• Annual walking initiative rallies the community to stay active and give back to underprivileged families from the South East district; targets to donate up to 500,000 bowls of rice to the needy
• Public education campaign will include special promotions on FairPrice housebrand brown rice, dedicated bays for wholegrain rice, in-store collaterals on the nutritional benefits of brown rice, and creative and easy to cook recipes.

SINGAPORE, 5 October 2017 – NTUC FairPrice (FairPrice) and South East Community Development Council (CDC) launched the annual FairPrice Walk for Rice @ South East at Bedok Town Square today. Now into its ninth year, the initiative aims to raise 500,000 bowls of rice to benefit over 7,000 under privileged families in the south east district. In conjunction with this initiative, FairPrice also announced the launch of a public education campaign to promote and encourage the community to make the switch to brown rice, in support of the national drive to fight diabetes.

The launch event was graced by Guest-of-Honour, Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Grassroots Adviser to East Coast GRC GROs, as well as Dr Maliki Osman, Mayor of South East District and Grassroots Adviser to East Coast GRC GROs, and Miss Cheryl Chan, Grassroots Adviser to Fengshan SMC GROs.

Mr Seah Kian Peng, CEO, NTUC FairPrice, said, “This is the ninth year NTUC FairPrice is collaborating with South East CDC to rally the community to walk for a good cause. FairPrice Walk for Rice @ South East this year is even more significant and relevant as we complement the national agenda to reduce the risk of diabetes among Singaporeans. We will be encouraging everyone to adopt an active lifestyle and a healthy diet through a public campaign on brown rice.”  

For every 200 metres of walking completed at various community activities between 5 October to 7 December 2017 or each participating product sold between 5 to 18 October 2017, FairPrice Foundation will donate one bowl of brown rice and one bowl of white rice towards the campaign. This year, the aim is to clock a total of 50,000km by the community, and raise 500,000 bowls of white rice & brown rice. Over 7,000 financially-assisted families that live in the South East District will receive the rice donations.  As with the past 3 years, the beneficiaries will receive brown rice so that they can have access to healthier options.

Dr Maliki Osman, Mayor of South East District, shared, “Through the FairPrice Walk for Rice @ South East, our residents from all races and ages, corporate and community partners can engage in a simple yet healthy activity of walking,  while at the same time helping the disadvantaged  families within the community. Even the beneficiaries can also participate and help themselves and others like them. In doing so, we build a more inclusive and compassionate South East district.  I am also heartened for FairPrice’s continuous support towards this meaningful  programme and I hope more corporations can likewise step forward and do their part for the community.“

FairPrice Walk For Rice @ South East is conceptualised under the South East 5E Approach. 5E involves using an Easy and Enjoyable activity that Encourages widespread participation within the community which Earns sponsorships for the needy. In doing so, South East CDC also Enlarges the value of the giving and thus enabling the CDC to Enhance community ownership and spirit.

Since the project’s inception in 2009, 4 million bowls of rice have been donated and over 250,000 South East residents and community partners have collectively walked about 830,000 km to support this cause. This is equivalent to walking more than 20 times^[1] round the earth.

Education campaign to support nation-wide fight against diabetes

In line with national efforts to counter diabetes and champion healthy eating, FairPrice has also launched a public education campaign that will include special promotions on FairPrice housebrand brown rice, in-store collaterals on the nutritional benefits of brown rice, including creative and easy to cook recipes that incorporate wholegrain rice.

Dedicated bays for brown rice will also be created at FairPrice stores so that it is more visible and prominent to shoppers. To date, dedicated brown rice bays have been installed in more than 30 FairPrice outlets island-wide and will be progressively rolled out to all FairPrice supermarket formats.  

To kick off the campaign, FairPrice will give a 10 percent discount on three FairPrice housebrand wholegrain rice products from today until 18 October. They include the FairPrice brown unpolished rice, FairPrice red unpolished rice, and FairPrice Thai rice blend.

Previously, FairPrice also advocated the consumption of brown rice by providing a one-week discount of more than 10 per cent on eight healthier rice products, announced during the National Day Rally this year and a five per cent discount on housebrand wholegrain rice for three months in 2016.  Overall, FairPrice stores have seen a more than 15% year-on-year increase in the take-up rate of brown rice products over the past 3 years (2013-2016).

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Appendix A: How to participate in FairPrice Walk for Rice @ South East:

Members of the public can contribute to FairPrice Walk for Rice @ South East by participating in various walking activities held at FairPrice outlets in Marine Parade Central, Sports Hub, Nex mall and Bedok North Street 1, from 7 to 8 October 2017, 12pm to 4pm.

FairPrice customers can also contribute to the cause by purchasing from a selection of 39 participating items at FairPrice stores island-wide, where a bowl of white and brown rice will also be donated for each purchase.  More details on these 39 items can be found in appendix B.

Appendix B: List of Participating Items at NTUC FairPrice

[1] Circumference of the earth: 40,075km. Total distance walked is 830,000 km.