Chinese New Year looks lucrative for Singapore restaurants

[SINGAPORE] As the world marks the start of the Year of the Tiger on Feb 1, the question for Asia's food and beverage industry: Will Chinese New Year be as good for business as it was before the Covid-19 pandemic?

Last year, consumers in China spent around US$127 billion on Chinese New Year-related dining and shopping, according to China's Commerce Ministry. That figure was 29 per cent higher than in 2020, but marked a decrease from 2019's US$158 billion.

This year, even as pandemic restrictions on travel and dining out continue in such destinations as Hong Kong and Singapore, there are signs of a continued recovery for many restaurants and businesses.

Take Fei Ye Ye Food Tradition in Singapore's Chinatown Food Complex. Among its specialties are yu sheng, a traditional festive fish salad (the dish's name sounds like the Chinese word for "abundance"; hence its popularity around this time of year).

Soo Mei Leong, who runs the stall with her husband, anticipates a 30 per cent increase in Chinese New Year sales from 2021. More significantly, she also projects those sales could be 10 per cent higher than before the pandemic.

"The smaller versions that serve four to five people are selling very fast," Leong said in a video interview. Sales of party-sized platters of yu sheng for groups of 20 or 30 people aren't as good, she says, amid Singapore's limits on household gatherings to a maximum of five visitors per day.

Kenry Peh, a fourth-generation tea man at Pek Sin Choon Pte in Singapore's Chinatown, says what used to be a 20 per cent sales jump at Chinese New Year has turned into 25 per cent, as online orders become more popular and as concerns about the pandemic decrease.

"The ways and means of business now is toward online-yet our traditional way of interacting through a cup of tea helps during this period of time," said Peh via email.

Virtual Chinese New Year celebrations continue to power online businesses such as food-delivery platform Oddle. It has seen delivery sales and orders in Singapore double this Chinese New Year versus last year's amid the five-person dining and hosting restrictions, according to Sylvia Ong, the chief marketing officer.

The average basket size has stayed consistent, at around S$110 to S$120, even though this year's celebrations have been curtailed from eight people to five. Singapore is Oddle's biggest market - it represents 60 per cent to 70 per cent of its business - but Ong reports strong growth in Taiwan and in Hong Kong, where the 6pm lockdown is driving people to book deliveries.

The Raffles Hotel Singapore has enjoyed a "significant increase" since the start of the pandemic, says Frederic Serol, the hotel's executive assistant manager of food and beverage, in demand for its four types of yu sheng, including a S$222 Prosperity yu sheng with tuna sashimi and Ibérico ham. (Serol declined to share specific numbers.)

High-end hotels are seeing greater demand for in-person Chinese New Year bookings than at any time since the start of the pandemic.

Jade, the upscale Chinese restaurant at the Fullerton Hotel & Resort in Singapore, has been fully booked for reunion dinners on the eve, first, and second day of the Chinese New Year - these tend to be the bigger days for celebrations-since the start of January, says Gino Tan, country general manager.

Serol says the restaurant Yì by Jereme Leung at Raffles is also experiencing particularly strong demand on key dates of the Chinese New Year.

Still, not every celebration this year will feature old school traditional dishes like yu sheng.

Single malt whisky experts Glenfiddich will launch 200 limited-edition Chinese New Year NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to celebrate the Year of the Tiger. The exclusive drop will be available on BlockBar.com beginning on Feb 1 priced at 0.15 Ether, or about US$390. BLOOMBERG