SINGAPORE and MALAYSIA: They are too young to have beer. But the many youngsters who go to Chomp Chomp Food Centre at Serangoon Gardens can still drink to their heart’s content from the popular tower dispensers at the hawker centre. The quenchers on their tables are sugar cane towers, however, and not beer – drink stall owner Brendon Tan’s solution for his thirsty customers. “We used to sell smaller cups,” he said. “(Gradually) we upsized from 700 millilitres to 1 litre, then 1.5 litres. People were looking for (a bigger) jug, so I thought maybe we can try a (sugar cane) tower.” In the past year though, he had to raise the prices of the juice – for the first time in the two decades he has been selling the drink. A tower now costs S18, up from S$15. In fact, the cost of sugar cane in Singapore has risen by much more. Between last November and this July, the price per box rose from around S$16.50 to S$29 – a 75 per cent increase. With food prices rising by more than 10 per cent over the past five years, the series For Food’s Sake finds out what is behind the hikes in the prices of various foods and beverages. In the case of sugar cane, it is a shortage like never before, said Mr Ray Sng, one of the co-founders of Daily Fresh Sugarcane Supplier. “Some of my customers in other hawker centers (told me) they’re selling (sugar cane)… [Read full story]
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