National Day-themed fund-raiser launched to support President’s Challenge

The Straits Times | Jul 15, 2020, 1:29 PM | Goh Yan Han

SINGAPORE – To support the President’s Challenge, a National Day-themed fund-raising campaign titled Share The Care was launched on Wednesday (July 15).

The Families For Life council is raising funds through the sale of specially curated desserts with a red-and-white theme, and an e-recipe booklet from Wednesday till Aug 15.

The e-recipe booklet contains contributions from President Halimah Yacob and local bakeries, as well as celebrity Fann Wong.

Madam Halimah said: “I am happy to contribute my own National Day agar-agar recipe to Share The Care to raise funds for President’s Challenge.

“The initiative is meaningful, especially with this year’s President’s Challenge’s focus on supporting and empowering persons with disabilities.”

The President’s Challenge is an annual event that mobilises resources to help the less fortunate. The event, in its 20th edition, will raise funds for 72 organisations this year.

Madam Halimah added: “May this spirit of giving continue to grow as we support one another on this journey towards a caring, inclusive and more resilient Singapore.”

To receive the e-recipe book, make a donation through the Families For Life’s Share The Care page on the Giving.sg fund-raising platform.

Families For Life chairman Ishak Ismail said he hopes that families will enjoy making the special desserts together and even share them with neighbours and friends.

He added: “While this year’s National Day will be unlike any other, let us stand united and celebrate together in meaningful ways, supporting the vulnerable in our community.”

This year’s National Day Parade and celebrations will focus on allowing Singaporeans to celebrate in their homes and in the heartland, instead of at a central location such as the floating platform at Marina Bay, because of the Covid-19 pandemic and safe distancing measures.

Non-governmental organisation Minds, which caters to those with intellectual disabilities, will be baking limited-edition red and white cookies, which members of the public can order through its website.

All proceeds from the sale of the cookies will be donated. Baking ingredients supplier Phoon Huat is sponsoring the baking ingredients.

Phoon Huat will also be selling special agar-agar kits, which include five pre-mix packs and a copy of Madam Halimah’s recipe, from July 20 at its 15 retail stores.

Each kit costs $10, and $4 will be donated to the President’s Challenge.

Another way to support the cause is to purchase red and white National Day-themed desserts from participating partners, such as Metta Cafe and bakeries Delcie’s, Divine Artisan, Pare, Kueh Ho Jiak and The Cookie Crumble.

As part of this campaign, POSB will also be donating up to $50,000 to the President’s Challenge between July 20 and Aug 31.

DBS Bank consumer banking group executive director Lim Bee Bee said: “National Day is a celebration of unity, solidarity and community spirit.

“While we may not be able to physically celebrate together this year, we can still unite to make a meaningful difference through our collective effort to help families and neighbors among us who have been harder-hit by Covid-19.”

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200715-The-Straits-Times-National-Day-themed-fund-raiser-launched-to-support-Presidents-Challenge.pdf

Supplying the Great Singapore Bake Off

The Straits Time | Jun 14, 2020, 5:00 AM | Tan Hsueh Yun

From working around the clock to investing in a new machine – baking ingredients supplier Phoon Huat and flour miller Prima share challenges they faced to fuel home bakers during the circuit breaker period.

When all this is over, when life gets to whatever the new normal is going to be, people around the world might look back at how the coronavirus pandemic got them to wear masks as part of daily life, got them accustomed to working from home, got them elbow bumping instead of shaking hands.

And got them baking.

The world hunkered down to flatten the curve of infections. People stuck at home at a bewildering time sought – and continue to seek – comfort in combining flour, sugar, eggs and milk to make something delicious.

Follow a recipe and something golden brown and smelling wonderful will surely emerge from the oven. That ritual, in constant repeat mode everywhere, is a surefire win at a time when victories are hard to find.

Seasoned bakers upped the ante and tackled more challenging recipes. Newbies got in on the act. Social media continues to be flooded with pictures of muffins, cakes, bread and those Basque cheesecakes with the burnished tops.

In Singapore, the surge in demand for baking ingredients rivalled that for toilet paper and instant noodles. It was as if everybody had the same idea. Gotta bake.

The result of that groupthink? Supermarkets shelves were cleaned out of flour of every kind. Butter. Sugar. Yeast. Cream cheese.

