Before the organic, vegan, and ketogenic movement had Singaporeans in a chokehold, Little Farms was already pioneering it in 2016. It proved that an urban community could adopt a more bucolic way of eating — good for your body, even better for the planet – that in turns fosters a sense of community itself. You don’t have to necessarily opt for organic everything or subsist solely on free-range animal by-products (though you most certainly can): whatever you do at Little Farms itself makes you part of a community that is kind to yourself and the world you live in.

While its Tanglin Mall store has recently just opened (it’s called a flagship for a reason: a grocery store that includes a butcher and deli counter, a specialty cheese department, a wine shop, Starter Lab bakery as well as a cafe), here, Group Executive Chef Jason Green takes us through why the store deserves a visit today. Hint: come for the produce, stay for a meal and remember to take a photo of the Grobrix green wall.

Hello Chef Jason, how’s it going?
Hi Bryan, everything is good albeit very busy and exciting times for me as Little Farms has just opened a new outlet in Tanglin! It is our flagship, and this exciting multi- concept store will feature many firsts that are unique from our other outlets.

Congratulations on the flagship, can you take us through what was the #1 thing the team wanted? You know, a non-negotiable.
Building on the success of our five other outlets, we wanted the Tanglin store to be all about the customer experience. In fact, that is always the first thing on our minds – we want to bring people out of their homes and make retail shopping exciting and fun. So many of us have gotten used to having our groceries delivered during the two years of isolation and staying home due to the pandemic.

We always strive to challenge ourselves to be a better business for our community, and so, from services to products, every detail offered must be the best. We have got the best produce in Singapore.

 

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This time around, we have designed our flagship to showcase our specialists from our in-house bakery, Starter Lab specialising in naturally-leavened bread, to our butchery and our ethical meats, and the artisanal cheese range. Customers can be warmly greeted by them to dish out advice and recommendation.

This concept was inspired by bustling markets around the world such as La Boqueria in Barcelona and the Borough Market in London, which is why the warm, inviting space features a wooden “barn roof” and exposed concrete floors. It is meant to bring back the personal touch found at local markets, where regular customers get greeted by name and get advice based on their needs and preferences.

Little Farms’ Director of Butchery, Angharad Onions who hails from England’s award-winning butcher shop, HG Walter, shares wisdom on the best cuts of meat and suggested cooking methods, how the animals were raised, and new ways to spice up family favourites. Alongside the butcher counter, we have the cheese and deli counter where customers can browse for the best cheese, charcuterie, and olives to curate their own platter.

Come to think of it, what was the light bulb moment that made the team go, “Hell yeah, let’s open a flagship”?
Little Farms is your neighbourhood grocer and our customers who live around the area have been asking us to open one in the area. We’ve been looking for a space for years and when the right one became available, we jumped on it and decided to make a warm, inviting, and exciting retail space for people in the community.

 

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Now, residents living in the Central region of Singapore can have easier access to the Little Farms’ curated picks of the freshest high-quality produce direct from growers and producers.

Why do you think there has been an uptick in artisanal food as of late? Feels like it was kind of a thing from 2012-2014 before really exploding this year.
People are unable to travel as much in 2020 and 2021 so many have developed the habit of entertaining at home. As more people learn to create special occasions dinner on their own, they begin to understand that artisanal, authentic and small-batch produced ingredients do make a difference to their dishes.

In an increasingly globalised world where mass-market production methods are used to manufacture many of our foods, we all want to feel that some personal thought and care has gone into creating the food we eat. Customers are searching for authenticity in the food they consumed.

For Little Farms Table, I can’t lie but my first thought when I heard about it was “it’s another brunch place.” However, I was sold when I saw the menu. How do you think they respond to what people currently expect out of well, a brunch place?
For the café Little Farms Table, we had to consider what a restaurant means to its community and audience. Little Farms is your friendly neighbourhood grocer that would be the go-to place for essential provisions and comfort food. To showcase our passion for fresh artisanal food, we have a bread-forward menu featuring the freshly baked bread we have in-store by Starter Lab; many of our dishes are created with the bread in mind.

So at this new flagship, you have the assurance that you are enjoying the freshest natural foods.

Just look at our Grobrix green wall, for instance, fresh vegetables and herbs are picked off the wall to go straight into our dishes for the café. There is no packaging, no food miles from those greens we use, and that helps to reduce your meal’s carbon footprint. This is how our thoughts and design will serve to enhance the customer experience and trust in the brand.

Going forward, we’d like to have Grobrix’s green wall in other outlets as well!

 

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Just out of curiosity, what were your recent grocery purchases from Little Farms?
I buy plenty of fresh stone fruits and berries. Our current stock of the UK’s strawberries and raspberries are the best in class and my wife and daughter can’t get enough of them! And we won’t buy avocadoes anywhere else in Singapore because these are the creamiest and freshest we can get here. I also love the locally grown baby spinach and leafy greens, which are super healthy and delish for my family.

What are some new brands at Little Farms that excite you?
As Little Farms recently acquired Starter Lab, we are truly excited by the live bakery conceptualised by none other than Starter Lab Founder, Min Siah. The bakery will offer freshly baked bread daily in small batches. Some of these bread will even be made using flour ground in-house using our very own tabletop mill, and they will be showcased on the Little Farms Table menu.

A star highlight will be Starter Lab’s claim to fame, the Rosemary Sourdough, and variations of it. Among the dishes we’ve created with the bread, there is one comprising Smoked Heirloom Tomatoes with Olive Tapenade, Fennel Oil and Vegan Cheese served on Rosemary Loaf.

 

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We’ve also got some really interesting local brands that bring so much local flavour to our store. Being a global hub, Singapore can often make people forget that it has so much to offer in terms of its local food and culture.Some of the other exciting local brands we have include Jiggy Seltzer, Singapore’s first locally owned alcoholic sparkling water aka hard seltzer. This is amazing being low-calorie and low-sugar with a boozy bubbly flavour for guilt-free fun. Wild Boocha is another locally brewed drink that encourages customers to take their health to the next level by enjoying these handcrafted kombuchas.

These brands are so close to my heart because they give our customers a chance to see the amazing high-quality foods that are being made locally.

If I could ask: the brand curation has always been impeccable because it feels like a customer has access to things from across the world. So if you know where this is going, I’d like to ask about the brand’s carbon footprint. Are there plans to lower it soon?
Of course! We are always looking for ways to lower our carbon footprint by adopting greener and more sustainable measures.

For example, we started offering still and sparkling water that is filtered and carbonated in refillable glass bottles at a dollar per person at our Little Farms Table. All proceeds from the water are donated to our community partner, Green Steps Group, to fund the planting of the Little Farms rainforest in Borneo. Currently, there are about 1,000 trees planted, and 200-300 more will be added per month. The goal by the end of the year is to have 3,000 trees planted.

Especially for this new Tanglin Mall store, we offer Aquama, a revolutionary non-toxic, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and sustainable detergent. Customers can try, buy and refill Aquama’s family-friendly, hypoallergenic cleaning solution made using only water, salt and electricity. We are also constantly looking to collaborate with partners closer to home with interesting products. But in order to help provide for a wide variety of needs that include organic, gluten-free, vegan, and ketogenic diets among our customers, we also import from around the world.

If you have any good recommendations, let us know!

What do you think is next for the brand?
We are looking to expand our operations locally and in the region, so we can bring more sustainable and ethical products to every community we can reach in the longer term.

This is a question I love to ask first time interviewees so if you could entertain me: do you know the #1 song on your Spotify playlist last year?
Time (You and I) by Khruangbin.

Once you’re done with this story, click here to catch up with our June/July 2022 issue!