Looking for a budget meal? More coffee shops to offer affordable food options and accept CDC vouchers

The budget meal initiative aim to give Singaporeans more wallet-friendly food options.

Foodies looking for more bang for the buck can rejoice as more coffee shops in Housing and Development Board (HDB) estates are set to offer budget meals.

In total, about 330 coffee shops will provide affordable food options for residents by end July 2024, said HDB and Enterprise Singapore in a joint press release on Monday (July 1).

These include 180 coffee shops under nine private chain operators: Badaling, Broadway, De Tian, Chang Cheng, FoodFare Kopitiam, Kimly, Kim San Leng, Koufu and Select.

These eateries will also progressively start accepting CDC vouchers, and their inclusion marks an expansion of the budget meal initiative beyond rental HDB coffee shops.

HDB and EnterpriseSG said they will continue engaging other operators of privately-owned HDB coffee shops to encourage them to provide budget meal options.

Budget meal scheme on track

The budget meal initiative was first announced by the Ministry of National Development and HDB in March 2023 and aims to provide Singaporeans with more wallet-friendly food options.

As part of the scheme, all rental HDB coffee shops that are renewing their tenancies from May 2023 will have to offer at least four budget meals and two budget drink options.

Budget meals include lunch or dinner options that typically cost $3.50 and below, and drinks at $1.20 and below.

To date, there are about 150 rental HDB coffee shops islandwide offering more than 1,000 budget meals and drinks.

According to The Straits Times, there are a total of 776 HDB coffee shops in Singapore, of which 374 are rented out by HDB and 402 are privately owned.

HDB is on track to have all 374 rental HDB coffee shops offer budget meals by 2026, the agencies said.

These stalls will be listed on the BudgetMealGoWhere portal at go.gov.sg/budgetmeal, where users can search for the nearest coffee shop with budget meal options.

This article was first published in AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.

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