Ingredients people had been taking for granted disappeared temporarily.

Two companies in Singapore – baking ingredients supplier Phoon Huat and flour miller Prima – faced a challenging time.

How they worked out the kinks to answer the loud demands from home bakers is a hard-won victory in the Covid-19 chronicles; case studies for how to be nimble in a crisis.

WRITE-OFFS AND COMPLAINTS

There was one point during the circuit breaker period when Phoon Huat was battered from all sides.

It supplies some 5,000 of about 7,000 hotels, restaurants, cafes, food-processing factories and central kitchens here; but many of its food service customers cancelled their orders, when eating places could no longer have dine-in customers.

Mr Shuichi Sato, its chief executive officer, tells The Sunday Times that Phoon Huat faces delays in payment and has been unable to contact some of its business customers, even.

He says there will have to be write-offs, because some of the ingredients it supplies are perishable, or have a short shelf life.

There were challenges on the retail front too.

The authorities complained that queues outside its retail stores stretched too long. The wait was, at times, two hours to get in.

Customers became frustrated when supplies dried up temporarily. They went to the company’s Facebook page to complain loud and long; about the shortages, about long queues, about the shorter opening hours, about online orders with items that were sold out and could not be delivered.

When, in a bid to manage queues, it implemented a system early last month in which people were let into the store on odd or even numbered days depending on the last digit of their identity card numbers, there was another uproar. Why was a non-government company collecting identity card information?

Frustrated customers took it out on the company’s staff. Some employees broke down in tears.

“Very drama,” says Mr Sato, adding that the company was just trying to manage queues and did not record the information.

It stopped this system on June 2, when Singapore emerged from circuit breaking to Phase One, and the clamour for ingredients eased.

He says that sales usually go up by 10 to 20 per cent during Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Christmas. But when the circuit breaker began in earnest, the company started seeing spillover customers, who could not buy flour, pasta and yeast in supermarkets.

There was also a run on these products on its online store, which it launched in early March.

Mr Sato says: “We went from zero deliveries a day to a few hundred deliveries a day now.”

SHIFTS AROUND THE CLOCK

Similarly, Prima’s sales go up during Chinese New Year, Hari Raya and Christmas, by 20 to 40 per cent.

Mr Steven Yeo, general manager of Prima, says sales peaked last month, at 3.5 times more than a typical month last year. But it had been seeing a steady increase since March, when sales inched up to 1.5 times the average monthly figure last year.

The irony is that while home bakers were desperately seeking flour, there was plenty of it.

Both Prima and Phoon Huat say they had sufficient stock, but faced challenges packing it into retail-friendly sizes.

What home baker, even an avid one, would contemplate buying a 25kg sack of flour?

Mr Yeo says: “We had ample stock and wheat in our silos to meet the increased demand. Our diverse and secure sources of wheat from various continents ensure our constant supply.”

He adds that Prima, which was established in 1961, has been working with some of these suppliers for more than 50 years.

“We were working round the clock, with two staggered shifts,” he says. “Despite that, our flour was flying off the shelves faster than we could bag and pack them and retailers could replenish them.

“Retailers were asking for more stocks and we also received consumer inquiries on where to find our flour. We had sufficient stock of wheat and flour, but we had maxed out our capacity for household packs.”

So Prima invested in a new packing machine.

“The machine was sourced and installed in nine days,” he says. “From April 24, our production and engineering teams worked to get it up and running. They even worked over two weekends and public holidays.”

The new packing line started operating on May 3 and Prima was able to increase its packing capacity for household packs by 75 per cent.

This flour was delivered directly to stores, so customers could get their hands on it quickly.

PACKAGING AND LABOUR WOES

Phoon Huat too, found it challenging to package big quantities of flour, cream cheese, yeast and other ingredients into retail-friendly sizes.

Like other companies, it faced limits on how many workers could work at any one time. Overseas suppliers also had problems packing ingredients into smaller-sized retail packs because of the shortage of packing materials worldwide.

Mr Sato says: “We had stock, fortunately or unfortunately. That’s why we could keep supplying consumers. But we didn’t have enough packing capacity. We had tonnes of cream cheese; in 2kg, 14kg packs.

“Who would dare to buy 2kg of cream cheese? Our Australian cream cheese suppliers didn’t have packaging material for small packs. Our flour supplier in Italy had sleepless nights changing the packaging from 25kg to 1kg.”

