Bedok Chwee Kueh has cut the price of its chwee kueh in half, from S$1.20 to S$0.60 per piece, and gone back to serving the previous smaller-sized steamed rice cakes.
Information about the change in pricing and the serving size was noticed by an Albert Centre patron who was at the Queen Street branch in Bugis and posted about it on Facebook.
According to the signboard of the hawker stall, two pieces of chwee kueh are now sold for S$1.20.
Before this change, the price of one chwee kueh was S$1.20.
It was previously S$0.60 per piece before the doubling of its price, which caused a stir in early 2023.
Chwee kueh is usually served with chye poh (preserved radish) and sambal chilli.
From palm-sized to face-sized
The increase in price was due to the doubling in size of each chwee kueh, as previously reported in February 2023.
The owner, Chen Ai Min (transliteration), said then that the change was due to the challenge of washing more than 10,000 small bowls used to steam the cakes each day.
via Google Maps
The size of each metal bowl used to steam the cakes was doubled to effectively cut down on the number of bowls to be washed by half.
This change was made in response to a foreseeable manpower crunch.
The process of washing the metal bowls can be very tedious, it was explained.
The metal bowls have to be scrubbed by hand to remove any hardened remnants of the steamed cake.
However, consumers had gripes about the doubling of the serving portion.
Not only was the chwee kueh deemed less soft and fluffy in texture owing to its sheer bulk, there was also the misconception that prices had gone up without a proportionate increase in food size, which was not the case.
Currently, the business has seven branches in Singapore, but not all of them have apparently halved their prices and serving sizes yet.
Top photos via Google Maps