Feeding a family is an important job and finding food that is fresh can be a challenge sometimes, especially for working moms who don't always get the chance to visit the pasar pagi or pasar malam. Supermarkets are the next best choice and thankfully, Segamat has four to choose from. As a regular shopper, I've gotten to know the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Featured Supermarkets

Billion Supermarket

This is one of the most established supermarket in Segamat located in busy Jalan Ros.

Nirwana Supermarket

We have the freshest food and best price. Come and enjoy our large choice of products.

Giant Supermarket is probably the best place to get packaged groceries. As well as local brands, they stock a number imported products from the US, Italy, Australia, Japan and New Zealand, just to name a few. You can get all sorts of good quality pasta and pasta sauce, dry noodles, canned fish and baking products, not to mention a wide variety of biscuits and snack foods. The prices are always reasonable and their stock is usually good quality. Out of the four main supermarkets in Segamat (and I've tried them all), Giant also carries the best range of bread, cheese, milk and beverages. They really do stand above the rest for purchasing cheese, as they stock many brands, types and flavours, including grated, shredded, cubed, sliced and block cheese.

Beef is another good thing about Giant. They are the only supermarket in town to stock imported Australian beef. Remember to only buy it when it looks soft and red. If it's brown and looking hard around the edges, it's not fresh. They are also the only supermarket that sell packaged chicken fillets which can be more convenient if you are rushed for time when preparing dinner.

Upwell, a much smaller supermarket, is one of the best for buying fresh produce. They've recently cleaned and renovated their fresh produce aisles to make them more presentable and have a wide range of green vegies (kang kong, bayam, bok choy etc) which are usually very fresh, as well as potatoes, pumpkin, garlic, onions, ikan bilis, salted fish, tofu and fruit - no bananas though. You can sometimes get bananas outside the supermarket from the little stall that sits at the front of the building.

Nirwana seems to be best for fresh vegetables and fish. The fish are well presented and, though there is no cleaning service like Giant, they keep their fish fresh by covering them with ice chips. At times, there are even tongs around to help with picking up the fish so you don't have to use a plastic bag wrapped around your hands - much more hygienic. I don't like buying packaged groceries here nor at Upwell because of the limited range, and they are generally more expensive than Giant.

Billion is, well, very small and I only go there if I'm around that area and don't have time to go somewhere else. It's good for vegetables and sometimes fruit but it's hard to do a big shop there because of the small trolleys and the small cashiers. But if you've only got a few things to get and you're in the middle of town, Billion is OK.

Enjoy your shopping.