During the circuit breaker period, Phoon Huat, a 73-year-old company with about 400 employees, saw its staff quota reduced to about 150.

There could only be 150 employees in total working in its factory, in logistics and in its retail shops. The company instructed support staff to work from home, and cut the operating hours for the retail shops.

Mr Sato says: “With the reduced manpower, our factory and logistics faced a crunch and stocks in the shops were compromised as retail packs were not produced fast enough. We appealed to the Ministry of Trade and Industry for an increase in staff quota and it was restored to slightly over 300.

“Then, we were able to engage external temporary staff, who were on no-pay leave from their jobs in other industries, for example the airline industry, to help out in our retail shops.”

Some production lines – for flour, premixes and packing – operated on three shifts, instead of one, for two to three weeks last month.

The online site, which started with just three staff, now has nine people to process orders.

Mr Sato, who has been on the job for two years, adds that there is stock now allocated to the e-commerce part of the business.

“Almost all orders can be fulfilled,” he assures.

BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD

In the midst of all this, the search for new sources of ingredients never ends for both companies.

Phoon Huat recently launched flour from Vietnam and Malaysia. It is in discussions to bring in a Japanese brand of flour. It now carries the premium Tomiz brand of baking ingredients, and there are plans to pack its flour in Singapore, to reduce the cost to consumers.

Later this year, it will open two more retail stores – in Bukit Panjang Plaza and Jurong East – to bring its total number of stores to 16 across the island.

The bulk of its business used to be supplying food businesses. Now, Mr Sato says, it is half business to business and half retail.

The viral baking craze took the company by surprise.

Mr Sato says: “Young or senior, male or female baking enthusiasts appeared. Baking has become a family bonding activity and also a favourite pastime at home, with the sharing of recipes via social media.”

Indeed, even as it grappled with customer complaints, the company’s Facebook page was a sea of serenity and positivity, with recipes and videos for making rainbow cookies, bubble tea and souffle pancakes.

To ride on the baking craze, Prima plans to share recipes using its products on its website. There are also plans to organise more baking contests and collaborations with household appliance brands, when it is safe to do so.

Mr Yeo adds: “Almost everyone was posting about baking adventures on social media. From butter and sugar buns to Hokkaido milk bread to sourdough bread, consumers were creating all types of bakes. Some even baked together with friends on Zoom. We are heartened that consumers have turned to baking and cooking during this period.”

Will The Great Singapore Bake Off continue?

Whatever happens when the world opens up again, bakers here can count on one thing. There will be enough flour. In 1kg packs.

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200614-The-Straits-Times-Supplying-the-Great-Singapore-Bake-Off.pdf

Gig Economy: Encountering drama and queue experts in the line for baking supplies

The Straits Times | John Lui

SINGAPORE – You meet the most interesting people waiting in line for baking goods.

There is Ms Do You Hear The People Sing. Ejected after she was caught sneaking in line without a queue number, she delivers a two-minute speech audible to everyone in the line – and, I think, to people in the next building – about how our system had failed her and everyone in it. She exits, stage left.

Under social distancing rules, only ten persons are allowed in the store and another ten in the queue. The rest have to wait for a text message allowing them into the line. It is a decently long wait. People get upset. They cheat. They are ready to revolt.

After a short intermission, Ms Sing is back for part deux. In my head, she is Jean Valjean from Les Miserables: She wanted bread, but found injustice. She makes another rousing call to arms, but I guess no one feels like joining her at the barricades, so she leaves.

It has been extraordinarily busy at all RedMan and Phoon Huat baking product stores during the circuit breaker period. Stuck at home, visions of homemade rustic loaves and brioches danced in everyone’s heads. Mine included. Two weeks ago, I baked bread for the first time in a decade. And I absolutely did take and share pictures of it. I’m not a psychopath.

My heart sinks when Ms Sing appears a third time, here on a Saturday morning at the RedMan store at Heartbeat @ Bedok where I am helping to control traffic.

With theatrically deep regret, she informs me – and everyone within a 10m radius – to delete her name from the waitlist because she could no longer tolerate the mistreatment of honest citizens. I write her wish on a sheet of paper, using slightly larger arm movements so people in the back can see.

