Singapore witnessed a 20-year file excessive of F&B closures in 2024, with over 3,000 companies closing down. By Aug 2025, greater than 1,700 institutions adopted swimsuit, with The Prive Group being the newest high-profile casualty of the cutthroat trade.
But, amid this churn, a handful of ideas proceed to carry their floor. Behind a few of them is one man: Dr Martin Bém, an Austrian-born entrepreneur who was one of many unique co-founders of homegrown German restaurant chain Brotzeit, in addition to different F&B ideas together with LeVeL33, ERWIN’S Gastrobar and Locaba.
Having spent greater than twenty years navigating the highs and lows of Singapore’s F&B trade, he shared three ideas with Vulcan Submit that allowed his companies to outlive for years. Right here’s what he mentioned.
3 tricks to survive Singapore’s F&B trade
1. Know your viewers
Having the ambition to cater to the lots is respectable, however the actuality is {that a} model can’t be the whole lot to everybody.
Many seasoned F&B enterprise homeowners and consultants advise in opposition to having too many menu objects. Whereas the intent is commonly to enchantment to various tastes, this method incessantly results in extra stock, with as a lot as 80% of menu objects taking on house with out producing gross sales.
Therefore, F&B manufacturers with specialised ideas have historically been a lot simpler to scale, and this lesson was one thing that Brotzeit has lived by since its inception within the 2000s.
Again then, a couple of eating places have been already providing German delicacies in Singapore, so to distinguish themselves additional, Dr Bém and his workforce centered on establishing a strong model positioning: hearty German fare and beer for weekend dinner crowds.
This technique has allowed him to develop Brotzeit to 3 retailers in Singapore and internationally, and the model has continued to thrive lengthy after he exited in 2010.
He carried the identical ethos with three different F&B ideas that adopted: LeVeL33 (2010), a microbrewery that places beer entrance and centre of its meals and beverage choices; ERWIN’S Gastrobar (2012), which presents traditional Italian meals on the coronary heart of the CBD; and Locaba (2019), an e-commerce F&B enterprise specialising in low-carb and vegan desserts.
Having a tailor-made idea has helped Dr Bém set the enterprise for profitable development and, in flip, construct upon a strong basis primarily based on buyer suggestions. “You shouldn’t hold a dish simply because it’s your spouse’s favorite. It has to promote. The shoppers need to like it.”
2. Watch the numbers
Having graduated with a Ph.D in Economics and a Grasp’s in Advertising, Dr Bém believes that survival boils all the way down to self-discipline with prices, particularly in a time the place inflation has pushed rents and ingredient prices sky-high—elements which have killed many F&B companies as of late.
A robust Singapore greenback additionally means diners are extra prepared to journey overseas for cheaper, higher meals. “I hardly know anybody who hasn’t been to Japan within the final yr,” he joked. As extra companies search a share of the F&B market regardless of a slowing economic system, they have to discover methods to face out among the many crowd for purchasers.
Many institutions are inclined to supply reductions to entice diners, however Dr Bém warned that it additionally carries the danger of placing a enterprise within the crimson.
“[For example] Should you give a 20% low cost, it’s not that you must promote 20% extra, as a result of the meals value stays the identical, you make 20% much less. So you must calculate how far more you must promote with the intention to simply make the identical amount of cash that you simply had earlier than.”
As a substitute, homeowners can contemplate providing combos or value-add packages, as they’ll appeal to diners with out slashing margins. One such technique that LeVeL33 did was a giveaway and collaboration with Butcher Field Singapore in June, which, in accordance with an Instagram video, garnered over a thousand entrants inside that one-month marketing campaign.
3. Adapt or fall behind
Singapore’s F&B market strikes quick, and it’s delicate to adjustments in eating preferences, particularly because the COVID-19 pandemic.
Work-from-home habits have hollowed out CBD crowds, resulting in a shift from in-person nice eating experiences to eating at house. Millennials and Gen Zs in Singapore are additionally reported to drink lower than earlier generations—dangerous information for beer-centric ideas like LeVeL33 and ERWIN’S Gastrobar.
Dr Bém shared that ERWIN had discovered immense success in its first eight years in enterprise; nevertheless, it took a very brutal hit throughout the pandemic, because it relied closely on the CBD workplace crowd for income.
To make issues worse for the gastrobar, the hybrid work association that continued after the pandemic ended prevented the enterprise from recovering to pre-pandemic ranges. “We’ve got [tried] to regulate [by] doing extra catering, extra takeaways, however that’s struggling now due to the change in demographics and work practices,” lamented Dr Bém.
Then again, Locaba discovered success throughout the pandemic, as e-commerce companies grew in recognition. These polarising outcomes meant that LeVeL33, Dr Bém’s different dine-in idea, needed to reinvent itself to remain related.
The brewery has experimented with non-public eating and in addition launched a pantry and cellar in Aug, the place clients should buy house-made merchandise, and even a curated wine subscription plan by its e-commerce platform.
Every initiative, Dr Bém mentioned, builds on refined shifts in buyer behaviour. “In Singapore, you haven’t any different alternative. It’s such a fast-paced market.”
With the suitable methods, one can proceed surviving and thrive within the harsh F&B trade
Regardless of the obstacles, Dr Bém insists Singapore stays a powerful testing floor for brand new F&B ideas. Whereas its small measurement limits scale, its transparency, authorized readability, and multicultural eating tradition make it splendid for refining concepts earlier than taking them overseas.
“You can not construct an enormous enterprise in a small market,” he acknowledged. “Nevertheless it’s a really clear market, the place you haven’t any hidden prices and under-the-table points you must be involved with.”
With LeVeL33 nonetheless standing tall after 15 years, Dr Bém and his workforce at the moment are eyeing growth alternatives within the Asia-Pacific, with talks underway with worldwide lodge teams. Nevertheless, he stays pragmatic and cautious to not rush amid the shaky international economic system.
“We [also] at all times search for an iconic location as a result of we’re in an iconic location in Singapore, [it] doesn’t have to be excessive up, however it should be perceived as one thing particular within the metropolis.”
For Locaba, Dr Bém plans to develop its B2B operations and product choices after reaching success on-line. Nevertheless, for ERWIN’S Gastrobar, as they haven’t been capable of finding its footing post-pandemic, survival is their utmost precedence.
Featured Picture Credit score: LeVeL33
