With COVID-19 pandemic and an extended circuit breaker period, it is an understatement to say that the F&B industry is one of the most badly hit ones, with some expecting as much as an 80% revenue loss. In a recent survey, 88% of restaurants indicated that they may not be able to survive this month without assistance.

During this circuit breaker period, most hawker stalls and restaurants are offering delivery and takeaway services. While this might be a continuous stream of income for the hawkerpreneurs and restaurateurs, all is not as rosy as there are additional costs they have to bear such as takeaway packaging and perhaps the most significant of all, commissions to third party delivery affiliates. The icing on the cake is definitely rental cost, which is highlighted as the biggest challenge posed to many food owners in many of the stories we have come across.

As working professionals, we do dine out a fair bit and what this implies for the future is that some of our favourite restaurants and eateries may no longer be around for us to enjoy their dishes. Using a macro lens on the hawker food scene, it is easy to conclude that this unique food heritage and culture to Singapore will be lost in time to come, given that there are already not enough new hawkerpreneurs to replace the existing hawkers. Which is why the f&b industry needs our support during these unprecedented times.

As one of the key players in the F&B scene, Tiger is rallying for help to support our local F&B community. Tiger launched the ‘Support Our Local F&B’ initiative on 17 April 2020 as part of the #SupportOurStreets campaign in Singapore. It is an initiative that aims to help the local F&B community alleviate the current setbacks and support them in their recovery when they reopen.

So, how does it work? Running from now till 31 May 2020, consumers can support their favourite local F&B spots by making a $10 contribution through http://supportourfnb.tigerbeer.com.sg with no limits on the number of times you may make a contribution.

Each week, the contributions are collated and all proceeds will go directly to the participating coffeeshops, bars and pubs. As a gesture of appreciation from Tiger, each contribution will entitle consumers to a digital drink voucher redeemable for two Tiger beers when the outlet resumes operations to encourage footfall and support the outlet’s restart and revival.

Tiger has started the ball rolling by contributing $100,000 into this fund. Every dollar counts and goes a long way, and we believe that this initiative by Tiger will help the F&B industry collectively.

Our Final Thoughts: For us, we have been writing about the local food scene for close to eight years and one aspect which keeps us going is the diverse F&B scene in Singapore. It is easy to satisfy any type of food cravings we have on a daily basis, be it a taste of Japanese, Korean, Italian or French cuisines, the options are aplenty, and we often take this for granted. And our go to comfort food? Just give us a bowl of Bak Chor Mee and we are satisfied anytime. With our fingers crossed, we hope that this relative ease of food options in Singapore will not cease to exist ever.