She finishes singing the song of angry men and leaves. For the last time, I hope. I am not sure I can take another rendition. Just my luck, Mr Zero Stars For You takes over. He has deliberately parked himself within earshot of me.

He is the Asian Parent of grumblers. He doesn’t shout. He is not angry, just disappointed. He quietly lists the areas where I have been found wanting as an employee and as a human being.

“Alamak. Look at that woman in there, taking her sweet time. No shopping list, just walking rooound and rooound,” he says, stretching the “round” in a singsong way that implies that she is lingering on purpose just to annoy him.

“You should chase her out. But you don’t want to. That’s your problem. Are you sure there are 10 people inside? I see eight. Did you check? Don’t you want to count?” he goes on.

I get an hour of this. He is my impostor syndrome given a voice. He is my anxiety internal monologue. Just before I reach the depths of despair, his number is called and he leaves to join the physical queue. Tonight I will dream of being called to the principal’s office.

Here at the RedMan store, there is a fairly simple queue system in place. Leave your mobile number, then wait for the text that tells you to join the line.

As luck would have it, Mr Zero Stars For You is only one of several queue-system scientists in line today. What are the odds that such a collection of experts would be in the same place at the same time?

They catch my eye and shake their heads and go tsk tsk, then tell me gravely that if their expertise had been sought before all this, there would be no waiting at all. Plus, world hunger will be abolished and all single persons will find true love.

The store opens at 10am but when I show up at 8.30am, staff are already there, tidying and restocking. Fresh stock arrives from the warehouse. There are cheeses and milk to be put away. And almonds.

Bakers, we need to talk about this almond business. I can handle sorting the packs by weight. But almonds come in blanched and unblanched, varied by whether they are whole, diced, sliced and, if I remember, subcategorised into unmassaged or massaged, then further sorted by Swedish, Shiatsu and Thai. Why? What unholy compendium of recipes are you using that is causing me to stare at a shelf for minutes wondering where a pack should go?

Anyway, I have to look the part of a RedMan employee and it fools some people. A customer shows me a sheet with “feuilletine” on it. I’m busy with almonds so I want to tell him, “sorry, she doesn’t work here any more,” but I think better of it so I ask my trainer for the day, the very patient and sweet Ms Lody Austria, the store supervisor.

As it turns out, feuilletine is a baking, er, thingy. Throughout the day, Ms Austria, an avid baker herself, as employees here tend to be, is not only a guide but also a dispenser of baking advice – yeast can be used past its expiration date if frozen, so no worries buying the bulk pack if you can’t get a small package. Milk with a few drops of lemon juice is a substitute for buttermilk, for example.

I head home just after lunch. I am happy for the experience because after working from home for the last three months, I miss being around people. Checking my smart watch’s health app, I see my resting heart rate has gone up, from its usual 70 beats per minute to 90.

Being around people is great, but being around Singaporeans in a queue? I like helping people, but I don’t think my heart can handle the drama.

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200613-The-Straits-Times-Gig-Economy_-Encountering-drama-and-queue-experts-in-the-line-for-baking-supplies.pdf

Phoon Huat Shoppers Can Now Enter Everyday, Odd/Even Entry System Removed On 2 Jun

Must Share News | 3 Jun 2020, 11:16 am

Over the course of the ‘Circuit Breaker’, many Singaporeans have picked up baking as their new hobby to pass the time.

Yet, getting baking supplies during the period proved to be somewhat of a challenge, thanks to long queues and higher demand, among a myriad of other reasons.

Well, if you’re planning on baking yourself some delicious bread or pastries this weekend, you might be in for some good news.

As we enter Phase 1 of reopening, popular baking supplies store Phoon Huat announced via a Facebook post on Tuesday (2 Jun) that it will be doing away with its ddd/even dates requirement.

In the Facebook post, Phoon Huat said the decision to abolish the system was due to shorter queues and the “easing up” of the current situation.

Despite the removal, they urge customers to follow other safe distancing measures so their store remains safe for everyone.

These include shopping alone, keeping shopping time to under 10 minutes and scanning of SafeEntry QR code before entering their store premises.

All of its outlets are open from 10am-7pm. Check out the nearest store near you via the website here.

Introduced entry restriction based on last digit of NRIC/FIN Earlier last month, Phoon Huat – as well as its subsidiary, Redman – introduced the ddd/even dates entry system in early May that only allowed access to shoppers according to the last digit of their NRIC/FIN.

