4 Post-Covid Trends here to stay in Singapore’s F&B Industry
Overnight, the Covid-19 pandemic had changed our entire food industry and flipped it 180 degrees around. With lockdown measures, dine-in restrictions, sanitizing protocols and an economic downturn looming, this has brought about shifts in supply chains, imposed new safety hazards and perhaps most importantly, turned consumer-preferences upside-down.
In this article, we look at the top 4 post-Covid trends here to stay in the F&B industry this year.
1. Increase in plant-based offerings and meat-free alternatives
With the pandemic, the urge to eat healthy and embark on nutritious diets reached new heights. A study done by AIA in mid-June 2020 revealed that as a result of Covid-19, a whopping 93% of Singaporeans prioritised staying healthy over other pursuits during the circuit-breaker period. Coupled with the prominence of sustainability and more attractive vegetarian or vegan options, there is an undeniable shift in consumers’ dietary preferences. Deliveroo Singapore for instance, reported a 53% jump in orders for Impossible dishes (made with plant proteins) from restaurants such Three Buns and PS Cafe, during a month on month comparison.
Restaurants like Prive and MOS Burger have begun featuring plant-based meats, and over at the Ji Xiang Porridge & Noodles stall, they use OmniMeat to make plant based versions of their popular dishes.
As an F&B owner, you do not want to be left behind on this trend! Start by studying your menu items to see where plant-based products can be substituted. For example, you can easily reinvent your signature burger by changing out the meat in your patties with a meaty substitute like a lentil and bean patty. Chicken dishes can be made vegan using Heura products.
Even hawkers can get in on the trend by incorporating ingredients like tofu, beans, lentils or even tempeh in local fare to create some plant-based versions. Vegan ingredients don’t have to be expensive and niche like Impossible meat – a bit of creativity is all you need to turn your dish into a plant-based one.
Vegan desserts are a great way to start as they are on the cutting edge of the plant-based trend, and can be easily obtained from suppliers without having to do much R&D on your own.
2. Technology as an enabler
Crisis sparks innovation, and the food industry is no exception. From contactless everything to engaging with customers in new ways, the Covid-19 pandemic showed us how traditional F&B businesses need to embrace digital transformation in order to ‘survive’ and move forward.
For example, contactless ordering has become the norm at Chuan Hung The Noodle Place. The eatery, which specialises in authentic Sichuan noodles, has been making use of iCHEF POS’s contactless ordering feature and making the most out of their peak periods, cutting down manpower to only one staff member to serve while customers scan a QR code and key in their order.
Singaporean pastry chef Janice Wong of 2am:dessertbar and 2am:lab launched the online store Bake at Home to give customers access to recipes, cake premixes and baking ingredients such as popping candy, to compensate for the inability to experience their unique desserts in-store during the circuit breaker period.
Incorporating technology to the traditionally offline business of F&B is indefinitely here to stay, and businesses that do not take action risk being left behind. If you are a small F&B business owner or just about to start out, do the bare minimum of creating an online presence by creating a Google My Business account so that customers can find you online. Tech-savvy consumers nowadays tend to check opening hours and reviews of eateries they are planning to visit before patronising. You can go further to create a Facebook or an Instagram page as well as set up your own website. Setting these digital assets up is only half of the equation, with the other half being regular online interactions with your customers.
Many restaurant owners have begun to digitise their menus not just for hygiene, but also to cut down on the physical material, as it is easier to make changes to a digital menu than to reprint physical menus. The simplest way is to have your menu in PDF format on a webpage or display the menu on your website. Then, generate a unique QR code for the URL using a free online QR code generator and print it out to display on your restaurant tables.
3. Rise of home based businesses to shop-front
According to Andrew Kwan, group managing director of investment firm Commonwealth Capital, many people saw F&B as a way to cope with the ongoing recessionary environment or even due to the loss of their own day jobs.
With the initial investment in starting a brand-new restaurant venture much higher, many start out as home-based businesses, touting mainly baked goods which travel well. They accept pre-orders through WhatsApp and Instagram, compile waiting lists, and rely on word-of-mouth and the occasional ad for marketing. Those that have built up a loyal customer base and continue to see growing demand eventually expand into brick and mortar to accommodate order volume.
This business journey is reminiscent of the early blogshops like Love, Bonito – only expanding into retail spaces when their online store was successful. Coinciding with some F&B businesses closing down due to unsustainable overheads during the pandemic and increased demand for takeaway food, these tech-savvy businesses with an already profitable online presence benefit from cheaper rent and zero downtime while awaiting the completion of their renovations. Furthermore, because they rely heavily on delivery instead of dining in, these businesses can opt for cheaper locations.
Before starting your own home-based F&B business, start by checking URA’s guidelines. Selling brownies/ cookies/ cakes, and etc. from your home is fine, but make sure you do not register your home address as a business entity and do not employ anyone under you. Join online community groups such as SG Home Bakers Facebook where you can get tips on obtaining ingredients, and be part of a supportive community.
On the other hand, as an existing bakery or cafe owner, you may feel intimidated by the sudden emergence of young and tech-savvy entrepreneurs entering the scene this past year. Do not worry - Start by thinking about how you can build a fanbase online, if you haven’t already done so, and get your customers intrigued.
4. Food delivery services as a necessity
Despite Phase 3 allowing dine-in alongside safe distancing measures and limited capacity, food delivery still plays a huge role in the F&B sector.
Prior to the pandemic, it can be said that a good number of F&B establishments did not see food delivery as a necessity. This is understandable, as food delivery services take a large cut of revenue through commissions, thus leading to additional costs and risks.
Now that the adoption of food delivery has mushroomed among Singaporeans thanks to the pandemic, it is unlikely that we will return to pre-Covid behaviour - it has become simply too easy to order anything online and have it delivered to your doorstep. So as a F&B owner, make sure you have either already incorporated delivery service into your business model or have started thinking about utilising it.
Speedy deliveries can make or break a food delivery service; so before rolling out deliveries, things like prep time, delivery radius and order density should be taken into account. Start by optimising your kitchen operations - batch cook ingredients in advance where possible and use multitasking equipment like the combi oven, that can keep food warm. Choose items for your delivery menu that have fast prep times. If you are delivering soup-based dishes, make sure that the meat’s cooled and hardened fat will not rise to the top or your noodles don't get soggy in the soup by separating them in delivery containers.
Food delivery services often take 25 - 35% of your revenue as commission, so it is wise to make allowances for your delivery menu. One way to increase profits is to have set meals or combo meals at $3-5 more, which include low-cost sides like fries and a canned drink.
It is clear that the future of the F&B industry and food retail will continue to be significantly marked by the pandemic. Its prolonged nature will also cause the newly adopted habits to become further solidified; and many processes will adapt to match them. Businesses are seen to be working hard to implement and improve these newly minted habits successfully, making it unlikely that such trends, or ‘investments’ would be erased overnight, once Covid-19 is no longer a threat.
Abi Shan is the editor and content strategist at iCHEF Singapore. She manages iCHEF Club, a growing community of F&B owners in Singapore – organizing events, an online newsletter, and the F&B Entrepreneur Bootcamp, the only regular workshop on opening a new restaurant in the country. In her spare time, she loves playing the drums, watching movies, and attending concerts. Her love for fashion runs so deep such that you can can always spot her with new makeup looks ;)
