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Industry brief · Food & Service

Food and service in Singapore, where our guests build

Two Building Real founders run food businesses in Singapore. One teaches Indian home cooking to travellers on his balcony through Airbnb. The other opened a character-led specialty coffee bar at Marina Bay. This brief covers what is happening around them: sales, openings and closures, delivery platforms, hiring rules and the regional deals reshaping the trade.

Singapore
Checked 16 Oct 2026 · every figure linked to its source · next review Jan 2027

01At a glance

S$1.7B

Singapore F&B services sales in August 2026, down 1.6% year on year, after falls of 2.3% in June and 1.9% in July1

One month's estimate, compared year on year
20.6%

of Singapore F&B sales came through online channels in August 2026, about one dollar in five2

3,357

new retail food establishments from 1 January to 23 October 2025, against 2,431 closures, so openings still outnumbered closures3

ACRA registrations, not shopfronts
+42%

net rise in the number of F&B entities in Singapore between 2015 and 2025, with formations outpacing cessations in most years4

Registered entities, not outlets
16.9M

international visitor arrivals in 2025, up 2.3% on 20245. January to August 2026 brought 11.43 million, down 1.7% year on year6.

+15%

growth in tourism receipts from food and beverage in the first nine months of 2025, STB says7

Jan to Sep 2025. STB gives no S$ value

02How AI is reshaping it

What the numbers show

  • Merchants. Grab says only 33% of its merchant-partners in Singapore use AI in their work, and only 25% say their staff can apply it effectively8.
  • Platform tools. Grab's AI merchant assistant handled more than 6 million merchant queries in May 2025, according to Bain analysis in e-Conomy SEA 20259.
  • Capital. Singapore drew US$1.31 billion of private AI funding (excluding data centres) between H2 2024 and H1 2025, 55% of the ASEAN-10 total, according to Google, Temasek and Bain10.
Grab's figures come from a survey of its own merchants, published alongside its own AI-training push; the sample and method are not published. The AI funding figure covers all sectors. Neither measures AI in F&B kitchens.

Platforms, grants and our guests

  • Airbnb. Airbnb says nearly 45% of support issues that start with its AI assistant are now resolved without a human agent, and support cost per booking fell about 16% year on year11.
  • Grants. Budget 2026 widened the Productivity Solutions Grant to cover more digital and AI-enabled solutions12.
  • Tax. Budget 2026 lets firms claim the Enterprise Innovation Scheme's 400% tax deduction on up to S$50,000 a year of AI spending for Years of Assessment 2027 and 202813.
  • In the episode. Ivan Chandra Suriady explains that Paco Coffee runs on Paco OS, in-house software that one developer built with AI instead of buying SaaS.
Airbnb's figures are global and describe Airbnb's own support costs, not its hosts' businesses.

03Where the money is moving

Deals and exits near our guests' sector

  1. Malaysia's Paramount Corp bought a 28% stake in SGX-listed Envictus International, operator of Texas Chicken and San Francisco Coffee in Malaysia, for S$38.33 million in cash14.
  2. Singapore's Creative Eateries, the group behind Suki-Ya, Bangkok Jam and 11 other brands, was acquired by franchise investor Asia White Knight Group15.
  3. Deliveroo left Singapore after 11 years, keeping its app live only until 4 March 2026, as part of a portfolio review by its parent DoorDash16.
  4. Hextar Industries proposed buying 51% of Woodpeckers Group, the Malaysian master franchisee of llaollao, for RM177.5 million in cash, with a profit guarantee averaging RM29 million a year over three years17.
  5. Grab agreed to buy foodpanda's Taiwan business from Delivery Hero for US$600 million in cash, its first market outside Southeast Asia. The deal still needed regulatory approval as of Grab's July 2026 filing18.
  6. Indonesia's Kopi Kenangan is raising a new round in which Alpha JWC, Tybourne and Horizons Ventures increased stakes. The chain runs more than 1,500 outlets in seven markets and has opened 221 this year19.
Kopi Kenangan's round size is undisclosed. Hextar's purchase is a proposal, not a completed deal.

Chinese chains arrive

Chinese F&B outlets in Singapore

Jun 2024
184
Aug 2025
405

About 85 Chinese F&B brands were running around 405 outlets in Singapore by August 2025, up from 32 brands and 184 outlets in June 2024, according to consultancy Momentum Works20.

A private consultancy estimate, not an official count.

