The media trying to say that high hawker food pricing is not due to rental but because others want to have more profit?
Singapore, April 22, 2013
A plate of roasted chicken rice at 820 Hainanese Chicken Rice in Tampines costs $1.50 - a rock-bottom price for the dish.
But despite this, owner Tam Mee Chan turns a profit of at least $6,000 a month.
This is despite raising the price of the meal from $1 in 1992, to $1.30 in 2008, then to $1.50 in 2011 due to rising costs.
Her secret - selling a large number of plates at lower prices, bulk-buying ingredients at discounted prices, cooking chickens from scratch and her roll-up-her-sleeves attitude.
The 45-year-old closes her stall only two days a month - every alternate Monday - and wakes up at 6am to cook from scratch.
"We sell a lot and our attraction is our low price," she said, adding that buying pre-cooked chickens is more expensive. "We need to hire only two part-timers. That saves us some money."
A plate of chicken rice is typically priced at $2.50.
Madam Tam, who runs the stall with her husband, sells about $1,000 worth of food a day, equal to more than 650 plates of her chicken rice.
Retail analysts said that there is no magic bullet. A hawker stall selling $1.50 chicken rice, they said, could be more profitable than one selling the dish for double the price.
It is all about the business model and striking the right balance, said Ms Sarah Lim, a senior retail lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic.
She said 820 Hainanese Chicken Rice is trumping not just other chicken rice stalls but also stalls that sell more expensive dishes.
"Selling at lower prices means thinner margins, but a stall may sell many plates. They earn by volume," said Ms Lim. "It's all about striking a good balance between pricing and demand."
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