SINGAPORE: A stall at 704 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8 called Nguan Express 88 generated buzz online around this time last year when netizens started calling it the “cheapest chicken rice in Singapore” and “best value meal in Singapore,” with dishes that cost only S$1.90.
People began reviewing the food, praising the portion sizes and the fragrant rice, and expressing appreciation for the low prices Nguan Express 88 offered for its whole soy chicken, as well as individual orders of roasted chicken rice, char siew rice, and soy chicken rice.
Now, in spite of prices of practically everything rising due to the energy crisis brought about by the war in Iran, Nguan Express 88 said that it still plans on keeping its S$1.90 dishes, especially because a great many of its customers are the elderly with limited budgets.
“The area around our shop is mainly inhabited by elderly people, who make up more than half of our customers. Therefore, we will not raise prices, hoping that they can still enjoy a meal at an affordable price,” Lim Yi Xing, who owns the stall at told Lianhe Zaobao.
He added that the stall’s strategy is to sell food at high volume with low profit margins, which means that while they don’t earn a lot from each individual order of chicken rice, raising prices is not part of their bigger plan.
As for the volume of chicken rice dishes sold, the plan looks to be pretty solid, as they are able to sell around 1000 orders each day.
However, the conflict in the Middle East has caused their overall operating costs to rise by around 30%. Mr Lim said that plastic bags are now 10% more expensive, and the diesel for their trucks now costs S$900, up from the previous S$500 they spent before the war broke out on Feb 28.
Fortunately, Nguan Express 88 has a central kitchen as well as a direct supplier of chickens, which helps keep costs down.
Earlier this month, another Nguan Express 88 branch opened at Block 156, Bukit Batok Street 11, and one more shop in the Jurong West area is set to open in June.
Mr Lim said that the Bukit Batok stall is doing well, with 300 orders of S$1.90 chicken rice getting sold daily. /TISG
Read also: From 10 customers to 100: How Ok Chicken Rice’s owner revived a quiet Toa Payoh coffee shop
