Sales of pineapples, related products soar after Tharman's victory at the polls
PHOTO: (From left) Facebook/Soi44prinsep, Shin Min Daily News
PUBLISHED ONSeptember 04, 2023 12:17 AMBySherlyn Sim
SINGAPORE – Cafe owner Celine Ng would usually sell two or three of her signature charred pineapple cheesecakes each day, but after President-elect Tharman Shanmugaratnam stomped to victory at the polls, her sales have shot up.
The 42-year-old said she received 30 orders on Saturday (Sept 2) for those cakes, after she had launched a one-for-one deal to commemorate Tharman's win at the presidential election.
The cakes typically cost $48 each.
"I thought offering this promotion on pineapple cheesecake would be a fun way to celebrate his victory. I was quite surprised by the number of orders.
"I didn't expect the response to be so good," said Ng, who runs dessert cafe Ree and Mummy. The promotion runs until Monday.
From prata to soju to cakes, eateries and bars have been rolling out pineapple-related promotions in the light of Tharman's victory at Friday's polls, where he secured 70.4 per cent of the vote.
Sales of pineapples and pineapple-related products have also soared.
The former senior minister's campaign symbol was a pineapple, and he was often presented with pineapples and greeted with chants of "ong lai" and "huat ah" during the hustings.
Ong lai is pineapple in Hokkien, with the fruit seen as a symbol of prosperity and good fortune.
The Casuarina Curry eatery along Upper Thomson Road is offering its pineapple and pineapple cheese prata at half price until Sept 9 to celebrate Tharman's win.
Its owner, Elango Subramaniam, 52, said: "I appreciate Tharman and am very fond of him.
"I want to show my appreciation to Singaporeans and have them celebrate this occasion over prata."
Business is also booming for fruit store owners, with sales of pineapples rising by 10 to 15 per cent in August from the month before.
Chinese newspaper Shin Min Daily News reported on Sunday that some fruit stores sold over a thousand pineapples daily during the campaign period.
Some bars have also launched promotions to ride the pineapple-themed wave.
At Soi 44 in Prinsep Street, patrons who came dressed in pineapple-related attire received a tower of 1.5 litres of pineapple soju.
It normally costs $48.
More than 30 groups of patrons turned up by Sunday evening, the last day of the promotion, wearing pineapple-themed dresses, socks and shirts, after the bar launched the promotion on Facebook and Instagram.
"I wanted those who supported Tharman to wear pineapple-related apparel and have a drink on us," said Soi 44's owner Ambert Ng. "Our team is quite happy with the outcome and wanted to join in the pineapple hype."
Model booker Yihru Koo and songwriter Hubert Ng were among those who came dressed looking like pineapples.
"I saw this promotion online and I remembered that my boyfriend has a pineapple costume.
"Since it was free and we had no other plans for the weekend, I thought 'why not?'," said Koo.
"The atmosphere was good and when the staff served the tower, he actually said 'Ong lai!' and I had to say 'Huat ah!'
"It was quite an interesting experience."
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.