For scale, startup funding across all sectors: Southeast Asian startups raised US$7.25 billion across 217 deals in H1 2026, the most since H1 2022, but one data-centre round (DayOne, US$4.5 billion) made up most of it and deal count hit its lowest since at least 201821.

04Governments: wages, quotas and AI grants

Policy timeline

  1. METI (then MTI). In a parliamentary reply, the government pointed smaller F&B firms to Productivity Solutions Grants for equipment such as smart cooking machines, and said S$1.26 billion in digital CDC vouchers had been spent at hawkers and heartland merchants between December 2021 and July 202522.
  2. Budget 2026. The Productivity Solutions Grant was widened to more digital and AI-enabled solutions. PSG, the Enterprise Development Grant and Market Readiness Assistance will be folded into a single scheme, EDGE12.
  3. Budget 2026. Firms can claim the Enterprise Innovation Scheme's 400% tax deduction on up to S$50,000 a year of AI spending for Years of Assessment 2027 and 202813.
  4. Ministry of Manpower. The wage floor for a local food or drink stall assistant rose from S$2,080 to S$2,220 a month, in firms that hire foreign workers23.
EDGE has no start date yet. METI was MTI when this reply was given; its website moved to meti.gov.sg on 1 Oct 2026.

Wage floor and hiring rules

  1. S$2,080
    Monthly floor for a local food or drink stall assistant before 1 July 202623
  2. S$2,220
    From 1 July 202623
  3. S$2,360
    From July 202723
Applies in firms that hire foreign workers.
  • Quota. Restaurants and other SFA-licensed food shops can fill at most 35% of their workforce with Work Permit holders, paying monthly levies of S$450 to S$800 per basic-skilled worker depending on how close they are to that cap24.
  • Local hires. A local worker counts fully toward a firm's foreign-worker quota only if paid at least the S$1,800 Local Qualifying Salary; those earning S$900 to S$1,800 count as half25.
  • Cooks. Cooks are on MOM's Non-Traditional Sources (NTS) occupation list, so licensed food shops can hire them from NTS countries, capped by an 8% sub-quota26.
Food stalls and hawker stalls are outside the Work Permit quota above.

05Trends to watch

Sales are shifting between formats

Singapore F&B services sales fell 1.6% year on year in August 20261. Inside that total, fast-food outlet sales rose 7.8% while cafes fell 5.3%, food courts and other eating places 4.8%, and restaurants 2.1%27.

Churn, not collapse

From 1 January to 23 October 2025, Singapore recorded 3,357 new retail food establishments and 2,431 closures3. Most closures hit young businesses: 36.3% had been registered under three years and another 26.7% for three to five years28. Over 2015 to 2025, F&B entities still rose a net 42%4.

Delivery platforms consolidate

Deliveroo left Singapore, keeping its app live only until 4 March 202616. Grab agreed to buy foodpanda's Taiwan business, a deal still awaiting regulatory approval in July 202618. Online channels carried 20.6% of Singapore F&B sales in August 20262.

Regional chains arrive at scale

About 85 Chinese F&B brands were running around 405 outlets in Singapore by August 2025, according to Momentum Works20. Indonesia's Kopi Kenangan runs more than 1,500 outlets in seven markets and has opened 221 this year19.

Labour costs rise, productivity gets subsidised

The wage floor for a local stall assistant rose to S$2,220 a month on 1 July 2026 and goes to S$2,360 in July 202723. Budget 2026 widened the Productivity Solutions Grant to AI-enabled solutions and lets firms claim a 400% tax deduction on up to S$50,000 a year of AI spending1213.

06The problems our guests are solving

He got deported. Then built Airbnb's #1 culinary experienceEP02
Singapore

Dhruv Shanker · Mad Onion Slicer

He got deported. Then built Airbnb's #1 culinary experience

In the episode, Dhruv explains how a deliberately simple Indian cooking class on his balcony, sold to travellers through Airbnb Experiences, became Airbnb's highest-rated culinary experience.

+15%

STB says tourism receipts from food and beverage grew 15% in the first nine months of 20257. Arrivals have flattened since: 11.43 million in January to August 2026, down 1.7% year on year6.

~80%

Airbnb grew Experiences supply by nearly 80% year on year in Q2 2026, with seats booked accelerating29. For hosts like Mad Onion Slicer, more supply means more competition for each booking.

