Monitoring Food Prices at Rental Coffee Shops

71 Dr Choo Pei Ling asked the Minister for National Development (a) what specific mechanisms does HDB use to monitor food prices in rental coffeeshops let out under its Price-Quality Method (PQM) tender framework; (b) whether HDB has intervened due to affordability concerns; and (c) if so, how often.

Mr Chee Hong Tat: The Housing and Development Board (HDB) conducts regular surveys to track the prices of common dishes and drinks offered in HDB coffee shops. HDB does not directly regulate food prices. Instead, HDB strives to provide adequate supply of coffee shops in every HDB town, complementing the network of hawker centres, to offer a range of cooked food options for residents.

HDB requires budget meals to be a full meal option. We recently made some changes to the budget meal initiative to provide enhanced funding support for participating operators who choose to offer budget meals in their eating houses. Part of the changes include requiring the operator to provide three meal options: (i) an economy rice option consisting of rice with one meat dish and two vegetable dishes, (ii) a halal meal option and (iii) a breakfast item.

Beyond these guidelines, it is not feasible to impose nutritional requirements on budget meals, just as we do not impose such requirements on hawker stalls in general.