Singapore is one of the global centres for cuisine. As an extremely multi-cultur-al society, it has spawned a huge range of food and beverage (F&B) establishments to rival those of Hong Kong, London, or New York, perhaps even leading the world relative to the size of the city state.
With Singaporeans’ busy lifestyles, the dining-out option is often taken as a means to save time, cater for children, or as a “de-stress” – a relaxing oasis away from home and work.
With close to 6,700 F&B service establishments producing nearly S$2.8 billion in value added to the Singapore economy, F&B owners and chain operators in Singapore fight it out in a competi- tive market. According to the Accounting & Regu- latory Authority (ACRA), 686 restaurants were set up in 2012, but 537 closed down. In 2014, F&B operators will face added pressure due to new regulations about employing foreign workers, who often make up much of the F&B workforce in Singapore. Branded chains of F&B outlets can often benefit from attracting more local staff, and of course, sometimes as franchisees, from sustained advertising and communications campaigns from the brand owners.
In collaboration with Nanyang Polytechnic, Novema undertook a consumer survey to evaluate the dining-out habits of Singaporeans.
The results confirm that Singaporeans are very enthusiastic diners, with almost everyone visiting each type of eating-out establishment, including coffee shops, hawker centres, food courts, quick-service restaurants, casual dining outlets, and coffee chains, usually at least two to three times each month. Singaporeans also utilise F&B outlets throughout the day from breakfast through to overnight supper, and with hectic schedules and longer working hours, people need the F&B facilities to be there for them almost 24 hours a day.
Quick-service restaurants, which often have to compete on price, seek to optimise as much of their 24-hour business as possible. They are the most frequented type of F&B outlet through the day, and dominate the overnight dining business. They seek to extend their business beyond the restaurant through their delivery services, although casual dining restaurants (e.g. those somewhat higher priced and with table service) are increasingly moving into the delivery market.
With limited space and a need to maintain high customer flows, most informal F&B outlets do not like their customers to loiter too long in their outlets, which is why takeaway services are en- couraged by operators. However, as consumers find “peace and connection” as a lone diner, “stimulation” in groups of friends, or “bonding time” with family members, the temptation of consumers (if not the desire) is to loiter within one’s preferred F&B hang out place.
Novema undertook analysis of how much money people usually spend in informal F&B outlets and how much time they spend there. We looked at four types of generic eating outlet: food courts (e.g. Kopitiam, Food Republic, etc.), casual dining restaurants (e.g. Swensen’s, Sakae Sushi, Pizza Hut, Soup Spoon, etc.), quick-ser- vice restaurants (e.g. McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Subway, etc.), and coffee chains (e.g. Starbucks, Coffee Bean, etc.). Expenditure was most at casual dining restaurants (S$25.30 per diner), followed by coffee chains (S$12.00), quick-service restaurants (S$16.10), and food courts (S$12.50). However, people loiter at coffee chains far longer than food courts, meaning they produce the lowest earnings per hour per customer than all other types of F&B outlet.
Subway stands out from other quick-service (or “fast food”) restaurants for being healthy. While Singaporeans seem partially interested in healthy diets, only 15% state they are “very knowledge- able” about what constitutes a healthy diet, and they are more concerned about food quality and safety than health-related aspects such as cho- lesterol, sugar, and calories.
On balance, most Singaporeans agree that “so long as the food quality is good, I am not too concerned about calories”. So, the future of gas- tronomic delights in Singapore can be assured!
