Tourist shocked that grocery shopping in Singapore is cheaper than in Canada

SINGAPORE: A Canadian YouTuber who takes viewers on “supermarket tours” worldwide appeared to find himself at home when he recently did groceries in Singapore. While prices in Singapore are high, inflation has also appeared to have skyrocketed in Canada, and he said that many products are cheaper in Singapore.

Steve, one-half of the JetLag warriors, noted that converting prices has been convenient for them in Singapore, as the Singapore dollar and the Canadian dollar have pretty much the same value. He went into a Fair Price Finest outlet with his wife Ivana and his parents to shop for food. At first, the couple experienced a bit of sticker shock, as prices were relatively high, depending on where the products came from.

They showed broccoli going for S$9 per head and a carton of organic milk that cost S$12.50.  However, other organic milk brands were going for less than half of that, with price tags in the S$5.50 range.

But as they went on, they realized that some groceries in Singapore, which was recently named the most expensive city in the world, together with Zurich, are affordable.

The affordable groceries, at least compared to Canada, said Steve and Ivana, include eggs, meat, roasted chicken, Baby Bel cheese, “streaky bacon,” different types of oil, and other products.

“Some of this stuff is pretty affordable,” Steve said at one point, underlining again that prices in Canada have been “out of whack” lately.

As Steve and Ivana checked out of the grocery, they had another encounter familiar to Canadians— politeness. Canadians are known far and wide for being well-mannered and considerate. As Steve headed toward the queue to pay, another woman approached at the same time. He then told her she could go first. To his surprise, she answered, “No, you go ahead,” and insisted he go before her.

Steve thought, “Where am I? Canada, right now?” and added that the whole encounter—from grocery layout, prices, etc.- was very familiar.

Local commenters on the video told the couple that they had chosen one of the most expensive groceries in Singapore and could have saved money if they had gone to cheaper food shops, including Sheng Shiong, Giant, or even the regular FairPrice shops.

One wrote that it was “not smart to travel to neighbourhood NTUC,” while someone else said that they would do better to patronize the places that locals go to to find better forces.

“We usually get our eggs located near the bread section. It’s cheaper than the ones in the fridge,” commented one, and another recommended going to a wet market, where a shopper can bargain with vendors.

Read also: $7.90 price gap between ABC Value Shop and FairPrice Supermarket’s Kellog’s Granola sparks online debate /TISG