More in Singapore opting for frozen meats

Straits Times 14 Apr 08;

Up to 30% more frozen pork and chicken sold by supermart chains since start of AVA drive in February

CONSUMERS are warming to the idea of choosing frozen over chilled meat as a way of fighting rising prices.

Supermarket chains, including Cold Storage, NTUC FairPrice and Giant, have sold up to 30 per cent more frozen meat since the start of the 'Eat well for less, choose frozen meat' drive by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) in February.

Sales of frozen chicken wings at Cold Storage have gone up by 30 per cent from two months ago. Carrefour, too, has seen 3,000 more packs of frozen pork carted out in that same period.

Frozen food has increasingly gained favour here. Last year, each person on average consumed 18.9kg of frozen and 13.8kg of chilled chicken; each also ate a third more frozen than chilled pork. These two are the most popular meats here.

AVA spokesman Goh Shih Yong said the increase in numbers is positive, because it means people have accepted that switching does not mean compromising on nutritional value and taste.

Frozen meat suppliers, which sell to both supermarkets and wet markets, are also doing well, with sales going up by at least 15 per cent.

One of them is home-grown Ong Joo Joo Food Industries, which supplies frozen pork to chains like Cold Storage and FairPrice.

Managing director Ting Puong Huat said that demand for frozen pork has quadrupled since the start of this year, with 160 tonnes sold last month, compared to 40 tonnes sold in January. He expects to sell up to 240tonnes from now till June.

He noted that supermarkets have beefed up their range of frozen foods of late, which could help to push sales.

Some supermarkets have increased their frozen meat selections by up to 20 per cent. Last month, FairPrice added blue shark steaks and hake fillets from Namibia, among other items, to its range. The chain's 80 stores now carry about 1,000 types of frozen products.

But even as consumers buy into the idea of saving money by switching to frozen meat, they will have to be ready for prices of these products to go up. Frozen chicken mid-joint wings, for example, which went for $5.45 a kg at FairPrice last year, now cost $5.80.

Prices are likely to keep heading north, said Mr Liew Yew Fah, director of meat supplier Pin Corporation.

The reason: surging oil prices and rising crop prices in Brazil, which supplies more than half of Singapore's poultry. As a result, feed for poultry and pigs is more expensive and the cost for shipping them here has gone up.

But even with the hikes, frozen meat will still cost up to 40 per cent less than chilled. Frozen pork belly at Cold Storage, for instance, costs $8.80 per kg. The chilled cut costs $11.30.

Going frozen has paid off for many, including Madam Stella Woon, 61. The retiree, who cooks two meals a day, made the switch last month. Her meat bill was cut by almost half. She said: 'To get frozen meat that's cheaper and tastes just as good as, if not fresher than, chilled meat makes economic sense.'