Full disclosure: I hold shares in Sheng Siong, but the company did not pay me to write this article.
When the CEO talked about the government trying to set up a wet market in Zhenghua, I remembered why.
The chicken seller had Sheng Siong right in front of his door step. I saw his face, everyday so sad sia!
Within a few months, his store was gone.
Sheng Siong had won.
- Shareholder, at the Sheng Siong Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2025
Cold Storage, FairPrice, and hawkers should watch out.
Despite earning nearly 3 times more in revenues, FairPrice earned nearly 3 times less in profits.
Grocers, watch out. Because Sheng Siong’s coming for you.
Yes, Sheng Siong is run by kind businessmen, but they are also extremely shrewd businessmen.
On Tuesday, during their AGM, Mr Lim Hock Chee, the CEO cracked many jokes about how hard he works.
做到可以做到哪里，睡到哪里。(I do until I can sleep wherever I work).
In fact, walk into any Sheng Siong stores, and you would see the CEO’s number listed there. It’s proof of how hands-on the top management is in stores.
They are not taking their competition lightly. In fact, when questions about Macrovalue’s acquisition of the Cold Storage and Giant stores appeared, they reiterated their key strategies.
- Focus on quality, value and customer service.
- Focus on growing stores in Singapore
- Maintain the size of their store network in China (they are not growing it, but they are not exiting the market)
Disciplined growth in deep heartlands
In last year’s AGM, I asked CEO Lim why he wasn’t exploring more shopping malls. He said (and I paraphrase),
we have to remember who’s the big boss here.
He was clearly referring to NTUC FairPrice, backed by government-linked NTUC. Both could coexist in different areas. But if they tried to fight, they would end up losing a very bloody battle.
Just as Cold Storage and Giant has done, trying to fight FairPrice in the malls.
CEO Lim then came up with something more surprising.
In my first ten years, I only opened 3 stores.
It’s a clear sign of discipline.
Over the last decade, if you look closely at how Sheng Siong has chosen to expand its store network, it has chosen to grow in the ‘deep heartlands’ or where you might need to take a bus out to reach. It’s where most residents live.
If we take a closer look at the map, you would see that most of its areas tend to be located some distance away from the MRT.
Sure, some may argue that it does not have as much foot traffic.
But what one forgets is that if one is doing their weekly grocery shopping, the average Singaporean (without a car) might not want to take a bus for 15 minutes, walk through a crowded shopping mall (just try walking through Nex on Saturday at 3pm) just to carry 5 big bags of food back home.
It makes more sense to go somewhere closer, within walking distance, so that you can carry things home easily.
In those early years of the 2010s to the 2020s, Sheng Siong did not grow as aggressively in the hub locations. These are the locations which are near the bus interchanges and the MRTs.
They have chosen to use primarily HDB locations. And you see people like FairPrice losing to them.
The power of fresh
But one might think, how would Sheng Siong make that much money in the heartlands? Aren’t they more price sensitive?
Yes they are, but the margins are in the fresh section.
Walk into Sheng Siong’s Bishan branch, and you would see the fish swimming idyllically in the water, waiting to be caught.
You would see customers lining up to ask for the fish.
And unfortunately, that’s where Sheng Siong is going to beat out the wet market hawkers.
Because if you have air-con, ability to pay with credit cards, and great staff all around you, you would find it hard to go to the wet market.
Moving from heartlands, to the hubs
With the Jelita Property acquisitions, they have taken over the Bishan and Toa Payoh locations, which are located just 5 minutes walk away from the MRTs.
When I first read of the acquisition, it seemed like a huge amount to pay, given that they were going to lease one property (Siglap V) back to Cold Storage.
Why would you do that? You’re not a property management company. You’re a grocer.
But Executive Director Ruiwen explained that it was for those two locations in the hubs, that made it extremely attractive.
Even if there were those Siglap properties stapled to the deal.
And if you look at where they are opening next, there’s even more reason for optimism.
It’s in two malls.
Let them come, let them come
CEO Lim explained last year that to grow the network, he could either go to these property owners, and ask to be there; or to wait for them to come to him.
That was what KINEX did. The KINEX mall came to him after another tenant moved out.
In those cases, when they come to Sheng Siong, Sheng Siong has much more bargaining power to set rental prices. Because they know the power of a supermarket to draw more customers to a mall.
And probably because the two malls – Cathay Building and KINEX, are well known to be dead malls.
The power of hub locations in greater margins
After the meeting, I happened to speak to the older brother Mr Lim Hock Eng, the Executive Chairman. I asked him why he chose to expand in Bishan, given that there was a FairPrice and a FairPrice Finest in walking distance.
Are you happy with the performance there?
He is.
He spoke about how in hub locations, people want to buy and go.
They generally have smaller basket sizes, because they need to travel home. That also gives Sheng Siong the ability to sell higher margin items, because people prize convenience, and not necessarily the value.
China China
有些时候他们要 test 你。所以现在，我们生存就好。（Sometimes, they want to test you. So now, we just focus on surviving.)
The softer China was a key question on the minds of some shareholders. CEO Lim pointed out how in China, the street hawkers have now appeared. They have asked for rent concessions (if possible). They are not closing stores, but they are also not opening new ones.
Sheng Siong’s simply focused on surviving.
But I don’t doubt that the management would close the stores if they need to.
Future growth?
Everyone continued to worry whether Sheng Siong can continue its growth trajectory.
But if one looks at the Sheng Siong story, it’s always been focused on two simple things.
- Grow 4 to 6 stores every year.
- Focus on fresh produce for higher margins.
Now, they have moved from heartlands, to expanding in the hub areas. It’s doesn’t sound like the sexy stuff you would read in a commemorative book.
Stores secured up by 6 in Q1 2025, up from 6 in whole of 2024
But just in 2024 alone, they have grown by 6 stores. And in 2025, just in the first quarter, they have won 4 tenders, and secured two prime mall locations.
Compare this to their previous store growth of 3 in 2022, and 2 in 2023.
Of course, they have said that they are focusing on tech, building out an automated warehouse. They have an in-house software and hardware engineering team that’s building out their tech. It’s different to how most grocers do it – by outsourcing.
Talent-wise, they have also brought on the second generation of sons and daughters to take over the business.
But what was most interesting to me was an anecdote CEO Lim shared about finding people who wanted to work in Sheng Siong.
He shared how there were many Malaysians who worked with them, because they were willing to take the graveyard shifts, from 1am to 6am, where most were sleeping. During COVID, they would start work at 2am just to get enough stock ready.
台上一分钟，台下十年功 （Appearing on stage for a minute involves 10 years of practice).
This revealed two things for me.
Firstly, that in times of crisis (like tariffs and economic uncertainty), people will focus on household necessities, over holidays and luxury goods.
Secondly, walk around Sheng Siong, and you would quickly see that many of the staff there are Malaysians or foreign-born. There’s nothing wrong with that, because they are hungrier than many of us.
不是没有工作，是新加坡人不要做。(It’s not that there aren’t jobs. It’s that we don’t want to do certain kinds of jobs.)
It’s a stark reminder of Singapore’s alpha in the world.
For the most part, it’s been because we’ve been hungrier than the competition.
And Sheng Siong shows us what happens when you stay disciplined on one very simple thing (running supermarkets), and continue staying hungry despite your success.
You win.