Vending machine meal credits to help South West district residents with cost pressures
The South West Community Development Council is distributing S$600,000 in meal vouchers sponsored by Select F&B group as part of SG60 celebrations.
South West CDC mayor Low Yen Ling (left) and Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong show resident Lim Chwee Lian how to redeem a value meal from a vending machine as Mr Vincent Tan, MD of Select Group (right), watches.
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SINGAPORE: To help with living costs, the South West Community Development Council (CDC) on Sunday (Mar 9) launched a Value Meals programme that will let residents redeem meals from vending machines located in their neighbourhoods.
Food and beverage (F&B) group Select is providing the vending machines and sponsoring vulnerable residents with S$600,000 in credits to purchase the meals from 80 vending machines, most of which will be located under Housing and Development Board flats.
The meals, ranging from sandwiches to reheatable dishes like fried bee hoon and curry chicken with rice, each cost S$3 or less.
About 80 Choa Chu Kang residents who were at the launch on Sunday each received S$300 in meal credits on a mobile app by Taste Asia, a subsidiary of Select.
South West CDC Mayor Low Yen Ling said that the credits will be provided to each of the 18 divisions in the South West CDC, and the grassroots advisors will decide how to distribute the credits according to residents' needs.
Launching the value meals programme on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said that inflation is expected to ease further this year, but prices are still elevated.
"Singaporeans are understandably anxious. We hope that the support schemes announced at Budget 2025 will help with your daily living expenses, and give you some peace-of-mind," said Mr Gan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry and an MP for Chua Chu Kang GRC.
"While the Government will do our best to cushion the impact of high prices on Singaporeans, businesses and the community also have a role to play."
At the event, volunteers helped residents download meal credits on their phones and redeem meals from the machines. Pre-prepared meals were heated in microwaves and served to the attending residents by Mr Gan and Ms Low.
Muslim residents observing Ramadan took the meals home to break their fast later in the evening.
Mr Vincent Tan, managing director of Select Group, said that by buying ingredients in bulk, using mass production and serving the meals through vending machines, they are able to lower the costs.
Besides sandwiches and snacks, there are nine types of ready-to-eat meals that can be reheated in microwave ovens. The variety of meals will be rotated regularly, said Mr Tan.
"Today, we are giving 600,000 credits to South West CDC residents, so every resident will get between 100 to 300 credits. If it's 300 then that will benefit them for 100 meals ... so I sponsor them 100 meals," he told CNA.
In total, the meal credits are expected to benefit 1,000 to 3,000 residents.
Ms Low said that she hopes the meals will benefit shift workers, as the machines will be available round the clock.
"(Shift workers) often have restricted food options due to the wee hours. We hope Value Meals @ South West can help improve their diet and health, especially for low-income shift workers," said Ms Low, also a Chua Chu Kang MP.
Ms Low also said that food safety is a "top priority", in response to queries from reporters about food hygiene, given recent gastroenteritis cases arising from ready-to-eat meals distributed as part of Singapore's Food Resilience Preparedness Programme.
"That's why we work with Select group that has more than 30 years of experience, and they have a very robust workflow, SOP (standard operating procedures)Â at their central kitchen," she said.
