Typically, the traditional Tingkat company will deliver to your door in the usual tiffin containers (we see more plastic containers now because of hygiene concerns). The family then heats up the different components of the meal and proceeds to dine together after waiting for one another to come home. This waiting could be sometimes 1-2 hours later.
In some cases, the Tingkat delivery is delayed, so your meal times are delayed. This is not something within consumers’ control and because you have already committed to the Tingkat delivery, you can’t go for an alternate option. You just wait, and wait, and wait… Until you get hangry (hungry + angry). At this stage, it is not ideal to find another meal option, otherwise, your family will be having 2x meal. So you continue waiting, until you can’t wait no more.
In the worst case scenario, if you decide to eat something else, you have to throw the Tingkat meals away because they can’t be stored overnight to eat the next day.
On the side note, contributing to the already-high-amount of food waste that Singaporeans are producing, the issue is real and needs to be rectified. Across board, agencies are working hard to send the message across to you and me, so we shouldn’t be encouraging food wastage behaviours. #saynotofoodwaste
Being a new and modern dinner subscription service, Fresher Dinners have attempted to resolve about all (or not most) of the existing issues and concerns that consumers face when they order from the traditional Tingkat players.
We narrow down 6 pivotal factors to compare between Fresher Dinners and the traditional Tingkat deliveries.
(Note: Price is not a factor for comparison here because we acknowledge that value is subjective to each individual.)
ROUND 1: Packages & Plans
WINNER
Fresher Dinners
With just a one week’s commitment, minimum of 3 dinners in a week, you can try out their dinners and cancel (easily) after which if you want to. This is reasonable springboard for any Tingkat consumers to try out their food, even without any trial packages.
Without being locked in for daily meals for 5 or 10 days straight, it is the wiser option for modern day consumers who tend to have more unforeseen, last-minute situations to handle because of their busy lifestyle.
Completely non-discriminatory to your lifestyle habits – You can meet up with your best buddies for a Korean BBQ + soju night out, cook when you feel like a MasterChef or takeaway 打包 your favourite chicken rice from the coffee shop when you crave for it.
ROUND 2: Food safety
WINNER
Fresher Dinners
Fresher Dinners utilizes the most trusted and recognized technology in the industry – Blast Chilling – for their food. This allows all their dinners to be stored safely chilled without any concerns of bacteria growth that can lead to many serious issues.
Typically, bacteria start multiplying in your food within a few hours after they are cooked. Traditional Tingkat who deliver their food hot requires you to consume the meals within 2-4 hours to prevent this nasty situation from happening, but not for Fresher Dinners.
Fresher Dinners’ dinners are chilled when you receive, so continue to store them chilled (not frozen) until you decide to heat up and eat them. They also pack their food in sustainable paper trays so you can easily handle and dispose of after you are done – all at NO additional charge!
3) Food Quality
WINNER
Fresher Dinners
This is a close one!
It is a commonly known fact that many players, including Fresher Dinners, are marketing using the terms ‘No MSG, no preservatives, no additives, and even no processed food’ for their menu.
Many other traditional Tingkat deliveries have longer and richer history as compared to Fresher Dinners. Considering that most are backed by bigger food catering (or related) companies, they would likely have more extensive kitchen and R&D teams who posses a powerful wealth of knowledge when it comes to food. It is no doubt their menus are well thought out and impressive.
However, what makes Fresher Dinners a winner is the fact that such food quality considerations are built in the DNA of the brand. They live and breathe by these ‘rules’ from the start, including utilising technology (blast-chilling) to provide safe food for all in these sensitive times.
They also made sure you never need to pay a premium to eat better, because it should be the norm.
4) Cuisine & Menu Variety
WINNER
Fresher Dinners
If you’re used to just having the standard 3 dishes + 1 soup menu for Tingkat, it’s time for a change.
Shake things up and introduce excitement to your dinners with Fresher Dinners’ menu! They offer over 10 different cuisines on their menu (think Korean, Indonesian, Thai, Chinese, American, etc.), with a promise that you will get different menu every day (of your order) in a week. Perfect for the adventurous foodie in you, or your picky child/ husband eater in the family.
Also, with their blast-chilled dinners, you get to choose what you want to eat when you want to eat. You don’t get this privilege ordering from traditional Tingkat because their food is delivered hot, so you must consume what is delivered that day.
One more point to Fresher Dinners for this menu selection flexibility!
5) Delivery
Another clear win for Fresher Dinners. Their convenience streak for consumers continue on to their delivery.
They deliver island-wide (why not?) with their dinners stored in an insulated dinner bag for delivery. The dinner bag keeps your food chilled for up to 2 hours so you don’t actually need to be home waiting for your delivery – go on and continue with your scheduled activities!
Furthermore, we find it a tad bit ridiculous that some traditional Tingkat are charging extra fees for delivering to certain locations like condominiums. It makes no sense to charge more just because it requires a little more effort to get to the consumer. This kinds of extra fees are the kind we dislike and feel not worth paying for. #notinclusive
6) Environment
Although Fresher Dinners uses one-time packaging for their food, they acknowledge the importance of sustainability as a young brand and invest in using compostable paper trays (made from sugar cane fiber) which itself, is a better-for-the-environment business decision.
With their modern dinner subscription concept, consumers receive consolidated dinner deliveries in a week, rather than daily deliveries, reducing the amount of carbon emissions produced.
I.e. Fresher Dinners deliver 2x weekly for 5 dinners vs. traditional Tingkat deliver 5x weekly for 5 dinners.
Lastly, their Dinner Bag is an ingenious idea (we love it!) for consumers – getting them to reduce plastic use, and at the same time, gaining their loyalty through the credit refund model. It’s a win-win situation for everyone!
Summary
It’s very clear that Fresher Dinners fared better in terms of the 6 factors identified here. This goes to show the effort and sincerity put in by the Fresher Dinners team, to evolve a traditional consumer purchase experience into a new, modern and better one for all.
If you’re still deliberating your decision to order from Fresher Dinners, read the article here to find out why families rate Fresher Dinners as the new best Tingkat delivery.
Dinner Plans available for 2 persons or 4 persons, for weekly or monthly subscriptions.
Find out more at: https://fresherdinners.com.sg
Read real reviews at: https://www.facebook.com/fresherdinners
