Recently, an ice cream seller or uncle in Tampines received flak online for charging a customer S$8 for an ice cream cone and sandwich.
Following the hoo-ha, Chinese news outlet Shin Min Daily News managed to track him down and get his side of the story.
While the uncle explained that he isn’t stingy with his portions, another seller at Orchard Road disputed the need to charge such high prices.
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, the ice cream vendor who plies his trade in Tampines shed some light on his product pricing.
According to the vendor, 63-year-old Mr Zhong, he fills the cones to the brim without cutting any corners.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Unlike other sellers who allegedly cut a block of ice cream into more pieces and charge a lower price, Mr Zhong claimed he gives customers thicker blocks along with the slice of bread.
My slices of ice cream are big and there’s a piece of bread outside. Some people charge lower prices but they split into four or five pieces while I just split into three pieces.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
To the crew observing him at work, Mr Zhong showed exactly what he meant.
Despite the explanation, another ice cream seller who spoke to 8world News seemed to think differently.
Mr Chan, who sells ice cream sandwiches along Orchard Road, charges only S$1.50 per item. 8world News reporters allegedly observed similar prices across all sellers in the area.
Source: 8world News
Mr Chan told the news outlet that he only increased the price from S$1 three years ago due to the rise in prices of bread, biscuits, ice cream and plastic bags.
Describing the incident in Tampines as “extortion”, he said sellers shouldn’t conduct business like this as they could lose customers.
Meanwhile, another seller in town, Mr Tan, claimed that a 12-inch ice cream block can usually be cut into nine pieces. He noticed that the seller in Tampines cut his block into eight pieces instead.
For him and other sellers in Orchard, they’ve apparently agreed to stick to nine slices. Should they decide to increase prices, they will do so together.
Based on Mr Tan’s understanding, the cost price for such ice cream is the same no matter which agent sellers purchase it from, which is about S$1.50 per slice. Therefore, he believes that vendors shouldn’t charge more than S$2.
Most passers-by interviewed by 8world News concurred with such pricing, saying that they would only pay S$1 to S$2 per serving.
What do you think is a reasonable price for the ice cream? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook and Facebook.
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