The measure was aimed at cutting down the long lines seen outside the stores.

The removal of the Odd/Even Dates entry restriction at Phoon Huat will certainly come as great news for Circuit Bakers who picked up baking during the 2-month ‘Circuit Breaker’.

That said, please adhere to the measures put in place by the store to help keep everyone safe

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200603-MustShareNews-Phoon-Huat-Shoppers-Can-Now-Enter-Everyday-Odd_Even-Entry-System-Removed-On-2-Jun.pdf

Where has all the flour gone? Shops struggle to restock fast enough amid circuit breaker baking frenzy

The Straits Times | May 17, 2020, 5:00 AM | Eunice Quek

A handwritten piece of paper, stuck on a box outside baking supplies store Phoon Huat in Toa Payoh, states that ingredients such as baking powder, baking soda and cocoa powder are out of stock.

The same ingredients are missing from many shelves in supermarkets and grocery stores across the island. Shops and retailers, however, insist there is sufficient stock.

The only problem: They cannot replenish shelves fast enough because of a baking frenzy brought on by the circuit breaker measures and Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which falls on May 24.

Meanwhile, at Phoon Huat in Toa Payoh, customers wait in line, getting their temperatures and identity cards checked before entering.

This is a typical scene at shops run by the Phoon Huat chain, which also owns the Redman by Phoon Huat outlets. As part of social distancing and contact tracing efforts, all 14 outlets have in place a queue management system and digital check-in system, SafeEntry.

The queue system requires an individual to give his or her mobile number to get a queue number via SMS stating the waiting time. Upon receiving a second SMS, customers can join a shorter queue to enter the shop.

But check the date before heading to a store. Entry is restricted by the last digit of one’s NRIC number. For instance, if it is an odd number, an individual will be allowed entry only on odd-numbered dates.

Since April 27, the stores have also had shorter daily operating hours of 10am to 7pm – regular operating hours vary across outlets – due to manpower constraints arising from split-team operations.

A Phoon Huat spokesman says: “We found the alternate visit dates effective for social distancing. The objective is to cut the number of customers by half.

Long queues at the Phoon Huat store in Toa Payoh on May 14. With more customers stocking up on baking supplies, the shop has run out of some ingredients.

“Our shops are small and with the limited (number of customers) allowed in each shop at any one time, we want to cut the queue and crowd (numbers) outside.”

Still, the measures have not stopped some of the stores’ baking ingredients from running out fast.

With more time on their hands, more people are turning to baking – from homemade bread to the trendy Basque burnt cheesecake – during the circuit breaker period.

Says the Phoon Huat spokesman: “We are unable to replenish stocks fast enough for retail customers. Whatever retail packs are produced daily are immediately sent to our shops twice a day.

“For basic baking ingredients like flour and sugar, the supply is enough. It is the retail packing process we are trying our best to increase capacity for.”

Phoon Huat’s production plant runs three daily shifts and it is looking to increase delivery slots with third-party logistics companies.

Supermarket chains are also racing to restock baking goods, for which there has been unprecedented demand.

At FairPrice outlets, sales of baking products “have increased about threefold” during the circuit breaker period compared with the same period last year, says a FairPrice spokesman. Sales have also jumped by 80 per cent in the weeks leading up to Hari Raya Aidilfitri, compared with the same period last year.

“This has resulted in periodic disruption for some of these products such as flour, baking soda and instant yeast,” adds the FairPrice spokesman. “We have ramped up supplies and are purchasing from a wider pool of suppliers to provide more alternatives.”

Since the tighter circuit breaker measures were announced on April 21, grocery store The Source Bulk Foods has been selling 25kg of flour daily – five times the usual amount – and seen more demand for vanilla pods.

Home bakers who are unable to get sufficient baking supplies have had to make do with ingredients they already have.

Housewife Patricia Tan, 52, who bakes for family and friends, looked in vain for Philadelphia cream cheese for weeks and was unable to fulfil an order for a birthday cake.

She says: “I did not want to use other brands because I cannot guarantee the quality.”

The avid baker of sourdough bread has been hunting for flour at different supermarkets and baking supplies stores, and has tried using flour from Vietnam which she bought at a FairPrice supermarket.

