No need to hoard as Singapore has adequate supplies of frozen chicken: Desmond Tan

SINGAPORE: There’s no need to hoard or over purchase frozen chicken as Singapore has an adequate supply, said Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Desmond Tan on Thursday (May 26) as he sought to reassure the public ahead of Malaysia’s chicken export ban.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his visit to NTUC FairPrice’s fresh food distribution centre at Upper Thomson Road, Mr Tan said over-buying and hoarding frozen chicken could result in empty shelves.

“If we’re going to panic buy, there will not be enough stock on the shelves,” he said.

“So we’d like to encourage every Singaporean that, during this time, we should from time to time expect that there’ll be some kind of disruption resulting from either geopolitical development or even climate change,” he said.

“Therefore, we have to be resilient, we have to be adaptable, we got to stay calm and stay united. I’m sure we can ride through any challenges.” 

He added that about 70 per cent of Singapore’s chicken imports are frozen and come from many other countries as authorities have made an effort to diversify food supply over the years. This includes Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and the US.

FairPrice, Singapore’s largest supermarket chain, said it has a stockpile of four months of frozen chicken and another two months of frozen chicken coming in “very soon”. 

“We’re working very closely with our strategic partners as well as government agencies to ramp up our supply on different sources for chicken,” said deputy group chief executive officer of FairPrice Group Elaine Heng. 

“We’d like to encourage our customers to consider frozen chicken and other alternative protein options.” 

Malaysia’s decision to halt chicken exports, which takes effect on Jun 1, comes after months of supply issues and rising prices in the country. 

According to major players in the chicken industry, factors that have affected supply include the rising costs of chicken production, disease infection and weather conditions.

IMPACT ON CHICKEN PRICES 

Singapore imports about 34 per cent of its chicken from Malaysia. Almost all were brought in as live chickens which are then slaughtered and chilled locally.

Other major sources of chicken include Brazil (49 per cent) and the United States (12 per cent).

Ahead of the export ban, wet market chicken sellers who spoke to CNA on Thursday said they are already facing a 20 to 70 per cent shortage. 

Customers are also buying more in a bid to stock up, they added.

Some stallholders told CNA earlier this week that they may have to close temporarily if supply issues persist, pushing up prices.

Chicken importers have also expressed concern about switching to other sources on short notice.