Kim Yong said the pilot initiative will be introduced at selected outlets of NTUC FairPrice, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong, and Prime, allowing shoppers to see the unit price — such as per litre or per kilogram — alongside the total price.
“This will provide consumers with relative price information to guide their purchasing decisions,” CNA quoted Gan saying at the Consumer Association of Singapore’s (CASE) partners’ appreciation dinner.
Gan said CASE and the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) will oversee the pilot, with CCCS conducting a market survey to gather consumer feedback on unit pricing.
“This will inform our guidelines on unit pricing, as well as our plans to roll out unit pricing more widely at a later stage,” said Gan, who is also deputy prime minister.
Gan noted that CASE’s Price Kaki app, which enables consumers to compare prices across brands and package sizes, now covers over 6,000 grocery and household items and has downloaded more than 170,000 times.
CASE president Melvin Yong, who has advocated for mandatory unit pricing, said it would help consumers “see through pricing gimmicks quickly and easily” and combat shrinkflation.
Gan also announced the formation of a consumer protection review panel to assess key consumer concerns and explore regulatory improvements.
Chaired by Yong and former judicial commissioner Foo Tuat Yien, the panel includes academics, legal experts, and industry leaders, focusing on prepayment losses, online commerce, entertainment events, pressure sales tactics, and consumer recourse.
Gan highlighted a fourfold rise in prepayment losses last year compared to 2023, reaching S$1.93 million due to sudden business closures and unresponsive companies, particularly in beauty, renovation, and gym sectors.