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How FairPrice gets your tiger prawns or pomfret fresh to you every day

We take you behind the scenes at FairPrice’s Central Butchery, which ensures only the freshest seafood goes from shore to store and to your dining plate.

1 Apr 2024

2 mins read

Ever wondered how your batang fillets or tiger prawns get to you every day? Or how FairPrice keeps salmon all the way from Norway perfectly fresh until it hits your plate? We went behind the scenes at the Central Butchery to find out how.

The Central Butchery is the first point of contact for more than 200 types of seafood that arrive around midnight, get processed immediately and are delivered to stores before 8am the next day. So, how does it all come together? Let’s take a look at the supply chain from start to finish!

Stage 1: Lots of care goes into selecting the best fish even before you buy it

The FairPrice buying team monitors market trends all year round for inspiration.
We partner with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) and work with suppliers who share our values to keep things safe, fresh and traceable.
Sourcing from around the world keeps our supply resilient. For example, we get salmon from Chile, New Zealand and other countries.

Stage 2: Storing, preparing and delivering fish from our high-tech Central Butchery

Our seafood arrives from Jurong Fishery Port and Changi Airport at midnight in special trucks that keep it chilled below 7°C.
Everything is cleaned, degutted and cut based on stringent hygiene protocols. For example, we wash our cutting boards up to 100 times in one day! We also regularly test our seafood supplies in external labs to mitigate risks.
Next, we weigh, label and send out the seafood to our stores at 5.30am and 10am so you will always get yours fresh throughout the day.

Stage 3: Displaying seafood in our stores

We check seafood before putting it on display, and we do this throughout the day.
We maintain high standards by regularly monitoring cleaning procedures and display set-ups.

Did you know?

The Central Butchery at Upper Thomson Road operates 24 hours every day.
Temperatures here are kept between 12°C and 15°C. For the chillers where frozen seafood is stored, the mercury dips further to −18°C.
The Central Butchery handles more than 200 types of seafood.
Staff receive, process and pack about two tonnes of seafood every day.
FairPrice sources its seafood from diverse sources all around the world, like Malaysia, Vietnam and Chile.