Foods in Singapore see strong recovery as COVID rules relaxed

F&B outlets have seen a strong recovery for dine-in but have no plans to reduce delivery efforts over the past two months since a raft of COVID 19 rules were relaxed.

Delivery sales their lifeline during the flu have become a pillar of business, serving up convenience that customers can no longer do without, according to firms CNA.

During the pandemic, COVID 19 restrictions have battered dine-in sales, leading eateries to beef up their delivery arms, such as setting up cloud kitchens or tying up with platforms or setting up cloud kitchens, which are dedicated to delivery and takeaway orders, with no dine-in customers.

More customers returned in person with the scrapping of capacity limits and the safe distancing requirements on April 26, according to the new capacity limits.

This has resulted in a 5 per cent rise in dine-in customers for fast-food chain Jollibee from April to May.

Delivery still remains a key driver of business, said Alex Serrano, Jollibee's country operations head for Singapore, where it has 18 outlets.

In August 2020 it opened its first cloud kitchen to cater to a boom in delivery demand due to the circuit breaker period. Three more were added to its roster, with the latest opening in March this year in Sembawang.

Delivery has become a new norm for consumers, according to Serrano, who spokeswoman for CNA. He said that the chain would continue to grow its delivery segment to keep pace with consumers' changing habits, such as plans to open a fifth cloud kitchen within a year.

Mr Serrano noted that it is working on plans to introduce group meals, delivery-friendly menus and loyalty rewards.

For Poke Theory, the nature of its bowls of sashimi, vegetables and grains has made it delivery-friendly Pre-COVID- 19, delivery made up about 30 to 35 per cent of total sales, said Vannessa Lee, co-founder of the company.

Delivery sales accounted for more than 50 per cent of business in the midst of the epidemic. That figure has moderated to 40 per cent with the resumption of dine-in.

It has 16 outlets in Singapore, five of which are cloud kitchens set up during the pandemic as a manoeuvre to stay alive, said Ms Lee.

She said that cloud kitchens were a good way to test the market and enter new regions, but the goal is now to turn these into brick-and- mortar stores.

From what we hear from our customers, they still enjoy that dining-in kind of presence of the brand, as opposed to just delivery, said Ms Lee.

She said that there was magic in that dynamic experience, and we lost that during COVID. She said that a condiment bar was part of the in-store experience.

The delivery plans will not be impacted by the renewed focus on dine-in. Ms Lee hopes to grow the brand's delivery business as customers are used to the convenience now, and she hopes to move customers over to Poke Theory's own delivery provider instead of the major players. She noted that this was in a bid to reduce commission rates and be more in control of the margins.

The strength of the Les Amis Group, which runs 24 brands in Singapore, has been strengthened since the rules have been relaxed, according to Luke Pang, head of operations and strategic development.

The pent-up demand for dining in and the return of office workers has given the boost to dine-in, particularly in malls or in the central part of Singapore, said Mr Pang.

Delivery demand has generally shrunk to levels closer to before the pandemic, he said.