Rice to the occasion
Find out what brand of rice these four famous chicken rice sellers use.
Sun, Apr 13, 2008
The Sunday Times
LifeStyle asked four famous chicken rice sellers what brand of rice they use.
CHATTERBOX IN MERITUS MANDARIN
Brand: Golden Phoenix, Thailand
Amount of rice used per day: Between 75 and 120kg
Price of chicken rice: $21.50 on weekdays and $23.50 on weekends.
'We do not plan to switch to a cheaper brand despite the rising price of rice because this brand has a notable fragrance and its quality is consistent.'
Ms Lim Ee Jin, director of marketing communications for Meritus Mandarin
WEE NAM KEE HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE RESTAURANT
Brand: Declines to name, but says it is top-grade fragrant white rice from Thailand
Amount of rice used per day: About 90kg
Price of chicken rice: $3.50 to $4, depending on the amount of chicken.
'We have been using this premium brand of rice for 20 years and our customers have grown used to its taste, so we have no plans to switch to a different brand.'
Mr Wee Toon Ouut, 70, owner
BOON TONG KEE
Brand: Golden Phoenix, Thailand
Amount of rice used per day: Around 300 to 350kg for all its six eateries
Price of chicken rice: $5 for a single portion of chicken and 40 cents for a bowl of rice.
'We have experimented with other brands of rice but none yielded results that were as good. Even when the rice turns cold, it is still soft and fluffy.'
Mr Thian Boon Hua, 54, general manager of Boon Tong Kee
TIAN TIAN HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE
Brand: Golden Phoenix, Thailand
Amount of rice used per day: More than 50kg
Price of chicken rice: Raised by 30 cents this month to $2.80 and $3.30.
'We are not switching to a cheaper brand because the customers and the cooks are accustomed to this brand. To cope with the rising cost of rice, we have had to raise our prices.'
Mr Chua Hoon Hong, 35, operations manager
Grain check
Best-selling rice brands*
- Royal Umbrella, Thailand
- Songhe, Thailand
- Golden Phoenix, Thailand
- Double FP, Thailand
- Royal Golden Grain, Thailand
*Not ranked
Source: NTUC FairPrice and Sheng Siong
Top five rice-exporting countries to Singapore
Thailand: 181,418 tonnes
Vietnam: 65,403 tonnes
India: 36,966 tonnes
Pakistan: 7,960 tonnes
United States: 5,434 tonnes
(Figures are for last year)