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Employees at food and beverage (F&B) outlets were happy that dining-in had finally been allowed by the government, even as they can only receive groups of up to two people.
Employees at food and beverage (F&B) outlets were happy that dining-in had finally been allowed by the government, even as they can only receive groups of up to two people, instead of five as previously planned, reported Channel News Asia (CNA).
Dining-in has been banned by the government since 16 May amid a spike in COVID-19 community cases.
“The last few weeks have definitely affected us a lot,” said Hui Kit Keong, Assistant General Manager at The Coffee Academics in Raffles City, as quoted by CNA.
With sales down by around 80%, he said it will probably take two months to recuperate the losses incurred, provided dining-in continues.
Under the new measures, the outlet’s capacity has been reduced by around 30%, forcing the outlet to reduce its staff members to account for the smaller number of customers.
“But we are very happy. At least there are sales. Being in the service line, we can finally talk to people. Hopefully, we can go back to (dining-in at F&B outlets in groups of five) soon, and then with people vaccinated, we can go back to normal,” said Hui.
NamNam Noodle Bar in Raffles City, on the other hand, witnessed “pretty good” sales during the last few weeks, with delivery sales tripling compared to last year’s circuit breaker period.
“Our delivery platform took off. Hopefully, this will be consistent. During ‘circuit breaker’, we performed badly, but this time we included delivery islandwide,” the eatery’s Area Manager Andrew Ou told CNA.
To prevent transmission, NamNam area managers worked at a specific outlet only and no longer rotated between outlets. The outlet at Raffles City can only seat 22 customers, compared to around 40 to 50 customers prior to the pandemic.
“It’s going to be exciting, but it might be challenging to explain the new rules to guests. We foresee it to be an issue, although it isn’t now,” said Ou.
The excitement from F&B outlets at Funan shopping mall, however, was more muted given the small lunch crowd.
Bizen restaurant, for instance, only had four customers at about 12.30pm on Monday (21 June), when the steakhouse would usually be “almost full”.
Restaurant manager Sharon Yeo is concerned of her own income since she has to support her family. The steakhouse did not open for deliveries during the past few weeks when dining-in was banned.
“At least now we can get paid again. No matter how much the government covers us with subsidies, you can’t cover everything. We still have to give our parents money; you can’t just stop because you don’t have a job,” she told CNA.
After struggling for the past few weeks, JiBiru Yakitori and Craft Beer at 313@Somerset shopping mall is happy to have customers back.
The restaurant only averaged “$500 to $600 per day” during weekdays even as it offered takeaway and delivery options, revealed the restaurant’s Assistant Manager Alan Carrillo.
“We are happy that dining-in has resumed but it’s still a bit risky. What’s important is you take care of yourself, sanitise and follow the rules,” he said as quoted by CNA.
The restaurant currently seats around 32 customers, a decline from 80 to 100 customers before the pandemic.
Over at heartland shopping mall Junction 8, F&B outlets were more crowded when CNA visited on Monday evening.
Genki Sushi had about 12 people waiting in line at just before 7pm, while Watami Japanese Dining was 60% filled during lunch, exceeding its expectations.
“We are happy with the crowd today. We expected our restaurant to be only 20% to 30% filled. Since dining in has resumed, we feel more secure with our job now. Our company is also more confident to continue business,” said Watami Japanese Dining Manager Andrie Shiet as quoted by CNA.
Meanwhile, the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) hopes the move to allow limited dine-in, along with the extension of 50% support from the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) for another three weeks, will provide some “much needed” relief for F&B operators.
“We will put in place necessary safe management measures, including a self-administered Fast and Easy Test process,” RAS told CNA in a statement.
“We hope that with the additional safe management measures, the number of new cases can be reduced and the … curve flattened to allow us to welcome a larger group of dine-in customers, hopefully in a month’s time.”
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this story, email: victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
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