SINGAPORE: Coffee shops under the Housing Development Board (HDB) will no longer be mandated to offer budget meals, under changes aimed at making the scheme more sustainable.

Instead, coffee shop operators can decide whether to participate in the initiative, in exchange for discounts on rent or Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) fees, HDB said in a media release on Saturday (Jan 10).

HDB has also standardised the scope of requirements for budget meals from two to six budget meals to three meal options. The requirement to offer two budget drinks remains the same.

Budget meals are typically priced at S$3.50 (US$2.70) and below, and drinks are priced at S$1.20 and below.

The change will provide residents with affordable meal and drink options for their basic daily needs, while keeping the scheme sustainable for operators and stallholders, HDB said.

The budget meal initiative was introduced in 2018 at new HDB coffee shops tendered out under HDB’s Price-Quality Method framework to provide affordable meal options for residents.  

The initiative was extended to all other HDB rental coffee shops renewing their tenancies in May 2023, and subsequently to privately-owned HDB coffee shops sold on the open market from December 2023.

As of Dec 31 last year, there were 350 HDB rental coffee shops and 48 privately-owned HDB coffee shops providing budget meals. 

The budget meals initiative applies to HDB coffee shops, and is different from the National Environment Agency's (NEA) tender condition at socially conscious enterprise hawker centres (SEHCs) to implement measures to keep food affordable, such as by offering at least one value meal at each stall.

STANDARDISED SCOPE

HDB said that coffee shop operators and stallholders have shared concerns about the unsustainability of the initiative due to rising costs and low take-up rates.

In 2023, some hawkers told CNA that they faced difficulties providing budget meals due to rising costs of operations.

Residents have also given feedback that the quality of budget meals is uneven and portion siz...