28. How SCope Saves the Day

Photo: Supply Chain Operations Centre (SCope) allowed FairPrice staff to monitor stock freshness and supplies in real time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: FairPrice Group

Walking into the Supply Chain Operations Centre (SCope) in Joo Koon Circle is like entering a state-of-the-art command centre.

Opened in the midst of COVID-19, SCope is decked out with a dizzying spread of dashboards that monitor stock freshness and supplies across all FairPrice supermarkets in real time. It was born out of necessity as a way to forecast disruptions to supplies during the pandemic. In an age where data is the new oil, FairPrice is leaning into data analytics to give it an edge over its competitors.

SCope’s mettle has been tested several times. One test came in March 2021, when the Ever Given container ship ran aground in the Suez Canal and threw global supply chains into chaos. Through its advanced monitoring system, SCope was alerted to the emergency early and sought alternative sources quickly. This helped secure FairPrice’s supply chain and ensure supermarket shelves remained amply stocked.

Behind the success of SCope is a crack team called D.O.T (Data Analytics, Operations Monitoring and Technologies), who work around the clock to make sure Singapore residents will always have what they need, when they need it.

No wonder this team was dubbed by FairPrice as “real-life superheroes that keep our country’s essentials abundantly stocked.”


Since its humble beginnings in a corner of Toa Payoh, NTUC FairPrice has become the quintessential Singaporean supermarket. The leap from a single store to a grocery giant is a tale of retail reinvention – a half-century journey that saw the cooperative confront crises and challenges, revamps and even robbers.

As it expanded and evolved, FairPrice never wavered from its core mission: to moderate the cost of living for consumers. It Takes a Great Deal - A Catalogue of FairPrice Group Stories encapsulates the birth of the consumer cooperative in 1973 and its transformation into a $4 billion food enterprise that is now called FairPrice Group.

Through 50 remarkable stories, we celebrate the people, products and places that mark significant milestones for the food retailer over the last five decades, charting its growth and successes in the past, present and into the future.