Successful F&B Pivots in the Face of Pandemic Closures and Restrictions

Through the ups and downs of the last two years of the pandemic, “pivot” quickly emerged as a buzzword, especially in the hospitality industry. In the face of closures, reduced group sizes, changes in operating hours, bars and restaurants were forced to adapt and find new ways to reach their customer base, arguably more than any other industry. 

In many ways, 2021 was even harder than 2020 as we expected to be a lot farther along in reopening and returning to normalcy. It’s been a tough road for everyone, however many of our clients and friends in the industry have expressed that this also gave them an opportunity to be creative and push the envelope with new ideas. 

As we look forward to hopefully putting this all behind us in 2022, we want to recognise some of our favourite pivots to come out of the pandemic.

Elevated Delivery and Takeaway

It’s impossible to talk about the impact of the pandemic without talking about the changes it has brought to food and drink deliveries in Singapore. The concept of food delivery is nothing new, but with businesses closed for dine-in for months at a time, delivery became imperative for restaurants who may have never considered it before. 

Fine dining restaurants like Tippling Club and Odette offered delivery and takeaway for the first time, and we saw cocktail bars quickly develop bottled versions of their drinks to enjoy at home. Many venues also came up with creative ways to recreate the full guest experience at home, our favorite being 28 HongKong Street’s House Party. Bringing the whole 28HKS experience home, this virtual cocktail party includes not just the drinks and food, but the music and hospitality we have come to know and love from one of Singapore’s original cocktail bars.

Cocktails to Go

Working with many bar clients, we love the idea of making cocktails more accessible to enjoy at home. While it was a bit of a learning curve for venues to source bottles, design their labels, and ensure drinks were shelf-stable, we were incredibly impressed with how quickly Singapore’s renowned cocktail destinations such as ATLAS, MO BAR, Smoke & Mirrors and more were able to turn around takeaway and delivery services. Even new venues that barely had a chance to operate in the “before times” such as Sago House, which was only in soft-opening phase before the circuit breaker hit, were able to find ways to bring their creations home to Singapore’s cocktail aficionados. One of the popular new brands to come out of the pandemic, the Jigger & Pony group took the bottled drinks craze a step further with Pony, a premium bottled cocktail brand handcrafted by bartenders from Jigger & Pony.

Aside from bottled (or canned) drinks to enjoy at home, we also loved the proliferation of curbside shops with food and drinks to-go that popped up during the Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) in 2021. Who could resist the Mango Daiquiri from Low Tide or the frosé from 28 HongKong Street’s Tuck Shop? Catfish also popped up with a patio deli and streetside farmer’s market offering takeaway bites as well as a collection of jarred deli products (we can personally attest to the Bacon Butter as a delicious way to improve your home dining game). 

Investing in the Industry 

With reduced business from the lack of dining in, we also saw venues seek other ways to keep revenue coming in, such as developing their own merchandise or selling gift cards for the future reopening. Tough Time Tickets was a great group initiative and allowed venues a platform to pre-sell “tickets” for special menus at Singapore dining destinations such as Appetite, Casa Restaurant and Jaan. A win-win for Singapore foodies, the tickets offered discounted tasting menus while still allowing the venues to bring in funds at a time when they needed them most. 

As we look back on the second year of the pandemic, we’d like to applaud Singapore’s hospitality community, which has come out the other side stronger than ever. Here’s to a brighter year ahead in 2022. 

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