Telok Blangah Kopitiam Stallholders Banded Together to Offer $2 Meals to Compete Against Other Kopitiams

By
Chew Ming Hui
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Last Updated on 2023-05-05 , 10:00 pm

If there’s one thing that brings Singaporeans together, it’s cheap and good food. But it’s not just us diners; even the kopitiam stallholders unite in the name of affordable food.

Several Telok Blangah coffee shop stallholders banded together to offer $2 meals to diners.

The reason? To compete against other kopitiams and restaurants.

Telok Blangah Kopitiam Stallholders Unite to Offer Affordable $2 Meals to Singaporeans

Maybe you’re trying to save some money to go to the TWICE concert or to have a little extra cash so you can get that extra cup of bubble tea as a treat. Either way, the coffee shop located at Block 78A Telok Blangah has got your back with their $2 meals.

Image: Google Maps

Six of the 13 stalls open at the coffee shop will offer these $2 economic meal options from 1 May to the end of June. The stalls include favourites like cai png, char kway teow, Western food, Indian food, yong tau foo and even Ipoh curry noodles.

It’s like the old Daiso, but better—it’s for food. You can’t even get this price when buying end-of-day discounted Don Don Donki bentos or Cold Storage sushi.

Currently, some of the stalls have already started selling the $2 economic meal options. And you best believe Singaporeans have already started going to town on it.

We’re just surprised this deal hasn’t surfaced on the Kiasu Foodies telegram group yet.

Business Already Improving Just Days After $2 Meals Effort Kickstarted

Wherever you can find affordable food, or anything affordable actually, you’re bound to see crowds of Singaporeans there. And that’s precisely what happened at this Telok Blangah kopitiam.

Since some stalls started selling these $2 meals on Friday (28 April), the customer pool has increased by 10%, according to stallholders.

People were ta pau-ing food for what seemed to be the entire kampung. Customers bought five packets of carrot cake or even ten packets of roti prata.

Hopefully, it’s not all for one person lah… Otherwise, the Ministry of Health might come knocking on their doors.

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Some stallholders may impose purchase limits to prevent customers from buying too much at once and burdening the stallholders with excessive orders.

$2 Meals Created to Out-compete Other Kopitiams and Restaurants

However, all good things usually come with a not-so-good backstory.

The reason behind the sudden implementation of the $2 economic meal effort is this—business at the coffee shop hasn’t been great because of competition from other coffee shops and restaurants in the area. The $2 meals were created so stall owners could out-compete these other F&B establishments.

According to Liang Jinyi (hanyu pinyin), the char kway teow stall owner who initiated the $2 economic meal effort, since the re-opening of Hong Lim Market and Food Centre, customers patronising the Telok Blangah kopitiam has fallen by 50%.

In addition, five restaurants are located in the area surrounding the Telok Blangah kopitiam—to say that competition is high would be an understatement.

Ye Sheng (hanyu pinyin), the owner of the western food stall, shared that he earns an average of merely $400 daily, yet he’s stuck between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he’s operating his stall at a loss, but on the other hand, shutting down his stall would require him to pay a sum of $7-8K.

Knowing this, Liang decided to try to attract customers back again by appealing to the kiasu Singaporeans among us with affordable $2 meals.

Perhaps installing a robot barista at the drinks store, like the one in One Punggol Hawker Centre, can also attract some TikTok creators to boost their business.

Stricter Measures Being Imposed for Failure to Return Trays in Hawker Centres & Kopitiams

If you’re looking to pop by the coffee shop at Block 78A Telok Blangah to cop a $2 meal, Goody Feed is here to remind you to clear your trays once you’re done slurping up your yong tau foo.

Last week, the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Singapore Food Agency (SFA) just announced that from 1 June onwards, they would be stepping up enforcement measures against diners who do not return their trays.

Currently, if you don’t return your trays (shame on you, by the way), first-time offenders will be issued an advisory. However, from 1 June onwards, you’ll be given a written warning immediately. Repeat offenders will face fines or court charges.

Imagine going to court because you didn’t clear your tray—buey paiseh ah?

Watch this for a complete summary of what REALLY happened to Qoo10, and why it's like a K-drama:

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Chew Ming Hui
Email: [email protected]