Quan Shui Wet Market is a Singaporean, third-generation family-run fresh-food business that traces its origins to 1968. Originally established as Quan Shui Fresh Pork, the business began with founder Oh Quan Shui selling fresh pork to support his large family. Over more than five decades, it evolved from a traditional pork-selling operation into a hybrid wet-market, modern grocery and e-commerce business serving households across Singapore.1

Today, Quan Shui combines the traditional wet-market model—fresh meat, seafood and vegetables sold with personal service—with online ordering, islandwide delivery, a modern flagship store and digital content aimed at younger consumers. Enterprise Singapore describes it as one of Singapore’s leading online fresh-food grocers.2

1968: The beginning

The story of Quan Shui begins in 1968, when Oh Quan Shui started selling fresh pork along Yio Chu Kang Road, near the former Lorong Hablor kampung area. The original business was known as Quan Shui Fresh Pork.

Initially a small family operation, the focus was straightforward: provide fresh pork to the local community while supporting the founder’s family. During the 1980s, the business moved from street selling into permanent wet-market operations. Its first physical stall was established in the Ang Mo Kio area, where Oh Quan Shui’s daughter, Oh Siew Guat, also became involved in the family business.

Expansion under the second generation

Oh Siew Guat and her husband, Neo Ah Leong, subsequently took over the business and expanded its presence in Singapore’s traditional wet markets. By the 2000s, the family had grown the operation to around 15 wet-market stalls, primarily selling fresh pork.3

However, the changing retail environment presented challenges. Singapore’s wet markets faced declining footfall, changing consumer habits and increasing competition from supermarkets and other modern grocery formats.

Transformation during COVID-19

A major turning point came in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. With safe-distancing measures affecting traditional wet-market traffic, the business found itself with hundreds of kilograms of unsold pork. Rather than allowing the inventory to go to waste, the family began taking orders through Facebook and personally delivering fresh pork to customers.

This experiment revealed that customers were willing to purchase fresh wet-market products online, forming the foundation for Quan Shui’s digital transformation. The company subsequently developed an e-commerce operation, expanding beyond pork into a much broader selection of fresh groceries. According to Enterprise Singapore, online sales eventually grew to account for 40–50% of the company’s revenue, while serving roughly 500 households daily.

Rebranding as Quan Shui Wet Market

As the business expanded beyond its original pork-specialist identity, Quan Shui Fresh Pork was rebranded as Quan Shui Wet Market in 2022. The new name reflected its broader range of products, including fresh meat, seafood, vegetables and other grocery items. The repositioning effectively turned the company from a traditional pork retailer into a modern “brick-and-click” wet market—combining physical stalls with digital commerce. The company’s own positioning describes this approach as bringing together the traditional “old-is-gold” wet-market experience with digitalisation.

Third-generation leadership

The business is now being modernised by the family’s third generation, particularly brothers Neo Jun He and Neo Jun Rui. Jun Rui joined the company in 2019 and is trained as a butcher, having learnt the trade from the ground up. Jun He, formerly a secondary-school teacher, joined the family business full-time in 2022 to help his parents and brother navigate the company’s transformation.

Their responsibilities are divided broadly between operations and business development. The older generation continues to oversee traditional wet-market operations, while the younger generation has driven e-commerce, branding, partnerships and the modern retail concept. This gives Quan Shui a distinctive generational structure: traditional wet-market expertise remains within the family while younger members handle digitalisation and modern retail.

Quan Shui today operates across three closely connected channels:

• Traditional wet-market stalls: The family continues to operate multiple wet-market stalls around Singapore.
• Modern flagship store: Its modern outlet at Tagore Lane offers fresh produce alongside packaged and convenience-oriented products.
• E-commerce and delivery: Customers can order fresh groceries online for delivery, bringing the wet-market experience directly into the home.

As of 2026, the company operates eight traditional wet-market locations, alongside its modern store and e-commerce business. Revenue is reported to be roughly evenly divided between the modern side of the business—including e-commerce and the Tagore Lane store—and traditional wet-market operations.

Although pork remains central to Quan Shui’s heritage, its present-day range is considerably broader. Its offerings include:

• Fresh pork
• Chicken and other meats
• Seafood
• Fresh vegetables
• Locally produced ingredients
• Yong Tau Foo
• Dim sum and other prepared foods
• Cooking ingredients
• Pre-packaged fresh-food products
• Recipe-oriented meal solutions

The company’s “QS Goes Local” initiative particularly highlights locally sourced seafood, vegetables and other Singapore-associated foods, positioning the brand around local food culture as well as freshness.4

One of Quan Shui’s strategies is making wet-market shopping accessible to people who may have little experience with traditional markets. Through customer research supported by Enterprise Singapore, the company identified a segment it calls the “novice cook”—people who want to cook but may lack time, confidence or knowledge.

To address this, Quan Shui developed products and services such as:

• Recipe kits
• Cooking guides
• Serving suggestions
• QR codes on product packaging
• Cooking videos and social-media content
• Pre-packaged ingredients

Customers can scan product QR codes to access information about how products can be prepared and served. This is an important part of the company’s strategy: rather than simply asking younger consumers to adopt the old wet-market shopping model, Quan Shui is adapting the wet-market concept to modern lifestyles.

Modern Flagship Store

Quan Shui’s flagship store is located at 50 Tagore Lane, #B1-01, Singapore 787494. This location represents the company’s attempt to reinterpret what a wet market can look like. Unlike a conventional open-air or neighbourhood wet-market stall, the store provides a more modern, air-conditioned retail environment, while still focusing on fresh ingredients. It also sells pre-packaged products and convenience-oriented foods.

The company’s official information lists its flagship-store opening hours as Tuesday–Sunday, 10:00am–7:00pm.

