Food From The Heart launches fifth community shop in Yishun with support from BNP Paribas
Beneficiaries can choose essential food items to bring home for free, contrasting traditional aid, in which they are given food
TWICE a week, 75-year-old Ong Mui Khoon stocks up on groceries – such as rice and fresh fruits – at the newly opened Community Shop @ Chong Pang in the Yishun area, run by charity Food From The Heart (FFTH).
However, this shop does not require payment. As a beneficiary of FFTH, Ong is entitled to take 12 non-perishable items a month for free, as well as two fresh produce items.
She said this community shop has been helpful in easing their financial burden, as she and her husband are both retired and have no children to support them.
FFTH launched Community Shop @ Chong Pang on Saturday (Feb 22), although it has been open to beneficiaries since Feb 8.
It is the charity’s fifth such shop in Singapore, which provides essential food items to lower-income families. It serves 430 households and is projected to serve 800 in total.
Besides staple items and fresh produce, the shop also has canned goods, sauces, instant beverages and more for the beneficiaries to choose from.
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Robin Lee, chief executive of FFTH, said: “The beneficiary gets to choose what they want, when they want, and how much they want. They get the dignity of choice.”
This differs from traditional aid, in which beneficiaries are given food instead of choosing it themselves. Based on a survey conducted by FFTH last year, nine in 10 beneficiaries prefer support in the form of community shops over traditional aid.
Lee added that this approach also reduces food waste, as beneficiaries will take only what they want.
All community shops – including existing ones in locations such as Mountbatten and Boon Lay – are open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in the morning. They are fully manned by volunteers, and are funded by cash donations, food drives as well as public and corporate donors’ contributions.
Corporate partnerships
Community Shop @ Chong Pang is backed by French bank BNP Paribas. Around 30 volunteers helped out at the food drive that happened alongside the launch event on Saturday, in which public and corporate donors supplied food items to FFTH.
Karine Delvallee, chief executive of BNP Paribas’ Singapore branch and regional head for South-east Asia, said: “Access to nutritional food is essential, and through Community Shop @ Chong Pang, we help underserved communities by alleviating hunger and making an impact in food waste reduction.”
The bank has partnered FFTH since 2018, making financial contributions every year.
She added: “We fund operational costs such as rent, shop maintenance and food procurement, ensuring reliable aid for those in need. Through our employee volunteer programme, BNP Paribas employees assist in Community Shop operations, helping beneficiaries with their shopping and participating in food distribution efforts, strengthening community ties.”
Such “targeted” support programmes also help lower-income households break cycles of poverty and food insecurity.
“In a developed nation like Singapore, food insecurity may not always be visible, but many lower-income and less-privileged families and individuals still struggle to afford nutritious meals, making initiatives like FFTH’s helpful,” Delvallee noted.
Tracking consumption patterns
Community Shop @ Chong Pang is FFTH’s first community shop to use a more automated and improved electronic point-of-sales system from the get-go. This helps them track beneficiaries’ consumption and redemption patterns based on the data collected of what they redeem every month. The system had been tested at its other community shops, and they have been using it since last year.
Lee said this system helps the charity better understand its beneficiaries, enabling them to acquire food items that they actually need.
“With this data, we are able to stock the right amount of food, the right type of food, and at the right time. This prevents out-of-stock situations, as well as overstocking that results in our products expiring, preventing food wastage.”
Analysing data helps to make FFTH’s offerings more targeted and suitable to beneficiaries’ needs. Lee likened the community shop to a fast-moving consumer goods operation that uses stock-keeping units, so such tech systems help to make the charity’s operations more productive and efficient.
Sustainability and consistency are vital to FFTH, he added, as it does not only provide essential food items during special occasions but throughout the year.
The charity is looking to launch more community shops this year, in locations such as Bedok, Yuhua and Fernvale. Locations are chosen based on the number of beneficiaries in the area.
On Mar 1 and 2, the charity is collaborating with luxury automotive retailer Wearnes to collect more than 28,000 food items at its annual donation drive-through Heart on Wheels. This could increase FFTH’s reach by 3,500 households, as the donated food will be used for monthly food packs or community shops.
Currently, the charity supports more than 13,500 households every month.
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