Debated in Parliament on 2 Jul 2024.
Mr Liang Eng Hwa asked the Minister for Sustainability and the Environment in view of the recent findings by the Singapore Department of Statistics that hawker food prices have risen (a) whether the Ministry has done a deeper study on the causes of the increases; and (b) what supply side measures can be taken to moderate further price increases so as to keep hawker food affordable.
Part (a) of this question has been partially addressed by the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s reply to Question Nos 90 and 91 on the Order Paper for 2 July 2024. [Please refer to "Study on Whether Food Price Increases Are in Line with Inflation", Official Report, 2 July 2024, Vol 95, Issue 137, Written Answers to Questions for Oral Answer not Answered by End of Question Time section.] Based on surveys conducted by the National Environment Agency (NEA), the main cost drivers for stallholders in hawker centres were raw materials and manpower which accounted for an average of 56% and 20% of their operating costs respectively in 2022. Hawkers consider multiple factors when determining the prices of their food, including cost of ingredients, other operating costs and market competition.
While NEA does not regulate hawker food prices, NEA provides a conducive operating environment for hawkers at our hawker centres. This allows them to balance between pricing their food affordably and sustaining their livelihoods. To do this, NEA moderates the rent of hawker stalls by not setting reserve rents for stall tenders and disallowing subletting. For Socially-Conscious Enterprise Hawker Centres (SEHCs), NEA takes into consideration tender proposals holistically, including the total costs that hawkers will have to bear, before awarding the tender. SEHC operators have also committed that all stalls in their centres will provide at least one value meal option as part of their tender commitment.
In addition, NEA provides support measures, such as the Productive Hawker Centres programme and Hawkers’ Productivity Grant, to help hawker stallholders improve their productivity. To help moderate ingredient costs, some SEHC operators also tap on their industry networks to offer bulk purchasing services.
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