She says: “I don’t need yeast because I have a sourdough starter, but I can’t do without flour. And for bread, you usually need bread flour that has high protein content.”

Cream cheese, baking chocolate and chiffon cake tins were missing from Mrs Michelle Wong’s delivery from Phoon Huat’s Redman online shop last Friday.

Only seven of her 15 items arrived. She was informed via e-mail that the rest were out of stock and she would receive a refund.

The mother of two children, aged eight and 11, ordered online as she did not want to leave them at home to go to the supermarket, especially since she would likely have had to stay in the queue for a while.

She says: “I will just have to make do with whatever I have.”

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200517-The-Straits-Times-Where-has-all-the-flour-gone.pdf

【2019冠状病毒】烘焙材料店购系统管控人流 阻断措施期间生意减半

Channel 8 News | 2020年5月10日 20:44 | 文: 萧歆怡

本地烘焙材料店为了更有效地管控店外排队人流,订购了电子排队管理系统,将店外排队人数限制在十人。其余顾客则须通过电子排队管理系统,用手机取号排队。尽管出现人龙,但公司表示在阻断措施期间,生意已下跌逾50%。

8视界新闻早前报道我国全岛不少烘焙材料店在阻断措施期间大排长龙,随后本地烘焙材料店奋发(Phoon Huat)以及其旗下Redman的所有分店实施身份证尾号单双日限制,即身份证号码为单数的公众只能在单数日前去购物,而身份证号码为双数者则只能在双数日前去购物。

奋发也在官网公布,各分店外的排队人数顶限为十人,而若分店外出现人群聚集,他们将得关闭店面。

奋发告诉8视界新闻记者,为进一步减少店外排队等候的人数,他们已投资订购了电子排队管理系统(Queue Management System),让顾客可以通过手机取号排队。在该系统下,获得电子排号的顾客将能按自己的序号收到短信提醒,告知他们何时可回到奋发的分店购物。

奋发自上个月30日开始就已在其马西岭分店使用这个管理系统,至今全岛已有六家奋发分店使用这项服务,接下来也将在更多分店推出这项服务。

分店外排队队伍短了 但仍超过十人

8视界新闻记者在周四(7日)早上11点半走访已开始使用电子排队管理系统的四美奋发分店时发现,该分店门外仍聚集着30至40个正在排队等待进入奋发购买烘焙材料的顾客。

对此,奋发业务发展总经理Tan Siew Shuen回应表示,工作人员会尽最大的努力快速帮助顾客取号,并鼓励顾客先去做其他的事情,收到短信后才回到店外加入少于十人的较短排队队伍。

尽管工作人员劝说顾客可先到他处办事,但不少已取号的顾客表示,周围也无处可去,还不如站在店外等候。

一名顾客说:“现在哪里都不可以坐,也不可以去喝咖啡,旁边的购物中心店也关门,我就站在这里等。”

还有顾客表示:“我住淡滨尼,来这里不远,不过也不可能回家再过来,就等咯。”

据8视界记者观察,顾客在工作人员的提醒下都有意识地保持安全距离,店外人虽多,但井然有序,未构成问题。

此外,奋发的四美分店除了有一条让顾客取号的队和一条让已收到短信通知回到店外等候进入的队以外,还有第三条队,让只需要购买二至四样产品的顾客可以尽快进入店里。

如此,只需要购买少量用品的顾客就可以快速地购买所需物品后离去,避免他们长时间在店外等候,一些顾客其实只需在奋发购买一般超市里买不到的材料。

斋戒期马来顾客多 但奋发销售额整体仍跌逾50%

奋发四美店外排队的民众多为附近居民或来自仅有一个地铁站之遥的淡滨尼。多数受访者皆表示,自阻断措施实施以来,第一次到烘焙材料店购物。而由于开斋节即将到来,排队民众中过半为要准备过节的马来族同胞。

一名马来族妇女表示,自己自阻断措施以来是第一次来到奋发,开斋节就要到了,自己必须做一些糕点给家人和亲戚,因此才必须来奋发排队。

尽管两周后就是开斋节,前往奋发购物的马来族同胞增多,但奋发奋发业务发展总经理Tan Siew Shuen却告诉8世界新闻记者:“我们还没看到开斋节对今年的销售有任何积极的影响。与去年的斋戒月相比,也没有看到任何积极的影响。”

