110,000 jobs in F&B protected thanks to delivery services: Study

Food delivery services provided much needed relief for the food and beverage sector during the imposed circuit breaker, a recent study commissioned by Deliveroo has shown.

Food delivery services from platforms such as Deliveroo protected approximately 110,000 jobs across partner restaurants from being lost or furloughed between April and June.

The study, which surveyed Deliveroo's restaurant partners, also found that delivery services supported a turnover of $2 billion for partner restaurants during this period.

The Capital Economics report found that "delivery services have helped to keep parts of the hospitality sector operating in a challenging environment, and the cost to the government would have been even higher without them".

One restaurant which benefited from delivery services is Takagi Ramen, which recently opened its latest outlet in Woodlands.

Its managing director, Mr Yang Kaiheng, told The New Paper it was a chaotic time for the outlets during the start of the circuit breaker, and that it was immensely challenging adapting to the new regulations.

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However, having already partnered with Deliveroo for three years, the Japanese restaurant chain saved time and cost by not having to invest in the required infrastructure to survive the restrictions on their own.

LEVERAGE

Takagi Ramen, which now has 65 full-time staff working across eight outlets, was also able to leverage on the pick-up service option provided by delivery services.

Mr Yang said the savings allowed them to retrain staff, such as dishwashers, into different roles such as packing simple side dishes and social distancing ambassadors, without having to let them go.

Several restaurants - approximately 2,000 - partnered with Deliveroo for the first time during circuit breaker.

Its general manager Sarah Tan said: "Deliveroo Singapore has been proud to bolster the local restaurant sector, one of the worst affected by the pandemic, while supporting thousands of jobs during this difficult period.

"We will continue working closely with all our partners to deliver what customers need when and where they want it."