"Aiyoh, this Kimball Chilli Sauce price is up again!"
I was at NTUC Fairprice doing some grocery shopping.
"Ya lor. Price keeps going up. Now, it is $1.55 for a small bottle."
OK, I am not sure if it was $1.55 or $1.35 by now. Such is the state of my short term memory.
Anyway, it was a conversation between an old uncle and old aunty. They looked to be in their 60s.
"NTUC is too much! Always increasing prices!" The old uncle was relentless.
I was holding on to a bottle of NTUC Fairprice housebrand chilli sauce and debating whether to take 1 bottle for $1.05 or 2 bottles for $1.85 when I heard the exchange. There was a special offer going on and I have always been a bit of a sucker for special offers.
I wondered whether to tell the old couple that they should give the NTUC Fairprice housebrand chilli sauce a chance. It looked like it was twice the size of what they were thinking of buying and a third cheaper in price! More if they were to buy two bottles. For those of you who have not tried, frankly, the housebrand chilli sauce is not bad.
So, did I do it?
I was feeling a little under the weather today and one look at the couple, I decided to mind my own business. They had faces that looked like someone just stole their CPF money. Yikes!
I feel that it is unfair to accuse NTUC Fairprice of being too much in increasing the price when it is not a brand they have control over.
In fact, NTUC Fairprice do a pretty good job of offering good quality and value for money housebranded alternatives. Here are a couple of other examples I have at home:
Is there anything special about atas branded detergent? |
Is there anything special about atas branded tissue paper? |
We could save quite a bit of money without compromising on our quality of life if we are less picky. We would also almost certainly become wealthier and happier people in the process.
In case you are wondering if I bought one or two bottles of chilli sauce, I did the sensible thing and bought one bottle. It is going to take me quite a while to finish one bottle, after all.
Related posts:
1. Waste not, want not, save lots with Pasar brand.
2. A visit to Fairprice could teach us about stocks.