Tan Siew Shuen也透露,由于餐饮业受创,奋发主要的餐饮行业客户需求下跌,奋发的销售量也随之下滑,在阻断措施期间已下跌逾50%。

四美分店附近的居民也表示,阻断措施期间前往奋发购物的人群其实并未明显增多。一名居民表示:“这个卖做蛋糕东西的店,平时一直人都很多的。只是以前全部挤在里面,现在不可以挤里面,全部在外面排队而已。”

一名奋发的常客也说:“阻断措施以前应该人更多,全部在里面,里面都没有地方走的。”

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200510-Channel-8-News-【2019冠状病毒】烘焙材料店购系统管控人流-阻断措施期间生意减半.pdf

烘焙原料热卖 专卖店只限10人排队

XinMing | 2020年5月2日 3:19 PM | 摄影 / 徐颖荃

(早报讯)隔离阻断期间,烘焙原料热卖,本地面粉和烘焙用品专卖店奋发再缩紧排队措施,只限10人排队,但人潮依然不减。

全岛有14家分店的奋发昨日贴文通知,为控制排队人潮,只限10人店外排队,若太多人聚集店外,只能暂时关店。

因为阻断措施,很多人在家期间开始烘焙,奋发上周就已不堪负荷,将按照顾客身份证尾号配单双日的形式错开人流,并限制顾客每人10分钟的购物时间。

《新明日报》记者今早在大巴窑一巷第107座组屋的发现,虽然大家都自觉遵守安全距离,排队人数仍超过20人。

顾客何女士(74岁,主妇)说,她早上9点来过一次,工作人员让他10点再来,谁知回来了还要重新排队,如果离开,担心回来还是要排队,因此不愿离开。

不过也有公众选择配合,原本在排队的顾客林先生说,自己会想离开,等下再回来。

奋发零售主管李东说,今早的情况还可控,没有分行因人潮过多需要暂时关闭。他说,如果人数多于10人,有工作人员会提醒公众,请他们暂时离开,过30分钟后再回来。虽然大部分愿意合作,但是也有人不愿意离开。

他说,早上刚开门时人潮会比较多,大部分分店到11点、12点队伍人数会比较正常。

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200502-Xinming-烘焙原料热卖-专卖店只限10人排队-_-早报.pdf

发手机短信疏散等候民众

XinMing | 2 May 2020

奋发率先在元兰分行以发出手机短信(SMS)方式来疏散等候民众,惟民众收到手机短信后徘徊店外,出现少许混乱。

本报记者到奋发位于元兰31街第302座组屋分行观察,工作人员在检查民众身份证尾数是否可按单或双数,允许入店后就会在平板电脑的软件,输入民众电话号码 ,发出手机短信注明需等待时间与排队号码.

刘小姐(37岁,家庭主妇)说,收到短信指在90分钟后再回到店里。

 该店分行店长李秋玉说,待软件自动推算到哪一个排队号码的民众可倒回分行时,会发出第二个手机信息,指示民众可在10分钟内回分行。

 她说,此措施昨天开始,目前软件系统顺畅,但难免有一些人在收到手机信息后,不愿离开.

本报记者观察,有民众分散站在店附近草地,电梯与楼梯口,虽然没了 长长人龙,但有少许混乱。

COVID-19: Public urged to bring along NRICs to supermarkets, malls

Yahoo News Singapore | 29 April 2020 | Amir Hussain

SINGAPORE — Amid enhanced circuit breaker measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19, more supermarkets and malls will be scanning patrons’ National Registration Identification Cards (NRICs) or asking them to enter the NRIC numbers via an online national visitor registration system as part of their contact tracing regime.

Yahoo News Singapore understands that a number of malls and NTUC FairPrice and Dairy Farm Group Singapore outlets have begun scanning customers’ NRICs or asking them to use the government-developed cloud-based check-in system SafeEntry, alongside taking their temperatures.

Among them are NTUC FairPrice outlets at Whitesands, Junction 8, Tanjong Pagar Plaza and Serangoon North Ave 1, Cold Storage outlets at Great World City and Takashimaya, ION Orchard and NEX.

By scanning a QR code, patrons can authenticate their visit to a supermarket or mall on SafeEntry via SingPass Mobile or by manually entering their name, NRIC and mobile number.

