The Straits Times spoke to 20 different chicken rice stall owners, of whom seven said they would be temporarily closing their stalls should the ban continue into July.
They told the Singaporean daily that they have been relying on freshly slaughtered chicken to prepare their dishes. The export ban has forced them to switch to chilled and frozen chicken.
Some also said their supply of chilled chicken has dropped between 20% and 50%, causing them to raise prices by about 50 cents per plate.
One of the owners, Chen Shuang Xian, 72, said daily prices of chicken have gone up by S$1 per kg, leaving her with no option but to increase the price of a plate of chicken rice from S$3 to S$3.50.
Despite her chilled chicken supplier having stockpiled supplies, she said this would run out by next week and that there was nothing the company could do about it.
Another operator, Tan Soon Loie, 60, said he would take a break from operating his hawker stall once his chilled chicken supply stops.
“I don’t really have plans when it runs out. I will probably take a short break. I will not use frozen chicken,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cheong Weng Wah, 54, said the chicken that he used for his stall now costs S$5.50 per kg, up from S$4.
With that said, he has yet to raise the price of his chicken rice as he did not want customers to pay more though his profit had taken a hit.
Another operator, Wang Tianxin, said he was going to start selling chicken chop, as he could use frozen chicken to prepare the dish.
He said he currently received 20% less chicken than usual due to a lack of stock, adding that business had also dropped by the same amount.
Yeoh Choon Meng, 55, said he would consider switching to frozen chicken as he could still roast them instead of poaching them as usual.
On June 5, Singapore’s sustainability and environment minister Desmond Tan said the nation could expect more supplies of chilled chicken from Australia and Thailand, as well as frozen chicken from countries like Brazil and the US in the coming weeks.
He also said the country’s chicken supply remained stable despite the export ban imposed by Malaysia.