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Koufu Issues Warning to SGH Vegetarian Food Stall Owner After Viral Incident

2023-11-27 , 1:06 pm

Koufu Grapples with Pricing Predicament: A Warning Issued After Overcharging Incident Sparks Public Outcry

A month ago, on 20 October 2023, Mr Eric Tan, a dissatisfied patron of a vegetarian stall at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), took to Facebook to air his grievances about the exorbitant price of his bee hoon dish.

What would usually cost around S$4 at hawker centres and other food courts ended up costing him twice the amount.

The post subsequently went viral on social media with netizens voicing their solidarity and support, prompting the food court’s operator, Koufu, to step in and mitigate this situation.

You can read more about the inciting incident from our article here, where we delved deeper into netizens’ responses and the rebuttal from the vegetarian stall’s assistant.

Koufu’s Follow-up Statement Serves as a Warning to All Food Stall Owners

On the morning of 20 November, Koufu posted a statement on their Facebook page.

The post assured the public that the food court operator is taking steps to review the menu pricing of the vegetarian stall.

They also issued a strict warning to all stalls and staff operating under the Koufu name, stating that they have “strongly reiterated the importance of charging the correct pricing in accordance with the approved menu.”

Lastly, Koufu apologized for the unpleasant experience and promised to strive towards providing valued customers with value meal options in the future.

Koufu’s Internal Investigations Reveal Inaccurate Pricing

Following their statement, Koufu launched an internal investigation into the vegetarian stall to get to the bottom of the situation.

On 24 October 2023, Koufu revealed to MS News that the pricing of Mr Tan’s dish was inaccurate, and he was, in fact, overcharged.

According to the photo of the dish attached by Mr Tan on his post, Koufu broke down the cost of each side dish as follows:

Bee Hoon – S$2
Fried Beancurd Skin – S$2.50
Omelette – S$1.50
Stir-fried Green Bean – S$1

The total cost adds up to S$7, which is one dollar cheaper than what Mr Tan had paid.

(You can buy a whole Mixue ice-cream cone with that money!)

Koufu promptly reached out to Mr Tan to arrange for a refund.

Not the First Time SGH’s Koufu was Criticized for Being “Niao”

Unfortunately, just a few days after Mr Tan’s complaint, another disgruntled patron of the same Koufu at SGH came forward stating that her hash brown side dish in their nasi padang was labeled and charged as “fish fillet.”

The employee informed her that the hash brown is considered a “meat item” and was priced at S$2.20 instead of S$1.20, the normal price for vegetable items.

Ironically, the other potato side dish the lady had ordered on the same plate was not given the same treatment.

Earlier this year in September, a man also lodged a complaint saying that his S$7.30 tom yum soup from SGH allegedly only contained “3 pieces of tiny prawns and 1 sotong (squid).”

He also added that the seafood was not fresh, and the soup dish was too oily.

Another customer, who went to SGH for medical treatment in February, was charged S$1 extra for a piece of chicken at a mixed rice stall because he had chosen the biggest cut of meat.

S$7 is Still Too Ex lah, Netizens Bemoan

These incidents, alongside many other cries of unfair pricing across the island, may point to a larger overarching issue of rising food production costs due to inflation.

With Singapore’s Goods and Service Tax (GST) also rising again from 8% to 9% next year as part of the two-step GST rate change, one can only hope that measures can be provided to help Koufu – and hawker centres, restaurants, and other food service companies, for that matter – uphold their promise to provide customers with food that is value for our dollar.