Chicken rice prices unchanged since 2011

With the exception of some dishes, the average prices of common hawker dishes have remained the same in 2012 as compared to 2011, a study done by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE).

The study was done with final-year students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s School of Business & Accountancy and covered 541 food stalls across Singapore.

It focused on the prices of five of the most common dishes: chicken nasi biryani, chicken rice, fishball noodles, plain roti prata and “mixed” rice (consisting of two portions of vegetables and one of meat).

The results found that the mode price – or the price at which most hawkers were selling – of chicken nasi biryani, chicken rice and plain roti prata remained the same, but not for the other two.

The mode price of fishball noodles rose 20 per cent from $2.50 to $3, while a “mixed” rice meal rose 16 per cent from $2.50 to $2.90.

The study also found that while the prices for chicken nasi briyani, chicken rice and plain roti prata did not increase, the percentage of hawkers selling them at that mode price have fallen over the year.

For example, in 2011, close to 40 per cent of the hawkers sold nasi biryani below $4.50, but in 2012, only about 15 per cent sold below $4.50.

In 2011, about a quarter of the hawkers sold nasi biryani above $4.50, but in 2012, more than half were selling above that price.

The survey also found that two out of three patrons felt that the prices increases were “reasonable and affordable” and they attributed the increases to rental costs and inflation.