More S’pore retailers offering free-range meat amid growing appetite for healthier food

When Mr Ryan Lye was 92kg and obese, he decided to overhaul his diet to improve his health. Instead of eating out regularly, he cooked his own meals using free-range and organic meat and produce. He also started to exercise more regularly.

Three years on, the 40-year-old consultant said he has lost 20kg and is no longer obese. He is mentally more alert, and his energy levels and blood work have also significantly improved.

Although free-range and organic food is priced at a premium, Mr Lye feels that the health benefits are worth the additional cost.

“Although I seem to be paying more for the dollar, in terms of actual nutritional value, I am getting more bang for my buck,” he said.

Mr Lye is not alone. According to some retailers and at least one supermarket chain, more Singaporeans are buying organic and free-range meat. Free-range meat generally refers to meat from animals that are not continuously confined in enclosures and are instead given more freedom to roam around and access the outdoors.

Mr Joe Stevens, chief executive of gourmet supermarket Little Farms, said his customer base has evolved over the years – from expatriates and Singaporeans who had previously lived overseas to more local Singaporeans, especially the younger and more health-conscious ones.

Today, 75 per cent of his patrons are Singaporeans, up from 60 per cent in 2023.

Likewise, Ms Amy Bell, founder of online grocer The Meat Club, said expats made up around 85 per cent of her customer base when she first started in 2015. Today, around half of her patrons are locals.

Said Mr Stevens: “This shift reflects a broader trend in Singapore, where consumers are becoming more educated about nutrition and increasingly value provenance, transparency and freshness.”

Some Singaporeans are also jumping directly into the action.

Couple Patricia Ng and Lionel Goh, both 55, decided to open their own stall, Wholesome Meat, at Holland Village Market to sell grass-fed Black Angus cattle meat to consumers at competitive prices. 

Their products are sourced directly from a Black Angus cattle farm in Australia, where Mr Goh serves as an international sales and marketing consultant.

Grass-fed cattle are given more freedom to roam around than grain-fed cattle, which are kept in feedlots. They are also not medicated unless they are sick, and are fattened through a natural diet of grass.

Meanwhile, grain-fed cattle have to be medicated because of their close proximity with one another in feedlots. 

While older Singaporeans may not yet be completely wise to the concept of grass-fed cattle, younger Singaporeans are very much aware, Ms Ng said. Some even ask for evidence that the beef they sell is indeed from grass-fed cattle.

“Families with young children tend to buy our products because they want a source of good protein to feed their growing children,” said Ms Ng.

As premium grocers continue to expand their operations and supermarkets expand their free-range and organic selections in Singapore, consumers can now choose from a greater variety of such options.

Since 2020, Little Farms has doubled its number of retail stores, from four to eight, and has opened two online stores, littlefarms.com and Little Farms on Amazon.sg.

The Meat Club has also doubled its amount of products, from around 70 to 80 products before 2020 to around 160 products now. 

And, on Sept 23,

Whole Foods Market launched

nearly 300 of its private label products in store at Little Farms, as well as on Amazon.sg and Amazon Fresh.

Meanwhile, supermarket chains are also offering more free-range meat. A spokesperson for FairPrice Group told The Straits Times that its supermarket chain has “observed a steady increase in customer demand for free-range options, with the strongest growth seen in free-range pork”.

FairPrice Group currently offers more than 40 free-range products, including eggs, pork and chicken, in its stores and online. 

Cold Storage also recently pledged that its customers can expect a

greater variety of upscale merchandise

following the acquisition of Cold Storage and Giant supermarkets by Malaysia’s Macrovalue. 

Health, however, is not the sole motivator for consumers’ purchase of organic and free-range meat.

Ms Fiona Benett, who grew up in Australia where the free-range movement is more prominent, said she purchases free-range meat because it tastes better, and animal welfare is better.

“Being Australian, I look out for Australian produce and Australian meat. The standards of animal welfare and environmental care in Australia are very high. It provides me with peace of mind, knowing that the meat I eat is sourced through ethical farming practices.”

The 39-year-old make-up artist predominantly orders her groceries from The Meat Club, whose core supply of meat is from Australia and New Zealand, where free-range is the norm.

“In New Zealand, sheep and beef are mainly free-range and pasture-fed; in Australia, even grain-finished cattle typically spend 85 to 90 per cent of their lives on pasture. That’s a very different rearing baseline from many systems elsewhere,” said Mr Brad Ross, chief executive of The Meat Club. 

“That provenance shows up in flavour, nutrition and trust, which is exactly what Singapore families tell us they want,” he added.

Despite the growth in the industry, Dr Swaroopa Lahiri, lecturer of Global Studies at NUS, who has research interests rooted in agrarian political economy, said that the market for free-range meat “will likely remain a premium segment unless there is a steep drop in prices”.

She added that price-sensitive shoppers might prefer buying meat from wet markets or regular supermarkets at discounted prices.

Ms Winnie Chia, Republic Polytechnic lecturer at the School of Sports and Health, said free-range meat “does come with modest nutritional advantages and a significant public health benefit regarding antibiotic use”.

“Nutritionally, free-range animals sometimes do have an edge. Their more natural diet of grass consumption instead of grain can improve the fatty acid composition and antioxidant content of meat.

“But the differences are modest, and eating conventionally raised meat doesn’t make your diet ‘unhealthy’ by default,” she said.

She explained that in large factory-style farms, antibiotics are often used routinely to help animals grow faster and prevent disease in crowded conditions. This practice contributes to antibiotic resistance, a serious global health issue. Free-range farming uses fewer antibiotics, which is a clear public health benefit, she said.

For consumers who wish to maximise the nutrition value of their meals, Ms Chia believes there are other ways to do so, like “balance, variety and moderation”, without having to purchase free-range or organic food.

“At the end of the day, a nutritious diet isn’t built on one premium label. It’s about the bigger picture,” she said.