Excluded from Economic Recovery, Food Caterers Struggle

Ophelia Ong, second-generation owner of Four Seasons Catering, along with many other food caterers, continue to suffer poor sales in 2021.

2020 was what Ophelia believed to be her worst year, with her business seeing an 80 per cent fall in revenue. However, in 2021, with revenue remaining stagnant, the situation seems equally as bleak.

“It’s been hard, you know,” says Miss Ophelia Ong, 33, the second-generation owner of Four Seasons Group, a food catering service. “We’ve been trying our best to remain optimistic, but how long more can we hold out for?”

Ophelia’s isn’t the only one to have her food catering business suffer. According to data from SingStat, food caterers have experienced a drastic fall in sales with the COVID-19 outbreak. In contrast with food caterers attaining an F&B services index of 105 at their peak in June 2019, it fell by 80% to an all-time-low in September 2020.

Food caterers, in contrast with other sectors in the F&B industry, have seen the lowest F&B services indexes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

DATA FROM: SINGSTAT.GOV.SG

GRAPH BY: JUSTIN HO

*Data only available up till Aug 2021

While other food and beverage (F&B) sectors have recovered significantly, food caterers have not seen much recovery, with the Phase 2 Heightened Alert measures (P2HA) restricting daily household visitors to two, along with the reduction in wedding ceremonies not helping at all.

As such, recovery for food caterers has been slow, with their sales only improving marginally while sectors such as fast food have already recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

Even with food lines “currently allowed with the necessary safe management measures in place”, a representative from Enterprise Singapore says: “Events will not return to the same as it was pre-COVID-19 due to the enhanced measures in place.”

According to the Ministry of Trade and Industry, are eligible for the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) for support regarding workers’ wages. Enterprise Singapore’s spokesperson also mentions that grants such as the Productivity Solution Grant, which is aimed at assisting firms’ transformation into digitised businesses, are available.

Enterprise Singapore’s spokesperson says: “It is also important for caterers to take an active role in adapting to the changing landscape.”

However, with wages not being the main issue, Ms Ong believes that this support is insufficient.

“We already have less workers simply due to the fall in demand,” says Ms Ong. “The costs we are struggling with now are fixed costs, such as rent. Wage support does very little to cover that,” says Ms Ong.

On top of that, the extent to which the JSS covers wages is also limited, with it covering up to 60 per cent of wages in the past, but only providing 10 per cent of wages as support as of 21 Nov.

Four Seasons Catering has pivoted to other services, such as takeaway services in an attempt to cover losses. However, the beneficial effects are minimal.

“It has helped us cover costs, but producing on such a small scale does little to help us make a full recovery,” says Ms Ong.

The various dishes that Ophelia’s business offers as lunchboxes.

Top left: Ebi fry. Top right: Nasi Lemak. Bottom left: Laksa. Bottom right: Hainanese chicken rice.

PHOTO CREDIT: OPHELIA ONG

COMPILED BY: JUSTIN HO

Ms Ong aims to focus her efforts on Four Seasons’ takeaway services to sustain the business.

“I genuinely enjoyed food catering, and it hurts to let it go,” says Ophelia. “But this was something my father started, so I have to do whatever it takes to keep it going.”