If you love getting the best bargains for fresh produce like vegetables and fruits, Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market is a must-visit. For most of us, it could seem a little intimidating to visit this place since it’s swarming with forklifts and merchants and you often feel like in their way. While this wholesale market serves vendors and commercial buyers, it also serves walk-in customers and food-rescuers.
To help you gain your footing, we have a guide to navigating Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market complete with where to park, where to dine, where toilets are and where to get the best fruit and vegetable deals for your household or party needs.
Guide to Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market
Pasir Panjang Wholesale market (PPWC) is open 24-7. The best deals usually happen in the wee hours of the morning. If you’re looking for a late night activity or an early morning jaunt, this wholesale market could be worth exploring just like Jurong Fishery Port.
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This market is significant as Singapore’s main wholesale and distribution point for imported fruits, vegetables, and dried goods. PPWC comprises 26 blocks, housing about 1,140 units of various types such as shops, stalls, cold rooms, and pitches.
Blocks 1 to 20 house vegetables and dried goods wholesalers while Blocks 22 to 26 house fruit wholesalers.
For those keen to purchase organic items from Zenxin Organic or vegetarian food products, head to Blk 14 right across the food court.
What to Expect & When to Visit
Before you visit, do arm yourselves with the right attire as it can get sweaty, cash and recyclable bags to contain your purchases. Since this is a wholesale market and purchases are usually in cartons, you might want to pack along extra bags to distribute the cartons amongst friends and neighbours. For smaller quantities, the vendors do provide plastic bags – more on that later.
PPWM is open 24-7. To get the freshest of the freshest, visit early in the morning. Wholesale hours are typically between 12 midnight to 6 am. When we visited in the mornings between 8 am to 11 am, we could still purchase what we wanted at various blocks. This was also a recommended timing for casual shoppers.
As the market is teeming with forklifts and heavy vehicles with workers unloading goods, it is safer not to have young children with you and always be on the alert for traffic. Wear covered shoes to protect your feet.
Parking-wise, if you’re buying fruits particularly imported fruits which require refrigeration park near Blk 26 as Blks 24 to 26 are where cold rooms are. If you buy in bulk, you might be able to get help from the staff to carry the boxes to your vehicle.
The open area or the auction hall at Blk 13A is where the vegetable stalls are selling their produce at smaller quantities.
Washrooms are located at every block.
Vegetable Buying at PPWM
The auction hall at Blk 13A is where the flurry of activity happens. Many walk-in customers head here where stalls lay out their produce in a typical wet market style. This makes for easy browsing, choosing and purchasing by weight. We were happy to find fresh produce in very reasonable prices possibly close to 30 to 40% lower than retail prices at supermarkets.
Our group managed to buy potatoes, carrots, different types of pumpkins, onions, garlic, broccoli, corn, lemons, radish, zucchini and more. We also saw vegetables that we usually wouldn’t see such as white brinjals, baby bittergourds, giant pumpkins.
For bigger quantities, head to the the individual vendors located between blocks 6 to 13. We chanced upon a vendor inspecting boxes of Japanese sweet potatoes for sale at 5 kg for $18. The payment was in cash as preferred. They also kindly provided plastic bags as we distributed the sweet potatoes amongst our group there and then.
Hence, you might be surprised at what awaits at the aisles. Not everything being packed is for sale as some suppliers prefer to sell them in larger quantities.
Buying Fresh Fruits at PPWM
Gather friends and family to get the fresh fruits at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market since getting them in cartons is a must. One tip is to get the seasonal produce. Fruits in season are often higher in quality and lower in price.
One vendor we purchased fruits from was Satoyu Trading. It was recommended to us by another fruit vendor when we enquired about muscat grapes. When we visited in August, Chinese muscat grapes were in season – this meant $19 to $20 per carton of 10 punnets. We also bought Australian strawberries at $62 for 16 small punnets. Do ask to check the fruits before purchasing them. Simply approach one of the staff seated at the long stretch of tables outside the cold rooms and let them know what you’re looking for.
Blocks 24 to 26 are the blocks to head to with cold rooms and chilled fruits. For fruits in loose numbers, try the stalls at Blocks 20 to 23.
In a nutshell, we found the vendors quite friendly and honest. They recommended which fruits to buy from which region and are upfront about their quality of fruits compared to their competitors.
Other Places to Shop at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market
To purchase dried goods such as dried fish, preserved fish, nuts and more, try Blocks 15 to 17. It was a highly sensory experience walking through the rows of warehouses with various types of dried goods.
Zenxin Organic is also located at PPWM. This spot is popular with shoppers eager to buy health products and organic produce.
It is also located along the row of vegetarian stores and right across the food court.
Visiting Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market
Head to Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market for wallet-friendly fresh produce with unbeatable quality and prices freshly unloaded from the transportation trucks. It was truly a marvel seeing how our country is supplied with all the fresh vegetables, fruits and other goods.
Pasir Panjang Wholesale Market
Open Daily 24 hours
Where: 1 Wholesale Centre, Pasir Panjang, Singapore 110001
