JB Delicacies Like Hiap Joo Banana Cake Available For Group Buy in S’pore

I think speak for a number of us when I say, “I miss travelling.”

More specifically: travelling to Johor Bahru (JB)

Thanks, COVID-19.

And to make matters worse, the Malaysian Prime Minister announced recently that the Movement Control Order (MCO) would be extended till 31 December.

Image: Tenor

So yes, no one in and no one out.

But if you still have Malaysian food withdrawal, fret not because a solution has been around for quite a while now.

Tasty Imports

Around August this year, the Instagram page @pioneergroupbuy appeared and aimed to bring our favourite Malaysian treats over here.

The page’s owner, Brenda Tan, shared that she worked with Singapore-based food importers to import food from (JB).

In fact, the idea came to her when she tried to import the banana cakes shown above from popular JB bakery Hiap Joo.

The writer can attest to how good these cakes are, no bias.

The page follows a group buy policy and the banana cake comes in a box of 10 slices, costing S$10 a box.

But it’s even cheaper if you buy in bulk.

Image: Memecrunch

If you buy more than two boxes, the prices go down to S$8 each.

And if you’re going to get a whole carton, they’re cut down all the way to S$6.5 per box.

Of course, this is still more expensive than buying it at JB where it would cost only around S$3.16, but hey, at a time where you have no other way of getting it? This is a premium.

Other Items

Of course, if it were just cakes, Hiap Joo or not, there’d be not much business.

If you’re a noodles person, they also import things like Sarawak Kolo Mee.

This includes the noodles as well as the black sauce and chilli sauce.

The noodles comes at S$3.50 per pack and S$10 for three packs, while the black sauce and chilli sauce sells for S$6.40 per bottle and S$18 for three bottles.

They also carry other items like curry fish head paste and crepe rolls too!

Keep in mind that all collection points will be at Pioneer unless stated otherwise. Extra charges will apply even if other areas are available though.

Home delivery is also available from S$8.

But speaking of availability, you may want to keep a close eye on the page.

Because they are extremely popular.

As of this writing, all their slots for importing items have been filled up.

At the very least, we now have a place to satisfy all those Malaysian food cravings. Do keep an eye out for any future items or promotions!

I know I’m going to be waiting.

Meanwhile, if you’re bored and stuck in Singapore, why not check out the Sakura season in Singapore? Here’s where you can spot these beautiful flowers: