FairPrice on Wheels aims to bring groceries closer to low-income seniors
SINGAPORE — From Thursday (23 April), NTUC FairPrice will be using vans to bring basic essential grocery items to selected mature estates with higher concentration of low-income senior citizens.
Called “FairPrice on Wheels”, the community initiative will be carrying items such as rice, bread, instant noodles, cooking oil, canned food, toiletries, fruits and vegetables on specially-outfitted vans.
These vans will operate daily from 9am to 2pm and accept cash only. They are open to all, and seniors who visit these vans will also be able to enjoy discounts from the Pioneer Generation, Merdeka Generation and Senior Discounts schemes on its designated days.
According to a media release by NTUC FairPrice on Wednesday, the vans will initially serve these five locations:
Commonwealth Link (car park between Blocks 109 and 110)
Telok Blangah Crescent (loading/unloading bay between Blocks 1 and 4)
Telok Blangah Rise (car park between Blocks 29 and 32)
Kampong Glam Community Club (car park in front of post office at Block 15)
Jalan Kukoh (car park in front of Block 2)
These five locations were specially selected based on demographic data where more than 30 per cent of residents are above the age of 60 years old and are living mostly in three-room HDB flats.
Purchase limits, safe distancing measures
The purchase limits per customer that was implemented across all FairPrice outlets on 27 March will also apply at FairPrice on Wheels vans. These purchase limits include:
Paper products: two packs (toilet paper, facial tissues, kitchen towels)
Instant noodles or pasta: two packs
Rice: 10 kilograms
Vegetables: $30
Fresh, frozen and processed poultry: $30
Eggs: three packs of 10 or one tray of 30 per customer
Canned products: six cans (choice of meat, fish or vegetables)
Cooking oil: five litres
FairPrice has also put in place various precautionary measures to maintain safe distancing while shopping at the vans. These measures include maintaining safe distancing through cone markings and crowd control measures. Staff will be on the ground to facilitate queue management.
All shoppers and staff are also required to put on a mask at all times when patronising the mobile store. Customers may also contact the van through a dedicated mobile number to check in real-time on the queue status before making their way down.
“While we encourage everyone to stay home during the circuit breaker period, we also understand that there may be people who do not have the option to have their groceries purchased on their behalf,” FairPrice Group chief executive officer Seah Kian Peng said,
“Therefore, we aim to bring daily essentials closer to their homes, especially for seniors, so that they do not have to spend too much time away from home.
“We have also received feedback that some residents would also like to help their elderly neighbours purchase the groceries on their behalf and with this mobile van, it makes it that much more convenient for them to do this good deed for their neighbours.”
For more information, please visit FairPrice’s Facebook page or contact its customer service team at 6552-2722 or via email at general.feedback@fairprice.com.sg.
Stay in the know on-the-go: Join Yahoo Singapore's Telegram channel at http://t.me/YahooSingapore
Other Singapore stories:
COVID-19: 16 malls with high traffic urged to conduct contact tracing of customers
COVID-19: SAF to further suspend basic military training till 1 June
COVID-19: Youth who danced and ranted against safe distancing rules in public, 5 others fined