Last Tuesday (21 April), the authorities announced that temperature screening will be conducted at all supermarkets and malls. Additionally, patrons visiting a list of 16 malls with supermarkets in them and four other non-mall supermarkets with high traffic will also be required for provide their particulars for contact tracing.

When contacted on Wednesday (29 April), a spokesperson for Enterprise Singapore told Yahoo News Singapore, “We are glad to see that many malls and supermarkets have since implemented temperature screening and contact tracing, and understand that the rest will do the same in the next few days.

“We therefore advise customers to bring along their identification card when visiting the malls and supermarkets, so that they will be allowed to enter,” the spokesperson added.

When contacted, an NTUC FairPrice spokesperson said, “The latest initiative to facilitate contact tracing at our stores is in compliance with the latest precautionary measures set by the authorities.”

The spokesperson added, “FairPrice continues to work closely with the authorities and support various measures such as safe distancing, personal protection, as well as enhanced cleaning schedules to protect the well-being of our staff and customers during this period.”

Yahoo News Singapore has reached out to Dairy Farm Group with queries on the NRIC scanning and contact tracing procedures.

Visit malls, supermarkets alone whether it was considering limiting the entry of customers to supermarkets and malls by the last digit of their NRICs, or whether it was considering limiting the frequency of customers’ entries to supermarkets and malls.

Last Friday (24 April), popular baking supplies chain Phoon Huat said it will limit entry to its and RedMan shops based on NRIC or Foreign Identification Number (FIN) number.

The announcement came after the National Environment Agency said last Tuesday that it would restrict access to four popular markets – where long queues were still seen – based on NRIC/FIN numbers: Geylang Serai Market, Block 104/105 Yishun Ring Road (Chong

Pang Market), Block 20/21 Marsiling Lane, and Block 505 Jurong West Street 52. Patrons with an even last digit (0, 2, 4, 6, 8) in their NRIC/FIN numbers can only visit these markets on the even dates of the month, and those with an odd last digit (1, 3, 5, 7, 9) can only visit these markets on the odd dates of the month.

As of Wednesday (29 April) noon, a total of 15,641 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Singapore.

A total of 14 people have died from complications of the virus here while another fourpatients who tested positive for the virus have died from causes unrelated to COVID-19.

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/200429-Yahoo-News-COVID-19_-Public-urged-to-bring-along-NRICs-to-supermarkets-malls.pdf

【冠状病毒19】泡泡茶和烘焙原料需求增加

Channel 8 News | 2020年4月26日 19:39 | 文: 谢欣宁

阻断措施实施期间,不少人选择在家烘焙糕点或自制泡泡茶。一些原材料如木薯粉、普通面粉和蛋糕粉等,在一些超市和网上平台卖到断货。受访超市表示,这期间的需求增加两成。

记者走访一些超市时发现,用来制作珍珠粉圆的木薯粉已被人抢购一空,黑糖则还有存货。有些则因为还没来得及补货,架子被清空了。

本地超市网站和网购平台所售买的木薯粉和黑糖,其中几款也售罄。

受访邻里巴刹的杂货店摊主表示,最近留在家中的人多了,有些决定亲自制作糕点、甜品或泡泡茶的珍珠,因此购买木薯粉和黑糖等原材料的人更多,但目前还有存货。

一名摊主透露:“最近木薯粉跟黑糖,销了很多,比平常还要多,一半多。”

另一名摊主则说:“没有去算,大概蛮多。很销量,每天都有人买这个。”

还有摊主表示:“我们有供应商,一个礼拜有来三次,够啦。”

此外,也有越来越多人选择在家烘焙。职总平价超市受询时指出,一些烘焙材料,如面粉、椰奶、巧克力和鸡蛋,过去两周的销量同三月份下旬相比增加了两成。

一家面粉和烘焙用品专卖店表示,零售面粉销量近期增加超过六成,生产部门已加班,并加快包装零售面粉供出售。

本地最大面粉供应商百龄麦指出,这个月的零售额同过去一般月份相比,增加了近50%。

公司指出,开斋节即将到来,加上国人近期因为阻断措施而留在家中烹煮或烘焙,所以预测到需求将增加。不过整体的面粉供应仍然稳定。

Link to article: https://www.phoonhuat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/200426-Channel-8-News-【冠状病毒19】泡泡茶和烘焙原料需求增加.pdf

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