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Singapore

More coffee shops to offer budget meals, accept CDC vouchers

Looking for a budget meal? Use the BudgetMealGoWhere portal or keep an eye out for the stall decal. 

More coffee shops to offer budget meals, accept CDC vouchers

File photo of a coffee shop in Bedok. (Photo: CNA/Aqil Haziq Mahmud)

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SINGAPORE: More coffee shops in Singapore are set to offer budget meals and accept Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers at their outlets from Monday (Jul 1). 

A total of 330 coffee shops in Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates will provide these affordable food options for residents by the end of the month. 

This figure includes 180 coffee shops under nine private chain operators, said HDB and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) in a joint press release.

The eateries will progressively offer affordable fare and accept CDC vouchers from Monday, also marking the expansion of the budget meal initiative beyond rental HDB coffee shops. 

The private coffee shop chains that have come on board are Badaling, Broadway, De Tian, Chang Cheng, FoodFare Kopitiam, Kimly, Kim San Leng, Koufu and Select.

Of the 180 coffee shops, 120 are privately owned, forming close to 30 per cent of the privately owned coffee shops in HDB estates.

The remaining 60 are rental coffee shops that will now voluntarily offer budget meals ahead of their lease renewal. 

AFFORDABLE OPTIONS

The budget meal initiative, announced in March 2023, aims to provide Singaporeans with more affordable food options. 

The initiative requires all rental HDB coffee shops that are renewing their tenancies from May 2023 to offer at least four budget meals and two budget drink options.

Budget meals include lunch or dinner options that are typically priced at S$3.50 (US$2.60) and below, as well as drinks priced at S$1.20 and below.

There are currently about 150 rental HDB coffee shops islandwide offering over 1,000 budget meals and drinks, the press release on Monday said.

There are a total of 776 HDB coffee shops in Singapore, with HDB on track to have all 374 rental coffee shops offer budget meals by 2026, added the authorities. 

HDB and EnterpriseSG said they will continue to engage other operators of privately owned HDB coffee shops to encourage them to provide budget meal options, "while considering their business sustainability". 

Since December 2023, privately owned HDB coffee shops that are sold on the open market are required to offer budget meals.

The new operator taking over the premises must provide at least two budget meals and two budget drinks within a month from the resale completion date.

"The government will continue to engage and work closely with F&B businesses and operators to ensure that residents in the heartlands continue to have access to a variety of affordable meal options within their neighbourhood," added HDB and EnterpriseSG.

Stalls serving budget meals will display a decal. (Image: HDB and EnterpriseSG)

BUDGET MEAL PORTAL

The public can identify stalls serving budget meals by looking out for a circular decal.

Stalls in privately owned HDB coffee shops that have voluntarily committed to provide budget meals will display the community budget meal decal in red and blue, said the press release. 

These stalls are also listed on the BudgetMealGoWhere portal - a site that allows the public to search for and view available budget meal and drink options at nearby HDB coffee shops.

Simply enter a postal code in the search box to view a list of options, starting with those located within 2km. 

Since its launch in May 2023, the portal has recorded more than 400,000 unique visitors, according to HDB and EnterpriseSG.

Source: CNA/fh(zl)
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