FairPrice, commonly known as FairPrice and historically as NTUC FairPrice, is a Singaporean supermarket and grocery-retail brand. It is operated by NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Limited, a consumer co-operative associated with Singapore’s labour movement. FairPrice began in 1973 with the objective of keeping essential goods affordable and helping moderate the cost of living in Singapore. 1

Today, FairPrice is the core retail business of FairPrice Group, a broader food and retail group that also encompasses businesses such as Kopitiam, Foodfare and NTUC Link. FairPrice Group describes its overall mission as keeping daily essentials within reach for all in Singapore. 2

The latest company information states that FairPrice itself operates 230 outlets, including FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra, FairPrice Xpress and Cheers convenience stores. 3

Origins: 1973

FairPrice was established against the backdrop of the 1973 global oil crisis, when Singapore faced concerns about rising prices, shortages and the affordability of basic necessities.

The labour movement established a supermarket co-operative called NTUC Welcome. Its first store opened at Block 192, Toa Payoh Lorong 4, in 1973. The concept was straightforward: sell food and household necessities at reasonable prices and help protect consumers from inflation.

The supermarket was approximately 10,000 square feet and operated seven days a week. The concept proved popular, and additional outlets were subsequently opened around Singapore. By early 1977, NTUC Welcome had eight supermarkets.

Formation of NTUC FairPrice: 1983

In 1983, NTUC Welcome merged with the Singapore Employees’ Co-operative (SEC). The resulting organisation became NTUC FairPrice Co-operative Limited.

The merger created the foundation for the FairPrice supermarket network that exists today.

FairPrice Housebrand: 1985

FairPrice introduced its own housebrand products in 1985. The idea was to offer consumers products that provided good quality at lower prices than comparable branded products.

The housebrand initially concentrated on everyday essentials such as rice, oil and sugar. Over time it expanded into thousands of products across numerous categories. FairPrice currently says its housebrand range contains more than 2,000 products across over 50 categories, generally priced around 10–15% lower on average than comparable leading brands.

Expansion of retail formats

FairPrice subsequently moved beyond the traditional supermarket model.

The development of Singapore’s MRT system encouraged the company to place stores in and around transport nodes and residential areas. The business later developed several distinct retail concepts, including:

• FairPrice Supermarket — the mainstream grocery format.
• FairPrice Finest — a more premium supermarket concept with a wider assortment.
• FairPrice Xtra — larger hypermarket-style stores offering groceries and non-food products.
• FairPrice Xpress — smaller convenience-oriented outlets.
• Cheers — convenience stores operated within the wider FairPrice ecosystem.

Cheers began in 1998, while FairPrice Finest and FairPrice Xtra emerged during the 2000s.

An important distinction is that FairPrice and FairPrice Group are not exactly the same thing.

FairPrice

NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Limited is primarily the grocery and retail organisation. Its businesses include the FairPrice supermarket formats and convenience retail operations.

FairPrice Group

FairPrice Group (FPG) was established in 2019, bringing together four major entities:

1. NTUC FairPrice
2. NTUC Foodfare
3. Kopitiam
4. NTUC Link

The purpose was to integrate grocery retail, food services and rewards under a broader food ecosystem.

The Group now describes itself as having more than 570 touchpoints across Singapore, covering groceries, ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat food, food services, takeaways and rewards.

FairPrice Supermarket

This is the company’s standard supermarket format and represents the heart of the FairPrice brand.

FairPrice says it has more than 100 supermarkets islandwide, selling everyday groceries, fresh food, household products and other necessities.

The positioning is essentially everyday value and accessibility rather than luxury.

FairPrice Finest

FairPrice Finest is the more premium format.

Compared with conventional FairPrice supermarkets, Finest stores generally provide a broader assortment, including imported and specialty products, while retaining FairPrice’s emphasis on affordability.

It effectively occupies the space between a conventional supermarket and a premium grocery retailer.

FairPrice Xtra

FairPrice Xtra is the larger-format, hypermarket-style concept.

These stores offer a broader selection of groceries as well as non-food products. One of the early flagship Xtra stores at Ang Mo Kio Hub was approximately 77,000 square feet when it opened in 2006.

FairPrice Xpress and Cheers

These formats address convenience shopping.

They are designed around smaller, quicker purchases and locations where customers may not want to visit a full-sized supermarket. FairPrice Xpress sits within the FairPrice retail network, while Cheers is the group’s established convenience-store brand.

FairPrice is unusual compared with many major supermarket chains because it is fundamentally rooted in a consumer co-operative and social mission rather than being established purely as a conventional shareholder-owned retailer.

Its business model combines several objectives:

• Selling groceries and household necessities.
• Maintaining competitive prices.
• Developing private-label products.
• Operating different supermarket formats for different consumer segments.
• Using large-scale procurement and distribution to achieve efficiencies.
• Providing digital and loyalty services.
• Supporting community and social programmes.

