• Prices of all FairPrice housebrand rice from Thailand and Vietnam have been held since November 2011

Amidst talks that rice-exporting nations may raise prices and threats of natural disasters affecting rice-producing countries, FairPrice has announced that it will continue to hold prices of all its 10 housebrand Thai and Vietnamese rice till end of March 2013. Reports have stated that Southeast Asia’s rice-exporting nations are in talks to create a formal alliance aimed at boosting prices and increasing export revenues.

Explaining FairPrice’s decision to hold the prices of its housebrand Thai and Vietnamese rice, FairPrice CEO, Mr. Seah Kian Peng said, “FairPrice was founded with the community in mind by moderating the cost of living. As food makes up over 20 percent of an average household’s expenses, it is important that daily essentials, like rice, are affordably priced. As such, FairPrice will continue to extend our price freeze on housebrand rice and we hope this effort will help ease the minds of consumers as we start the New Year together.”

In November 2011, the flood situations and governmental legislation in Thailand led to consumer concerns on possible increase in rice prices. Thailand is the largest exporter of rice to Singapore. FairPrice then took the lead to freeze the prices of its housebrand Thai and Vietnamese rice 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, Taiwan and USA.

FairPrice housebrand rice is generally priced at least 10 percent lower than comparable national brands.