Foodies would be familiar with Bedok Chwee Kueh, which received the Michelin Bib Gourmand award for serving some of the tastiest chwee kueh in Singapore at an economical price.
Well, we bring both good and bad news to its fans.
The good news? The size of each chwee kueh has doubled, meaning you can now get your fill with fewer portions.
The bad news? The price has increased proportionally to the portion size. Each kueh will now cost S$1.20 instead of the original S$0.60.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
This move allows workers at the stall to wash at least 5,000 fewer bowls daily.
Customers who have recently patronised Bedok Chwee Kueh’s outlets may have realised that the chwee kueh has gotten exceptionally big.
Source: Facebook
Rather, they might have noticed themselves getting full on half the portion they normally eat, as the franchise has doubled the size of each chwee kueh.
Bedok Chwee Kueh has also increased its prices proportionally, now selling each kueh at S$1.20 across all seven of its outlets.
Source: Facebook
This is twice the price of the original S$0.60 per piece.
Source: Eatbook
Owner Chen Ai Min (transliterated from Chinese) told Shin Min Daily News that the franchise did not actually raise its prices at all.
Instead, they simply charge for the price of two small pieces of chwee kueh combined into one large one.
While one may suspect inflation to be the cause of this change, Shin Min Daily News reported that the main reason is actually long-term manpower issues.
According to Mr Chen, the franchise used to wash over 10,000 small bowls that are used to steam the kueh daily.
The process can be very tedious as each bowl has to be hand-scrubbed to remove any remnants of the kueh since they are hard to remove once dry.
Source: Facebook
In consideration of the manpower crunch, Mr Chen thus decided to double the size of the kueh to halve the number of bowls that need to be washed.
He made the decision after four months of deep deliberation.
Mr Chen revealed that the franchise spent “tens of thousands of dollars” to get the bigger bowls custom-made.
This is the second time he has doubled the kueh’s sizes, with the first time being about six to seven years ago.
Mr Chen told Shin Min Daily News that he has noticed some customers leaving after taking a look at the new rates.
Understandably, they may have become unwilling to buy the chwee kueh given the price hike.
He shared that they put up signs notifying customers that the price increase is proportional to the increase in size. However, he suspects that some customers might have missed the memo.
The stalls have since put up side-by-side comparisons of the bowls so customers can notice the changes at a glance.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Nevertheless, Mr Chen is hopeful that customers will slowly get used to the changes with time and will be back to patronise the stalls.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook and Shin Min Daily News.
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