An ONLINE FARMER'S MARKET
From organic fruit and veggies to a massive range of fresh cheeses and premium steaks at fab prices, you’ll find all you need for the week at this online supermarket.
Picture a farmer’s market, but operating on a much larger scale – OpenTaste is all that and more! The online platform acts as a kind of international farmer’s market, bringing you some of the freshest produce – everything from organic vegetables to quality meats – from around the world, at wholesale prices.
“We use technology to reduce cost and make things more efficient,” says founder DAVID LI. The technology-driven system enables the team to collect and deliver the goods within 36 hours after a customer places an order. Instead of traditional supermarkets that rely on an inventory, OpenTaste works directly from suppliers, thus removing the costly process of middlemen handling. And because the team sources mostly from small and independent farms and producers, the range you see online changes from time to time, depending on price, quality and seasonality.
Cutting waste
According to David, fresh produce stocked at most supermarkets is costly due to a large amount of food wastage involved in the whole process of shipping, storing and sorting. From the time each item gets packed and shipped to Singapore, to the moment it gets displayed at the store, it’s not really that “fresh” when it reaches the consumer. Furthermore, not everything you see on the shelves gets sold, and a lot of these perishables have to be discarded after a period of time. In fact, some of the larger supermarkets throw away an estimated 15 percent of fresh produce for this reason.
“Because of our innovative logistics system, at OpenTaste we’re able to reduce our wastage to one percent,” David says. These savings are then passed down to the customer. That means you can expect prices to be around 30 to 50 percent cheaper than for the same items carried at local bricksand-mortar supermarkets and specialty online grocers. Additionally, the website practices a no-questions-asked return policy. All you have to do is upload your feedback on the Customer Service page with details about the faulty product, and you’ll be refunded accordingly.
After your order is placed, OpenTaste collects the products from the farmers and producers worldwide. Once the goods have arrived in Singapore, each order is repacked by designated pickers and packers at the company’s collection centre. Your order is then delivered to your doorstep within 36 hours of your online purchase.
Getting started
• Premium members (from $29.99 per year) get unlimited free delivery on all orders over $49, plus a two percent rebate on all purchases and two free samples.
• For non-premium members, delivery is free on orders with bulk items over $150 and orders without bulk items over $49. Smaller orders cost between $4.95 to $6.95 to deliver, and you can refer to the online store for more details.