F&B players need to be manpower-lean, says TungLok chief

PROVIDING good service to customers is a big issue for the food-and-beverage (F&B) sector, now gripped by a manpower crunch, said Andrew Tjioe, executive chairman of the TungLok chain of popular restaurants.

The way around this limitation lies in businesses stepping up staff training and changing their business model to one that operates on lean manpower, said Mr Tjioe, who is also president of the Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS).

"To provide good service, you have to depend on people - but this does not mean having a lot of people around to provide efficient service. Just one good server can serve several tables. The restaurant business concept today must be manpower lean, otherwise it will be a non-starter," he said.