Airbnb's figure is global, not Singapore.
Watch the episode →
The venture builder whose coffee bar won goldEP13
Singapore

Ivan Chandra Suriady · Paco Coffee

The venture builder whose coffee bar won gold

In the episode, Ivan explains that he picked one of Singapore's most crowded markets on purpose. Paco Coffee sells specialty-grade beans through illustrated characters instead of tasting notes, and he describes how its Madame Parodox blend won Gold at the Global Coffee Awards Asia, judged double-blind.

-5.3%

This is the market Paco entered: Singapore cafe sales have fallen year on year for at least three straight months, down 5.6% in June, 6.4% in July and 5.3% in August 202630. Across all of F&B, the number of entities still rose a net 42% between 2015 and 20254.

SingStat's cafe class covers every cafe, not only specialty coffee. It describes the market, not Paco's own sales.

ICO composite coffee price, US cents/lb (monthly average)

Feb 2025
354.32
Oct 2025
326.38
Sep 2026
262.18

The ICO composite price has eased to a monthly average of 262.18 US cents/lb in September 2026, down from 326.38 in October 2025 and 354.32 in February 202531.

A global green-coffee benchmark, not the landed cost of specialty beans in Singapore.
Watch the episode →

See how these conversations connect on the Discovery Atlas →

07Sources

One research agent gathered 34 figures from government, regulator and established data sources. A separate red-team agent then reopened every source, checked each number, its scope and its date, and looked for newer or conflicting data. It kept 13 figures as written, corrected 20 and cut 1. Each figure above links to its source below, with the date it refers to.

  1. SingStat, Oct 2026 · August 2026 (SingStat release of 5 Oct 2026)
  2. SingStat, Oct 2026 · August 2026
  3. METI (then MTI) parliamentary reply, Nov 2025 · 1 Jan to 23 Oct 2025 (ACRA registrations)
  4. METI (then MTI) parliamentary reply, Feb 2026 · 2015 to 2025 (registered entities)
  5. Singapore Tourism Board, Feb 2026 · 2025 calendar year
  6. STB data via SingStat, Oct 2026 · Jan to Aug 2026
  7. Singapore Tourism Board, Feb 2026 · Jan to Sep 2025
  8. Grab, Sep 2026 · Grab press release, 23 Sep 2026 (survey details not published)
  9. e-Conomy SEA 2025 (Google, Temasek, Bain) · May 2025
  10. e-Conomy SEA 2025 (Google, Temasek, Bain) · H2 2024 to H1 2025
  11. Airbnb Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Aug 2026 · Q2 2026, global
  12. Enterprise Singapore, 2026 · Budget 2026 (12 Feb 2026); EDGE start date not yet set
  13. Singapore Budget 2026 statement, Feb 2026 · Budget 2026 measure, YA2027 to YA2028
  14. The Edge Malaysia, Mar 2026 · July 2025
  15. Vulcan Post, Nov 2025 · Announced 17 Nov 2025; value undisclosed
  16. Marketing-Interactive, Feb 2026 · Announced 25 Feb 2026; offline after 4 Mar 2026
  17. The Edge Malaysia, Mar 2026 · Proposed, Feb to Mar 2026
  18. Grab SEC filings, Mar and Jul 2026 · Announced 23 Mar 2026; pending as at Jul 2026
  19. TechNode Global, Sep 2026 · Sep 2026 (round ongoing; size undisclosed)
  20. Momentum Works via Reuters, Oct 2025 · Aug 2025 vs Jun 2024
  21. DealStreetAsia, Sep 2026 · H1 2026, all sectors
  22. METI (then MTI) parliamentary reply, Nov 2025 · Reply of 5 Nov 2025; vouchers Dec 2021 to Jul 2025
  23. Ministry of Manpower, Oct 2026 · 1 Jul 2026 to 30 Jun 2027 schedule
  24. Ministry of Manpower, Sep 2026 · MOM page updated 16 Sep 2026
  25. Ministry of Manpower, Jul 2026 · MOM page updated 1 Jul 2026
  26. Ministry of Manpower, Sep 2026 · NTS list updated 1 Sep 2026
  27. SingStat, Oct 2026 · August 2026
  28. METI (then MTI) parliamentary reply, Nov 2025 · 1 Jan to 23 Oct 2025 (registration-to-cessation)
  29. Airbnb Q2 2026 shareholder letter, Aug 2026 · Q2 2026, global
  30. SingStat, Sep and Oct 2026 · June to August 2026
  31. International Coffee Organization, Oct 2026 · September 2026