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The F&B industry is in for quite a rough time during this Covid-19 pandemic.

While the rate of F&B closure is better than this time last year, the general fear is that the true impact of Covid-19 has not yet begun to take shape.

President of Restaurant Association of Singapore Vincent Tan Chor Khoon told Lianhe Zaobao that the dip in numbers in the same period this year as compared to last year means the pandemic has yet to trigger a wave of closures.

However, he expects to see an incoming wave of closures post-Circuit Breaker, considering that an economic recession is inevitable.

One victim of that impending storm is Boufe Boutique Cafe.

The cosy little cafe, situated in Tanglin, was set up in 2015.

Speaking to Mothership, one of the shareholders, Pan Jia Jian, said that business before the pandemic was good.

"On weekdays, we would serve our regulars and tenants of Phoenix Park and the surrounding offices, and also the parents of students studying at schools located in Phoenix Park."

The cafe's usual clientele was varied:

"On weekends, we catered to Singaporeans from different walks of life, from families looking to have a good brunch, to people who were looking to catch up with their friends, or those who would just want to get a good cup of coffee and one of our signature cakes, and just chill out at our cafe."

People who might want to take a break, or catch up, or have a nice family outing.

Which is an incredibly commendable customer base to go for if you're in the F&B industry. Crowds didn't lie either; guests had to wait up to 45 minutes for a table on busy weekends.

And that is not by accident. F&B has always been an exceptionally challenging arena, hunkering down and expecting the crowds to come is rarely a long-term plan that works out.

According to Pan, Boufe's rental was "rather competitive" and "human traffic [was] pretty low" even before the pandemic.

This led to a focus on marketing, whether it be visually appetising food, customer service, or just generally appealing decor.

Which, in pre-2019, appeared to be a surefire bet.

Word-of-mouth marketing leads to more people coming down to see what's the hype. Give them good service and it continues the word of mouth advertising and soon you'll gain another loyal customer.

But here's what happens when the "coming down" portion gets eradicated.

Boufe Boutique Cafe has seen up to 70 per cent fewer customers on a daily basis. Which makes sense.

Their usual clientele of office workers, families on leisure outings, or just people who want to dine in was effectively wiped out as the pandemic worsened and stricter measures were implemented on the general population.

It is an unusual time to say the least. Eateries that close do so often because they are unable to attract customers, or have slowly lost their appeal over time.

Now, the customers are still there but are just unable to, for the most part, get to the eateries.

Delivery

Enter delivery.

The concept is simple. Can't dine at your favourite eatery? Get a delivery service to bring the food to you.

That's the route Boufe went down as well, offering island-wide delivery.

Transitioning into island-wide food delivery from normal in-house cafe operations was a big challenge, as it is a whole new ball game.

Everything had to be recalculated, said Pan:

"Everything from taking orders, to payment methods, to brainstorming on a menu that is suitable and attractive to customers looking for deliveries: These are just some of the factors that we had to consider. Everything had to be done on a trial and error basis, where we had to constantly improve and adapt to the numerous issues that arose unexpectedly during operation."

While there doesn't appear to be much literature on what kind of eateries benefit the most from delivery services, it is not too much of a stretch to assume that keeping prices down is a giant step in maximising deliveries.

That was the same conclusion that Boufe arrived at as well.

"Looking for a reliable yet value-for-money delivery partner was yet another challenge. Deliveries have to be inexpensive enough so as not to turn away potential customers, but have to be dependable to ensure that food gets delivered fast and in good condition to our customers."

It wasn't easy.

Didn't help that they took it upon themselves to settle any incidents that occured during the delivery.

"For food deliveries, there are bound to be inevitable incidents, where food might have been delivered in less than optimal conditions.

In such situations we would have to issue refunds out of our own pockets as we believe that customers should always receive whatever they paid for. We also do not “claim” the money back from the drivers as we understand that everyone is trying their hardest to make a living during this tumultuous period."

It was a tough transition.

And all this was happening right before the end of the cafe's lease.

Which meant making a tough decision — one that perhaps many establishments with an expiring lease might make — closing shop.

"We have gone back and forth on this issue for a long time as it was an almost impossible decision to make. With our lease ending soon as well, we were unsure if we should renew the lease in view of such an uncertain situation. We have no idea how long Covid-19 will last, and what long term effects it would have on the industry."

The cafe's staff, many of whom had been working at the cafe for a very long time, are understandably feeling insecure about their future employment opportunities. Their foreign employees also worry that they might have to go home if no future employment is secured.

And that, perhaps, is the one thing people might not appreciate about the impact of Covid-19, that there is an insane length of economic woes that has been projected before things might take a turn for the better.

In fact, while Pan and his spouse, both chefs by profession, are certain that they wish to stick to their calling, they admit that job prospects are going to be tough.

"I too am worried about future job prospects, as it is a difficult time for many F&B businesses, especially business that rely heavily on the dining in crowd. Job opportunities, not to mention suitable ones, might be hard to come by. However we do believe that new opportunities are bound to come, and we just have to look in the correct direction!"

It is perhaps the long-term uncertainty that might prove just as fatal as the immediate fear.

And while they "appreciate" the help given to SMEs by the government, they are facing immediate cashflow issues. Still, they hope the measures will help other businesses which are in less "dire" situations.

"We definitely appreciate the help given to SMEs by the government! They have been very swift in coming up with schemes to aid struggling businesses and these grants and waivers have definitely aided us to some extent!

However some of the support will only come in a few months later, and we are facing certain immediate cashflow issues currently as we still have to pay our suppliers and issue salaries to our staff.

We do hope that these measures will be able to help other businesses that are in a less dire situation stay afloat till things go back to normal!"

The real worry that might be plaguing eateries might not be the uncertainty of when the virus will be eradicated — which by all accounts doesn't seem to be happening anytime soon — but how to fundamentally change what it means to be an eatery.

The emphasis that Boufe had placed on their design, location, and general visual delight holds little weight when customers aren't able to head down and enjoy that carefully crafted ambience.

That fundamental shift in the way people view eateries is something these establishments might have to cater to. As Pan points out, it is imperative to remain creative.

"We will definitely recommend all businesses to remain creative, and to come up with new and creative ideas, just like we did when we introduced our Night Market menu, which was a concept we decided to implement in order to provide our customers with a new and fresh experience.

In doing so, customers are able to get a wide array of cuisines from just one location, without having to pay for additional delivery fees incurred by ordering from different merchants!

Also, it is definitely important to keep marketing your products as well, and to have a good social media presence and following. Everything is on social media nowadays and it is a great platform for marketing.

We wish all businesses the best, and hope that all of you will be able to put through these tough times and emerge better and stronger!"

Location: 308 Tanglin Road, Phoenix Park, #01-01, 247974

Stories of Us is a series about ordinary people in Singapore and the unique ways they’re living their lives. Be it breaking away from conventions, pursuing an atypical passion, or the struggles they are facing, these stories remind us both of our individual uniqueness and our collective humanity.

Top images from Boufe Boutique Cafe.