By the WahLiao desk · Last verified 28 September 2026
A house brand is a product sold under the supermarket’s own name, made to its specification by someone else. In Singapore the two big ranges are FairPrice Housebrand, with more than 2,000 products, and Sheng Siong’s own labels, which now run to 28 brands and more than 2,000 products. They usually cost less than the national brand beside them, and for commodity goods such as rice, sugar, paper towels and cleaning products they are very often just as good.
Here is the part most shoppers never hear. A house brand is usually cheaper for you and more profitable for the supermarket at the same time. Both are true because the cost that disappears is the brand’s own: its advertising, its distribution, its share of the margin. You are not getting a worse product. You are declining to pay for someone else’s television campaign.
Supermarket house brands: quick facts
| FairPrice Housebrand | Launched in 1985, during a recession; more than 2,000 products by 2023 |
| FairPrice’s other own labels | Pasar (fresh vegetables), Origins (health and wellness), Delicato (sausages) |
| FairPrice Own Brands revenue | Close to $500 million in 2022, with a stated target of $1 billion |
| Sheng Siong | 28 own brands and more than 2,000 products (2026) |
| Typical price gap | FairPrice said in 2006 that its Housebrand averaged 10 to 15 per cent below comparable national brands; check the unit price today |
| Who makes them | Third-party manufacturers, to the supermarket’s specification |
The WahLiao Verdict
| Cost | One week’s curiosity per category, and the occasional disappointment. |
| What you get | A permanent saving on the pillars of the trolley, repeated every week. |
| The alternative | The national brand, which is sometimes better, sometimes the same, and occasionally cheaper on promotion. |
| Worth it for | Households that buy the same staples every week. |
| Skip it if | The product is one where taste is the point, or where a doctor, a dietitian or an infant has already chosen for you. |
| Last verified | 28 September 2026, against FairPrice Group and Sheng Siong Group publications. |
What is a supermarket house brand?
A house brand, also called an own brand or a private label, is a product the supermarket specifies, orders from a manufacturer and sells under a name it owns. The supermarket decides the recipe or grade, the pack size and the price. The manufacturer makes it and, usually, stays out of sight.
There are tiers. Some house brands are plain value ranges for the basics. Others are designed to look and feel premium, with their own names and packaging, so you may be buying a house brand without realising it.
Why are house brands cheaper?
Because several costs of a national brand never arise. There is no national advertising campaign to fund. There is no separate brand owner taking a margin between the factory and the shelf. The supermarket already runs the warehouses, the trucks and the shelves, and it can buy in large, predictable volumes.
Part of that saving is passed to you as a lower price. Part is kept as margin. Sheng Siong is a good illustration: its gross margin reached 31% in the first quarter of 2026, and management credited a better sales mix, with its house-brand range doing much of the work. That is not a cause for suspicion. It is simply how the arrangement works: the national brand’s overheads are removed, and the saving is split between the shop and the shopper.
A short history of FairPrice Housebrand
The idea is older than the label. From the 1970s, NTUC members helped pack rice into unbranded bags to sell at a lower price, as a way of fighting profiteering. In 1985, with a recession biting and incomes shrinking, FairPrice put its own name on essentials, from cooking oil to sugar. Its first general manager argued at the time that shoppers were smart enough to buy a good product whatever the wrapper said. They were: the range grew from about 800 items in 2000 to more than 1,800 by 2006 and more than 2,000 by 2023.
Around the Housebrand sit FairPrice’s other own labels: Pasar for fresh vegetables, Origins for health and wellness products, and Delicato for sausages. Together they formed a business that earned close to $500 million in 2022. We tell the wider story of the co-operative in How NTUC FairPrice Turned Inflation, Co-operative Retail and Everyday Groceries Into a National Supermarket Culture.
Who actually makes house brands?
Third-party manufacturers, in Singapore and abroad, working to the supermarket’s specification. The supermarket rarely advertises who they are. But Singapore’s Food Regulations require every prepacked food label to carry the name and address of the manufacturer or the importer, and the country of origin. Turn the pack over. Sometimes the back tells you more about a house brand than the front.
Which categories should you switch first?
Start where the product is closest to a commodity, meaning where one version is hard to tell from another, and move towards taste only if the first switches work.
| Category | Advice | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Rice, sugar, flour, salt | Switch first | Simple specifications; differences are small |
| Paper towels, tissue, cling film, bin liners, foil | Switch first | You are buying function, not flavour |
| Detergent and household cleaners | Switch, then judge by results | Performance varies, but is easy to test |
| Tinned tomatoes, beans, frozen vegetables | Switch and taste | Usually close; occasionally texture differs |
| Cooking oil | Switch, and check the grade from mid-2027 | Saturated fat will be graded on the front of the pack |
| Sauces, coffee, biscuits, snacks | Test carefully | Taste is the product; loyalty here is rational |
| Infant formula, medical or special dietary products | Follow professional advice, not price | The choice belongs to a clinician, not a shelf label |
How to test a house brand at home
Buy the house brand and the national brand once, side by side. Decant them into identical containers, or ask someone else to serve both without saying which is which. If nobody at the table can tell, the house brand has earned its place and you have earned a permanent saving. If someone can tell and minds, go back and do not argue. The saving on one bottle of sauce is not worth a household mutiny.
When is the big brand cheaper?
More often than you might think. National brands run promotions to win back shelf share, and on promotion a branded product can undercut the house brand per gram. So the rule is not “always buy the house brand”. The rule is: compare unit prices on the day. The method is in how to save money on groceries in Singapore.
Frequently asked questions
Are FairPrice Housebrand products good quality?
Quality varies by product, as it does with national brands. The range has grown for four decades because enough shoppers kept buying it. Test one category at a time and keep what your household cannot tell apart.
Who makes supermarket house brands in Singapore?
Third-party manufacturers working to the supermarket’s specification. The label must name the manufacturer or the importer and the country of origin, so check the back of the pack.
How much cheaper are house brands?
It varies by item and changes with promotions. FairPrice said in 2006 that its Housebrand averaged 10 to 15 per cent below comparable national brands. Compare unit prices on the day rather than relying on an average.
What is FairPrice Pasar?
FairPrice’s own label for fresh vegetables, one of several own brands alongside the main Housebrand range.
Does Sheng Siong have house brands?
Yes. Sheng Siong’s own brands ran to 28 labels and more than 2,000 products in 2026, and the company credits them with lifting its margins.
Read next
This page belongs to How Supermarket Works, our series on the grocery network behind the shelf. Continue with every supermarket chain in Singapore, explained and supermarket promotions, decoded.
Sources checked 28 September 2026: FairPrice Group history features and press releases on Housebrand (2006, 2023); FairPrice annual report 2007/08 timeline; Sheng Siong Group results and AGM disclosures (2026) as reported. Last updated 28 September 2026.
