PUBLISHED ONOctober 22, 2025 2:35 PMBYSean LerSingapore's stockpiling of food has broadened to include frozen chicken and other types of food — to ensure that there's a variety to meet Singapore's need during emergencies.
But more stockpiling is not the ultimate solution as there are costs involved.
"There is a balance between cost elements (Government, taxpayers and businesses), because the more you stockpile, the more holding costs you incur," said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Zaqy Mohamad.
He was speaking to the media during a visit to a 13,500 sq m stockpile warehouse operated by supply chain and logistics firm YCH Group on Wednesday (Oct 22).
The facility, kept as cold as minus 23 deg C, ranks among the largest automated storage and retrieval system facility in Asia.
Today, Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of its food from countries like Brazil, China, Malaysia and Poland.
Under the 30-by-30 goal set out in 2019, Singapore aims to produce 30 per cent of its needs locally by 2030 and reducing its dependency on imports.
The Senior Minister of State cited Malaysia's export ban on fresh chickens in 2022 as an example of why stockpiles are needed.
"And that has taught us a very important lesson too. We can't take our food supply for granted. At some point, you will need to stockpile," he said.
Zaqy said that this is part of Singapore's food resilience strategy to ensure that beyond stockpiling, there are other food sources available to Singaporeans, adding that diversification and partnerships are also important.
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Diversification helps to balance the portfolio mix for food supplies in terms of cost, safety and supply.
"We try to manage, to ensure that there is a portfolio because even if you go for the lowest cost — from just one source —that puts a lot of risk on us," he said.
"It's not just about importing from one source, but it's also about ensuring that there are relevant food safety standards that we work together on."
"Sometimes, that also means making sure that we are also alerted to, for example, disease outbreaks and making sure that we're able to contain some of these source constraints in different countries," Zaqy added.
Singapore started stockpiling food in 1968 when food security became a concern after independence.
"We started off with rice, we've moved on to proteins, and now, fibres. But, of course, in future, there may be other forms of stockpiles, or other forms we can store them in, which are more cost-efficient," he added.
On Jan 8, Singapore passed the Food Safety and Security Bill in Parliament, enabling Singapore's stockpiling measures to be expanded.
It also sets a minimum stockpiling requirement for rice importers to stockpile rice, while enabling stockpiles to include other essential food items, if the need arises.
Explaining the considerations, Zaqy said that the current stockholding requirement extends only to rice, adding that whether or not the requirement is expanded to include other food items will depend on the risk assessment that Singapore has based on current needs.
On Oct 10, Singapore and New Zealand upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership (CSP).
Under the CSP, the two countries will establish a strategic food partnership to bolster food security and supply chain resilience.
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