Deja vu for eateries as times are tough again amid stricter rules
One week into the tightened restrictions that kicked in on May 16 for food and beverage (F&B) outlets, it is deja vu for the owners of new eateries Asador Singapore in Joo Chiat Place and Low Tide in Club Street.
Their barely two-week-old venues are already forced to go into a takeaway or delivery-only model, with no dining in allowed under the new phase two rules.
And it is a repeat of what happened to the owners around this time last year.
Asador is a second venue after Next Door Spanish Cafe for co-founders Houssein Rodriguez and Joseba Madina, both 33, while Low Tide owners Jay Gray, 31, Desiree Jane Silva, 34, Abhishek Cherian George, 35, and Joseph Haywood, 35, had earlier opened Sago House.
Next Door Spanish Cafe in Siglap opened just a few weeks before the circuit breaker, while dive bar Sago House in Chinatown started with home deliveries on the second day after the restrictions kicked in last year.
Their first venues not only survived the circuit breaker from April 7 to June 1 last year, they thrived, enough for the owners to consider expanding this year.
Now with two venues each and fixed costs such as rent, the situation seems bleak.
"We decided to open Asador as we had a captive audience in Singapore with people who cannot travel... so we wanted to open as soon as possible and take advantage of the situation," said Mr Rodriguez, a Spaniard who has been here for more than nine years.
They now have consolidated kitchen operations for both restaurants at Asador, and do 20 to 25 deliveries a day, and up to 40 on the weekend. But it is barely enough to cover costs.
"We do not have any big investors ... we put in all our own money, our savings. Right now, we are able to survive until the end of the month, if not, I need to find another line of cash flow," added Mr Rodriguez, who has a total of 40 employees at the two venues.
It is a similar case for Low Tide, a dual-level bar and eatery.
"It is harder this time because not only are we on a prime site like a corner shophouse in Club Street with higher overheads, it is fully staffed with a team of eight that we hired before we opened," said Mr Gray, who is British.
They also have a staff of seven at Sago House to look after.
While several other sectors are feeling the pinch, the F&B sector is seen as being among the worst hit.
"Aside from taxis and private-hire drivers and tuition centres, in particular, we expect players in hospitality to be the hardest hit," said KPMG Singapore partner and economist Paul Kent.
A spokesman for the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS) said F&B concepts across the board saw reduced sales of between 40 per cent and 90 per cent over the first few days of tightened restrictions under phase two.
While its members are more prepared this time, the RAS said this does not result in the increase of delivery sales.
"Consumers also have more options this time round, resulting in spreading consumption across a much broader base and thinning revenues for each F&B brand."
Hawkers and coffee shop operators have also been severely hit and have experienced a 50 per cent to 70 per cent dip in sales, according to the Federation of Merchants' Associations, Singapore (FMAS).
"Senior hawkers and wet market owners who are not tech-savvy are suffering the most," said FMAS president Yeo Hiang Meng.
This article first appeared in The Straits Times.
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