As cost of living rises, many Singaporeans have become increasingly conscious about how much their food now costs.
To make cheaper food options more readily available, from 2026, all kopitiams leased from the Housing Development Board (HDB) will have to offer budget meal options.
This means all rental coffee shops up for renewal from May 2023 will have to provide four budget meals and two budget drink options, reported Channel NewsAsia (CNA).
Budget meals typically cost around S$3 to S$3.50 while budget drinks retail for around S$1 to S$1.15 each.
During the Committee of Supply debate in Parliament on Thursday (2 Mar), Senior Minister of State for National Development Sim Ann announced that all HDB coffee shops will have to offer budget meals options by 2026.
While the authorities have enforced this requirement for new coffee shops leased out by HDB since 2018, they will now extend it to all rental coffee shops.
Kopitiams renewing their lease this May onwards will have to fulfil the requirement.
In order to secure their three-year tenancy, they will have to provide four budget meals and two budget drinks.
These budget meal options must be full meals and not side dishes or snacks. They have to be offered by two or more different stalls at the coffee shop, noted CNA.
Two of these meals must be rice-based, while at least one must be halal.
Coffee shops must also offer a minimum of two budget drinks, namely black coffee and black tea, otherwise known as kopi-o and teh-o.
For the 72 kopitiams that currently already offer budget options, they will now need to offer at least six budget food dishes.
Source: 8World News on Facebook
This must include the following:
Budget options at coffee shops are currently priced between S$3 and S$3.50. Drinks cost between S$1 to S$1.15.
With the new tender requirements, by 2026, budget meals will be offered at all 374 coffee shops under HDB.
According to TODAY, this is nearly half of all coffee shops located in HDB estates. The remaining 402 are owned and managed by private operators.
To aid in the transition, HDB said it will be offering a rental discount of 5% off renewal rents for a year, from the time the budget meal requirement is in place.
Ms Sim said that this move will make cheaper food options “more certain and pervasive”.
Considering the current financial climate, we’re sure this is welcome news for everyone. We certainly hope that many people will be able to benefit from the budget meals.
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Featured image by MS News.
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