Mr Lim Hock Chee, chief executive of supermarket chain Sheng Siong, and his family come from humble beginnings.

The former farm boy and Jurong Vocation Institute graduate-turned-supermarket tycoon once recalled about his childhood: "Every day after school, I had to clean the pigsties and prepare the pigs' feed."

Lim Hock Chee started out by feeding pigs and cleaning pens on his father’s farm in Lim Chu Kang, before the estate was relocated and subsequently shut down. He then met a mini-supermarket owner who allowed him to rent some space to sell his stocks of pork, thus teaching him the basis of the supermarket industry.

His big break came when the same owner ran into financial trouble and had to let go of the outlet. Lim Hock Chee bought the business and with just $30k started his first Sheng Siong outlet.

The story of supermarket chain Sheng Siong (SGX: OV8) is one with true Singaporean roots.

Sheng Siong CEO, Lim Hock Chee, grew up in the 1970s with his siblings in Punggol on his family’s sprawling 90,000 sq. ft. pig farm. However, in 1985, their successful Cheng Siong Pig Farm (which reared 3,000 pigs at its peak) like many others suffered when the government closed down the pig-farming sector.

But a visit to a Savewell provision store in Ang Mo Kio changed Mr Lim (and his new wife’s) fortunes. Noticing it didn’t sell pork, he proposed setting up their own counter in the store from which they could sell off the farm’s excess stock of the chilled meat. The owner agreed, accepting 20% of Mr Lim’s takings as rental.

 

However, the Savewell chain of stores was experiencing difficulties of its own, and was soon forced to put its stores up for sale and offered them to its existing tenants. Lim Hock Chee and his brothers, borrowing capital from their father bought their outlet for S$30,000, and the first Sheng Siong store was opened.

 

With only a skeleton crew to run the store made up of the three Lim brothers, their six sisters and a Savewell employee Lim Gek Heng, life was tough – compounded by the fact there were five other provision stores within walking distance of theirs. The store’s location at the foot of a slope not visible from the main road made things even worse.

No-frills, lower profit margins

However, the Lim family focused on offering no-frills products at rock bottom prices. The siblings also offered to carry heavy items for customers up the stairs – believing in the importance of offering “excellent customer service”.

Their hard work paid off. Takings rose from S$2,000 per day in 1985, to over S$19,000 per day in 1988. By 2004, only one of their local competitors remained.

 

Sheng Siong soon opened a second store in Bedok, followed by another in Woodlands, which featured the novel (and popular) concept of a wet-market style fresh produce section. The company continued its no-frills strategy, buying in bulk and keeping prices low, whilst opening stores in areas with little competition that offered lower rents.

 

If shrewdly managed, supermarkets posses the unique ability to be able to thrive under all economic conditions – even following events such as financial crises and the aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks. After all, we still need to eat.

As retail space rentals plummeted during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Sheng Siong seized the opportunity to open more stores. When diners avoided eating at restaurants due to the SARS outbreak, they bought more food from supermarkets to cook at home.

 

Today, Sheng Siong is Singapore’s third-largest supermarket chain after NTUC Fairprice and Cold Storage, which is owned by Dairy Farm Holdings (SGX: D01), with 33 outlets and selling everything from groceries and seafood to stationery and electronics. It strongly believes in offering customers a quick and efficient service, and reckons it has the fastest cashiers and shortest queues.

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But in spite of all of this (and featuring at position 35 in Forbes’ Singapore’s 50 Richest list) Lim Hock Chee remains a humble man, who still steadfastly refuses to waste money and who lives in a modest five-room HDB flat in Hougang.