Sheng Siong is continuing to build its billion-dollar empire—but it’s no longer solely focused on the heartlands
Sheng Siong is quietly reinventing itself.
For decades, the supermarket chain, known for its no-frills layouts, wide assortment of essentials, and low prices, catered almost exclusively to heartland shoppers.
But it is now stepping beyond Singapore’s residential neighbourhoods.
In Aug, Sheng Siong opened its first-ever town outlet at The Cathay near Dhoby Ghaut—a sleek, modern store designed not for HDB families, but for downtown office workers and young professionals.
The move sends a clear signal: Sheng Siong is no longer content to stay put in the heartlands, and is aiming to attract a new wave of city-centre shoppers.
An upmarket move?
For a brand known for affordability, Sheng Siong’s first town outlet might seem like a move upmarket—but it isn’t. Unlike NTUC FairPrice’s Finest or Xtra, The Cathay outlet operates under the same single Sheng Siong brand.
The 6,500 sq ft outlet is being positioned as a test site targeting office workers, and to make this work, it is built for speed and convenience rather than bulk shopping.
The store offers ready-to-eat options and self-checkout lanes instead of trolley-heavy aisles. Fully air-conditioned and bright, it also provides a comfortable environment for busy office workers on the go.
When DBS visited the store, it observed “healthy weekday footfall,” despite strong competition from the better situated Plaza Singapura nearby—an early sign that the strategy may be promising.
Sheng Siong also sees potential beyond office workers.
A company spokesperson told Shin Min Daily News that, with residential developments surrounding The Cathay, the outlet can serve the daily grocery needs of nearby residents.
Seizing opportunities as they arise
The Cathay outlet is just one example of how Sheng Siong is adapting to stay relevant; other initiatives have been underway across the chain over the years.
Since its early days, the supermarket has consistently seized opportunities as they arose. This is evident in the founding origins of Sheng Siong’s supermarket chain.
40 years ago, Savewell Supermarket, a small chain, was on the verge of collapse. Lim Hock Chee, the CEO and founder of Sheng Siong, spotted an opportunity and purchased its 1,650 sq ft outlet at Ang Mo Kio in 1985 for S$20,000, money he borrowed from his father.
Hock Chee, together with his brothers, Hock Eng and Hock Leng, renamed the store Sheng Siong and ran it, despite not having any experience running a provision store, let alone a supermarket.
The brand’s approach was simple: buy produce in bulk, operate in heartlands where rent was cheaper, and sell at lower margins. This made Sheng Siong’s groceries affordable and attractive to families, the elderly, and price-conscious households.
Sheng Siong went beyond basic service, too—even helping customers carry heavy items up stairs, believing in the virtue of offering “excellent customer service.”
Their hard work paid off as they opened their second outlet in Bedok just three years later, and a third in Woodlands in 1995, becoming the first hybrid store to concretise Sheng Siong’s business model: wet market–style fresh produce sold alongside packaged groceries.
Two years later, the business seized another opportunity: the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis led to a collapse in retail rents, and Sheng Siong saw an opening to launch more stores.
Over the years, the company has also grown an extensive distribution network, food-processing facilities, and warehouses to cut out middleman costs and offer more competitive prices to consumers. This model worked—revenue at its first store at Ang Mo Kio grew from S$2,000 a day in 1985 to over S$19,000 a day by 1988.
By the early 2000s, Sheng Siong had grown to 23 outlets, still run as a family business—unlike other supermarket chains NTUC and Cold Storage, which had major institutional backers.
It was only in 2011 that Sheng Siong took the leap and went public on the Singapore Stock Exchange to raise funds for its expansion in Singapore and overseas. The Lim brothers made sure to retain majority control in operations by keeping 57% of shares.
The Lim brothers became billionaires in 2020
Supermarkets have one key advantage during crises: people still need to eat and stock up on essentials.
During COVID-19’s circuit breaker, when restaurants were closed, households increasingly turned to grocery storesgrocery stores—and Sheng Siong kept opening new outlets.
By expanding its presence, the chain anchored itself more firmly in neighbourhoods across Singapore. Its low prices, everyday accessibility, and strategic heartland locations made it an essential stop for families stuck at home.
The approach proved highly lucrative: at the height of the pandemic in 2020, the Lim brothers became billionaires.
Sheng Siong’s growth has remained steady since then, too. Its total store count in Singapore increased from 64 outlets at the end of 2021 to 75 by the end of 2024.
Going beyond in-person shopping, the supermarket chain has also built a digital footprint this year, expanding onto delivery platforms like Deliveroo. This allows Sheng Siong to reach customers living outside its physical store network.
Beyond keeping groceries affordable
Sheng Siong’s tactics have never just been centred on price, it’s also focused on perception.
In 2007, the company launched the Sheng Siong Show on Mediacorp’s free-to-air Channel 8—programme that continues to air today. The program rewards customers with cash prizes through in-studio games, talent competitions, outdoor cooking challenges, and lucky draws, while also featuring performances by local and international artistes.
The show not only gave back to the community—over S$15 million has been awarded to its customers—but also helped strengthen brand awareness, positioning Sheng Siong as a household name.
More recently, with the nationwide GST hike to 9% at the start of 2024, Sheng Siong observed shifts in consumer spending behaviour amid rising cost-of-living pressures. Rather than passing on costs to customers and risking sales, the supermarket leaned back into its roots of keeping groceries affordable.
The company introduced a 1% Counter-Inflation Discount from Jan to Mar 2024 to offset the GST increase, and extended its 4% Senior Citizen Discount through the end of 2024.
Internally, the company is also known for its strong employee culture and giving back to workers. Reportedly, up to 60% of Sheng Siong’s profits are channelled into staff bonuses. In 2021, it paid bonuses of up to 16 months’ salary—a rare move in the retail scene.
Positioning itself for further growth
Today, Sheng Siong operates 85 stores across Singapore, and it’s the third-largest supermarket chain here, behind NTUC Fairprice and Dairy Farm International (which operates Cold Storage and Giant).
Apart from Singapore, it has also expanded to China, where it runs six stores following a similar model: offering affordable and convenient groceries.
Moving forward, Sheng Siong appears to be positioning itself for further growth, particularly with its move beyond the heartlands.
The company has also been steadily upgrading its operational backbone, not just its retail front, to support more stores and improve efficiency.
In Sep, Sheng Siong announced that it will build a new integrated headquarters, warehouse, and distribution centre at a 63,000 sqm site in Sungei Kadut—2.5 times larger than its current Mandai Link facility, which was built to support only 50 stores.
The new site will be able to support at least 120 stores, aligning with Sheng Siong’s long-term expansion target of at least three new stores annually over the next 10 to 15 years—a benchmark it has consistently exceeded in recent years.
A total of around S$520 million is invested into the project, funded through a mix of internal resources and external financing, including borrowings.
Beyond opening new stores, analysts from DBS also see potential for Sheng Siong to acquire struggling neighbourhood supermarket chains in Singapore. U Stars, for example, reported a S$25 million loss and S$16 million negative operating cash flow in FY2023, while Hao Mart posted a S$32 million loss and S$9 million negative operating cash flow in FY2024.
Together, they operate 28 HDB stores and 2 private outlets, which could become takeover opportunities for Sheng Siong.
DBS also concluded that upcoming public housing estates could provide another key avenue for the company to expand its footprint.
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