Traditional Wet-Market Presence

The company’s traditional-market operations remain an important part of the brand. One documented location is at 156 Bukit Batok Street 11, #01-09, Singapore 650156. The Bukit Batok outlet is associated with the second generation of the family and illustrates the continuing link between Quan Shui’s modern digital operation and its traditional wet-market roots. Traditional market hours at this location are listed as Tuesday–Sunday, 5:00am–3:00pm.

Quan Shui’s e-commerce operation is a significant aspect of its transformation. The company offers online ordering and next-day delivery for orders placed before its daily cut-off, with Monday being the general market-closure day. The online business originally emerged as a survival response during COVID-19 but became a permanent part of the company’s strategy. By 2024, online sales represented roughly 40–50% of revenue, according to Enterprise Singapore.

This makes Quan Shui an example of how a traditional Singaporean wet-market business can use digital commerce not simply as an additional sales channel, but as a means of reaching a new generation of customers.

Technology is used at several levels of Quan Shui’s business. At the customer-facing level, the company uses e-commerce, QR codes, social media, cooking videos, online recipes, digital ordering and delivery services.

Internally, the company has worked to digitise operational processes. For example, its daily orders once had to be manually consolidated from multiple platforms. Working with Singapore Polytechnic students, Quan Shui developed an Excel-based system that reduced the order-consolidation process from approximately one hour to about 10 minutes.

Despite its emphasis on technology, the company deliberately retains a human element. Customers can contact the business through WhatsApp for questions about storing or cooking food and can make special requests for particular cuts of meat. Company leadership has stated that it has chosen human interaction over replacing this service with an AI chatbot.

Community is another important component of the Quan Shui identity. The company states that it wants to preserve the community spirit and relationships associated with Singapore’s traditional wet markets, while adapting them to contemporary retail.

At its Tagore Lane store, Quan Shui established a herb and spice garden where customers can freely harvest herbs to use in their cooking. The initiative was designed partly to recreate the informal, community-oriented experience of a traditional wet market. The company has also organised bazaars and community events, bringing other local businesses into its flagship-store environment. In 2024, its Chinese New Year bazaar involved 18 local businesses, with activities including garden tours, a dim sum pushcart and livestreaming. Enterprise Singapore reported that a later Chinese New Year bazaar generated more than S$30,000 in sales.

Sustainability Initiatives

Sustainability has become part of Quan Shui’s operating philosophy. The company has participated in initiatives aimed at reducing waste and plastic use. Reported measures include:

• Collecting and reusing delivery Styrofoam boxes
• Increasing the use of reusable materials
• Limiting single-use plastic packaging
• Working to reduce food waste
• Reducing its carbon footprint

The National Environment Agency has previously highlighted Quan Shui as an example of a business implementing zero-waste initiatives.

Quan Shui Gives Back

The company’s current “Quan Shui Gives Back” programme identifies food accessibility, community support and environmental responsibility as core areas of focus. The programme supports or has collaborated with organisations and initiatives including Willing Hearts, Singapore Polytechnic, Green Cube, EQUAL, TOUCH Community and QS x MoNo. The company frames these activities not simply as corporate social responsibility, but as an extension of its historical relationship with neighbourhood communities.

Quan Shui’s transformation has produced measurable business results. According to Enterprise Singapore, the company’s overall revenue increased by 25% between 2021 and 2024, despite the closure of some traditional stalls. The company was projecting approximately 20% year-on-year growth going forward. Enterprise Singapore’s 2024–2025 annual report describes Quan Shui as a third-generation family business with eight physical stalls, a modern Upper Thomson outlet and more than 500 households served daily.

At its core, Quan Shui’s brand sits at the intersection of tradition and convenience.

Its traditional identity is built around:

• Freshness
• Personal service
• Family heritage
• Wet-market knowledge
• Relationships with suppliers and customers
• Singaporean food culture

Its modern identity is built around:

• E-commerce
• Home delivery
• Modern retail design
• Ready-to-cook products
• Recipe education
• Digital marketing
• Convenience

Rather than abandoning the wet-market model, Quan Shui is essentially attempting to modernise it. This philosophy is reflected in a statement from third-generation general manager Neo Jun He: the opportunity is not necessarily to persuade young Singaporeans to shop exactly as their parents did, but to make the wet-market experience accessible in a form that suits their lifestyles.

Quan Shui is notable as a case study in the evolution of Singapore’s traditional wet markets. Wet markets face structural challenges: ageing stallholders, declining footfall, changing consumer expectations and competition from supermarkets and online grocery platforms. Quan Shui’s response has been to retain the core advantages of wet markets—freshness, expertise and human interaction—while changing the way consumers access them.

Its development can be summarised as:
1968 → Fresh pork stall → Multiple wet-market stalls → COVID-era online delivery → Rebranding in 2022 → Modern flagship store → Omnichannel fresh-food business

The company is consequently more than simply a wet-market operator. It is an example of a traditional Singaporean family business transitioning into an omnichannel food retailer without completely abandoning its original identity.

As of 2026, Quan Shui Wet Market can be described as a third-generation Singaporean family-owned fresh-food retailer combining traditional wet markets, a modern physical grocery concept and e-commerce. It maintains eight traditional wet-market locations while operating its modern Upper Thomson store and online grocery business.

Its overarching proposition is essentially:

Traditional wet-market freshness and human touch, delivered through modern retail and digital convenience.

That combination—rather than any individual product—is arguably what distinguishes Quan Shui from a conventional supermarket, a standalone wet-market stall or a purely digital grocery platform.

Quick Reference

1. About Us – Quan Shui Wet Market
2. Quan Shui Wet Market
3. Cooking videos, online sales and modern flagship: How hawker brothers shake up family’s wet market business
4. QS Goes Local – Quan Shui Wet Market