NTUC FairPrice is the largest supermarket chain in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. The company is a co-operative of the

National Trades Union Congress The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), also known as the Singapore National Trades Union Congress (SNTUC) internationally, is the sole national trade union centre in Singapore. NTUC leads the labour movement of Singapore, comprising 59 affilia ...

(NTUC). The group has more than 100 supermarkets across the island, with over 160 outlets of Cheers convenience stores island-wide. NTUC FairPrice has partnered with

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

to run several stations with a FairPrice branding at the minimarts at their stations. The supermarket has the slogan "Singapore's very own".

History

In November 1972, NTUC announced its new consumer co-operative named Welcome, which opened in February 1973. On 22 July 1973,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Lee Kuan Yew Lee Kuan Yew (born Harry Lee Kuan Yew; 16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean politician who ruled as the first Prime Minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. He is widely recognised ...

opened the first supermarket at Block 192,

Toa Payoh Toa Payoh ( or , , ) is a Planning areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, mature residential town located in the northern part of the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Toa Payoh planning area borde ...

Lorong 4, and it was the first of its kind. In August 2007, FairPrice opened its upmarket outlet at Bukit Timah Plaza named FairPrice Finest, after five months of refurbishment. The move was to cater to the changing tastes of Singaporeans who are increasingly well-travelled. The , two-storey outlet has an offering of products different from other FairPrice stores, and also features a Swiss-style

delicatessen A delicatessen or deli is a grocery that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany (contemporary spelling: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the mid-19th centur ...

, a

wine cellar A wine cellar is a storage room for wine in bottles or barrels, or more rarely in carboys, amphorae, or plastic containers. In an ''active'' wine cellar, important factors such as temperature and humidity are maintained by a climate control s ...

and a European bakery.

International operations

FairPrice has attempted to expand into other countries. Its first attempt was Malaysia in 1994, operating as a 60:40 joint venture with Hong Leong Industries Berhad under Quayline FairPrice. Its competitors were Parkson and Jaya Jusco. The first outlet was at Ampang Point, which opened on 3 January 1994. Despite no longer operating in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

, FairPrice had no plans to restart its operations in the country. In 2003, it entered a joint venture with DBS Private Equity,

New Hope Group New Hope Group is an Australian thermal coal-mining company. New Hope's operations include New Acland Mine, Bengalla Mine and Queensland Bulk Handling. It is headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland. History New Hope was established in 1952 in Ip ...

, Silver Tie and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

's Apex Group, known as Nextmall. The venture provided merchandising, management and

logistics Logistics is the part of supply chain management that deals with the efficient forward and reverse flow of goods, services, and related information from the point of origin to the Consumption (economics), point of consumption according to the ...

for a fee to Nextmart which is a

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

incorporated

hypermarket A hypermarket or superstore is a big-box store combining a supermarket and a department store. The result is an expansive retail facility carrying a wide range of products under one roof, including full grocery lines and general merchandise. In ...

. Seven

s were opened in

, with its first in

Shaoxing Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou, Zhejiang, Taizhou to the south ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

. Nextmall closed in 2005 after incurring a total of $80 million in debts and over $40 million in losses. A supermarket in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

was opened in 2013 under a joint venture with Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives, known as Co.opXtra Plus. FairPrice also operated Cheers convenience stores in

as of 2018.

Retail formats

*Cheers by FairPrice – This 24-hour convenience store chain run by NTUC FairPrice was introduced in 1999. It offers similar facilities to rival

7-Eleven 7-Eleven, Inc. is an American convenience store chain, headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seven-Eleven Japan, which in turn is owned by the retail holdings company Seven & I Holdings. The chain was founde ...

. *FairPrice Shop – A small heartland store chain catering to basic needs. *FairPrice Xpress – A collaboration between

and Fairprice, this 24-hour convenience store chain offers similar facilities to Cheers by FairPrice and its rival

. *FairPrice Finest – This is a separate store offering up-market food supplies. It was officially opened in September 2007, and also it merged the former Liberty Market. Stores include

Bedok Mall Bedok Mall is a suburban shopping mall in Bedok, Singapore. It is part of a mixed development, consisting of shops and apartments, that is also integrated with the Bedok MRT station and the Bedok Bus Interchange. It was built on the site of the o ...

, Waterway Point, Century Square, Junction 8, Causeway Point and Seletar Mall. *FairPrice Xtra – A

chain which combines a normal supermarket and the FairPrice Homemart in one store. It sells items such as electronics, clothing and household merchandise in addition to the regular supermarket items, and also it merged the former FairPrice Homemart, together with former Carrefour stuffs. Stores include AMK Hub, Jurong Point, UE BizHub East, Kallang Wave, Jem and Nex. *Warehouse Club – Operating between 2014 and 2024, the Warehouse Club was modelled on American

warehouse club A warehouse club (or wholesale club) is a retailing, retail store, usually selling a wide variety of merchandising, merchandise, in which customers may buy large, wholesale quantities of the store's products, which makes these clubs attractive ...

chain

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...

and access was only available through membership. It offered bulk purchases with discounts. The only branch closed permanently on 21 March 2024 and was replaced by a regular FairPrice store. *Unity Pharmacy - A pharmacy chain offering pharmaceutical supplies at affordable prices. Usually located outside Fairprice supermarkets. *Cheers - A a convenience store chain to fulfil everyday needs, which was first opened in 1998. Every year, FairPrice offers NTUC Union Members (NTUC cardholders) and FairPrice shareholders dividends, along with cash-back rebates for all purchases made at FairPrice supermarkets island-wide.

Union

Employees of NTUC FairPrice are represented by the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers' Union (FDAWU), an affiliate of the

References

External links

* {{Singapore supermarkets Supermarkets of Singapore Retail companies established in 1973 ExxonMobil Convenience stores of Singapore 1973 establishments in Singapore Singaporean brands