Enterprise Singapore (ESG) rolled out the Food Delivery Booster Package on 4 April 2020. This supports F&B businesses in transforming their business models and meet the needs of digitally-connected consumers.
The package will help to reduce the business costs of selling on three key food delivery platforms – Deliveroo, foodpanda and GrabFood. The package supports both new entrants and those that are already operating on these three platforms.
The Food Delivery Booster Package comes on the back of the evolving COVID-19 situation. On 3 April, the Ministry of Health (MOH) issued a release on additional measures taken to minimize further spread of COVID-19 cases, suspending various activities and only excluding essential services and related supply chain activities.
In line with this, all F&B establishments can open only for takeaway and/or delivery from 7 April to 4 May 2020. No dine-in services are allowed.
With the additional measures, sales and profitability of F&B outlets would be impacted due to the drop in dine-in sales and the associated costs of using online food delivery platforms. To help F&B businesses lower business costs from their delivery and takeaway operations, from 7 April to 4 May 2020, ESG will fund five percentage points of the commission cost charged by the above three delivery platforms. There will be no cap on the qualifying food delivery transaction value.
To be eligible for the package, F&B businesses must sell food that was prepared on-premise for immediate consumption. This includes smaller establishments like hawker stalls and cafes, to larger outfits such as food caterers and restaurants.
Said Mr Ted Tan, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Singapore,“With the implementation of stricter safe distancing measures, the demand for food delivery is expected to increase significantly, by as much as two to three times as compared to previous months. In the immediate term, the Food Delivery Booster Package will help manage the business costs of F&B businesses for food delivery orders so that they can stay open for business and adapt their operations accordingly.”
“This is also a good time for businesses to optimize their business models for online sales. ESG will be looking at other initiatives to help businesses build new capabilities to navigate the online space,” he concluded.
F&B businesses that are currently on board Deliveroo, foodpanda and GrabFood are eligible for the package; no applications are required. Businesses not on board any of the three platforms currently can approach them to find out more.
ESG is working on developing the capabilities of F&B businesses for the long-term, beyond COVID-19. These will include areas such as data analytics, marketing and menu engineering.