FairPrice describes the underlying philosophy as “do well in order to do good.”

Price affordability is arguably the defining characteristic of FairPrice’s identity.

The company describes its social mission as moderating the cost of living in Singapore. Its initiatives include everyday-low-price products, housebrands, targeted discounts and other savings programmes.

One of its longstanding initiatives is its Everyday Low Price programme, which began in 1994 with a basket of essential products. The basket has subsequently expanded to more than 500 items.

FairPrice also uses its housebrand to compete on price. According to the company, FairPrice housebrand products are generally priced 10–15% below comparable leading brands, while covering more than 2,000 products.

This pricing strategy is central to why FairPrice is often described as Singapore’s “people’s supermarket.”

FairPrice has expanded beyond physical supermarkets into e-commerce and digital services.

Customers can shop through the FairPrice Group digital ecosystem, while the company has increasingly invested in technologies intended to improve both the shopping experience and store operations.

In 2025, FairPrice Group launched its first Store of Tomorrow concept at Punggol Digital District in collaboration with Google Cloud. In 2026, the company announced plans to expand technologies including smart shopping carts, digital price cards, ShopBeyond and an AI-powered staff application called Grocer Genie across its supermarket network.

This represents a shift from FairPrice being simply a supermarket chain toward becoming a more digitally integrated retail platform.

A major differentiator of FairPrice is its explicit social purpose.

Its mission is:

Keeping daily essentials within reach for all in Singapore.

The company says this mission guides its approach to pricing, community support and retail operations.

FairPrice has historically undertaken programmes involving:

• Food assistance
• Community donations
• Support for vulnerable households
• Senior-citizen discounts
• Education initiatives
• Food vouchers
• Sustainability programmes
• Support during periods of inflation and economic uncertainty

The FairPrice Foundation was launched in 2008, further formalising the organisation’s community role.

FairPrice’s social role becomes particularly visible during periods of elevated inflation.

For example, in April 2026, FairPrice Group announced a temporary price freeze covering 100 daily essentials, including items such as eggs, rice, oil, milk, chicken and detergent.

In May 2026, it announced a broader initiative to lock prices on more than 500 popular daily essentials from 1 June to 31 August 2026.

These initiatives illustrate the tension at the heart of FairPrice’s business model: it must remain commercially sustainable while simultaneously pursuing its social objective of affordability.

The organisation sits within Singapore’s broader NTUC Enterprise ecosystem.

The 2025 financial report identifies NTUC Enterprise Co-operative Limited as the immediate and ultimate holding entity of NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Limited. FairPrice’s principal activities include supermarket, department-store and convenience-store retailing as well as investment holding.

FairPrice Group provides the broader operating framework around FairPrice and other food-related businesses.

As of 2026, the Group’s CEO is Vipul Chawla. The company says he oversees FairPrice Group, which comprises NTUC FairPrice, Kopitiam, NTUC Foodfare and NTUC Link, among other businesses.

FairPrice’s brand identity is strongly associated with several ideas:

Affordability — everyday products at competitive prices.

Accessibility — a large islandwide store network serving both mature estates and newer residential areas.

Trust — decades of familiarity among Singaporean households.

Singaporean identity — FairPrice originated from Singapore’s labour movement and has become a deeply established local institution.

Social responsibility — the brand explicitly connects commercial activity with community benefit.

The company itself notes that FairPrice is sometimes referred to as a “national treasure” or “the people’s supermarket.”

FairPrice today is substantially larger than the single-store co-operative established in 1973.

According to its current corporate information:

• FairPrice operates 230 retail outlets across its supermarket and convenience formats.
• FairPrice Group has 570+ touchpoints across Singapore.
• The Group employs almost 13,000 people.
• FairPrice Group reported S$4.7 billion in annual turnover for 2025.
• The Group serves more than one million customer interactions daily.

• 1973 — NTUC Welcome opens its first supermarket in Toa Payoh.
• 1977 — NTUC Welcome has expanded to eight supermarkets.
• 1983 — NTUC Welcome merges with Singapore Employees’ Co-operative to form NTUC FairPrice Co-operative Limited.
• 1985 — FairPrice Housebrand is introduced.
• 1994 — Everyday Low Price initiative begins.
• 1998 — Cheers convenience-store chain begins.
• 2000s — FairPrice Finest and FairPrice Xtra are developed.
• 2008 — FairPrice Foundation is launched.
• 2019 — FairPrice Group is established, bringing together FairPrice, Foodfare, Kopitiam and NTUC Link.
• 2023 — FairPrice celebrates its 50th anniversary.
• 2025 — FairPrice Group launches its first Store of Tomorrow concept at Punggol Digital District.
• 2026 — FairPrice expands price-support programmes and announces islandwide expansion of AI-enabled retail technologies.

1. Tips | Then and now: Looking back at 47 years of FairPrice! – NTUC FairPrice
2. Our Retail Formats – NTUC FairPrice
3. FairPrice Group – Our Story and Purpose