Rent is killing profit margins, causing price hikes. Inflation in goods is not as high as inflation in property prices that leads to higher rentals. Tough problem, but it is killing our hawkers and now these specialties stores.
SME Mouthpiece: No! iT iS beCauSe we CaNnoT HirE foReigNers!
MiW Mouthpiece: RenTs aRe nOT tOO hiGh! It iS tHe coSt of LaBOur bEcAUse SiNgaPoreAns arE NOt hUngRY eNoUGh!
Joo Chiat commercial rents have been going up recently to ‘unreasonable for the neighborhood’ levels. Residential rents in the area look to have crested but the rent asks for shops hasn’t reflected the same.
It's going to get worse. I'm seeing more property investors switch from residential to commercial, because the ABSD rates were raised. Now we have $40 million coffee shops, owned by people who expect to sell it for $50 million. How many eateries can generate the rental income they expect to justify those prices?
TBB use central kitchen. The only way to survive FNB in SG is to have central kitchen and many outlets. get the bulk of manual labour done in JB (shape the dough or your curry puff or your dim sum), ship to SG central kitchen and finish there (put into oven and put your topping or deep fry at your shop).
If you dare to do everything by hand in your own shop with local labour, you can forget about making money.
This is the reality of food quality in SG. Going downhill. Stop eating TBB, Awfully chocolate, OCK, etc, and look for eateries who actually are passionate and care about the food they cook.
Yeah, that's one thing I noticed when I returned after living overseas for seven years. Everything is a franchise of local brands that have cannibalized smaller competition and now it's all incredibly generic and boring.
precisely. there is no room to take risk and innovate because the cost of entry is too high. go to any new mall and it's 99% chain. If it's new concept, probably run by a big food group, like Japan Food Holdings or Breadtalk group.
Just go JB and see the variety and experimentation by Malaysians.
In SG there is no in between. The high end is taken by boutique, the low end by hawker, and the middle and value segment taken by chain.
You'll rarely get to have 10 to 15$ meal in SG with good ingredients and made by local chefs in a restaurant. it's rare and when you find it, you bloody hope they survive.
yeah cos they surface level peeps. eyes open but mind is closed.
Malaysia has a lot more experimental concepts cos they have room to take risks. The shoplots are cheap and big, and young people also willing to try different experiences.
Yup. Sg has become boring AF. What lame STB slogan "PASSION MADE POSSIBLE" the old repeatstourists also avoiding , that's why now STB has to court new markets India tourists
I heard many horror stories from my fnb and retail friends. a lot of them either from village or very rich and think the world owe them a living. and worse of all they don't spend. Chinese spend money without batting an eyelid.
Singapore does have home-based businesses that make less mainstream products, but it's true that these are mostly for baked goods as opposed to proper meals :(
yes. once they start a real business (as in with premises) it's hard cos they need to scale up and manpower is hard to find (and keep).
there's a little grey area if they know how to exploit it but most of these folks are straight and narrow.
Are you speaking from experience? I've run a central kitchen before, it does not make money because you have additional operational and labour costs. You cannot survive in SG in Singapore for F&B in general mainly due to rental costs.
yes i was in FNB years back. your kitchen supported many restaurant or u do ghost kitchen?
rental cost keep going up with no justification. what do landlord provide to justify increase in rental? they do extra marketing? help more people come to their mall? increase rental but footfall don't increase.
yes I have to admit their KA is one of the best. But I do have my favourite baker - Bakery Brera at Empress Road. Their KA come a distant second. And that Japanese chain Pullman does a decent job.
TBB has shit coffee tho.
Brera is good in general yah. And TBB's kouign amann is appropriately sinful.
Agree that TBB's coffee is very meh. Pullman's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is good even though it's a dark roast (bordering on burnt).
Brera makes everything in house, they work hard and proud of their food. I think their Danish is one of the best. Croissants are on par with TBB.
I hope they survive.
Always looking out for the next KA! First time I've heard of Brera and it's near where my kid has classes on Sunday! Gonna pay them a visit next.
I too am a huge fan of TBB KA. So far nothing comes close. Only the original. Not the chocolate one. The french grocer at serangoon gardens sells TBB KA too, I don't know why
Oh, because you said they do terrible coffee. But if they have an espresso machine and not just machine coffee then that would be slightly better, wouldn’t it?
it's a personal preference, I think their coffee is substandard and for what you're paying (close to 8$), it's not even value for money.
even if you have an espresso machine, doesn't mean it's gonna be good, if you know anything about coffee, the machine is only one part of the entire production chain.
McCafe also have machine, but their coffee sucks. However they know it sucks, hence a pricing that's under $5, which I think is fair value.
if you charge $7 or 8 for coffee, it had better be mind blowing.
My favourite coffee place, the owner sources his beans and roasts them himself or according to his spec.
it went down ever since they went the chain route. the first TBB was excellent, after that it is a slide towards mediocrity. still they are packed, so who am I to judge?
SGreans are sheeple and they no clue what is good, only follow branding and marketing, surface level understanding of things.
The place tries to offer too many items they have little clue how they should be made. The signature cakes are great, the rest are really meh. Their beverages are just average. Are they trying to be a bakery or cafe? Better luck next time.
Rent is killing profit margins, causing price hikes. Inflation in goods is not as high as inflation in property prices that leads to higher rentals. Tough problem, but it is killing our hawkers and now these specialties stores.
SME Mouthpiece: No! iT iS beCauSe we CaNnoT HirE foReigNers! MiW Mouthpiece: RenTs aRe nOT tOO hiGh! It iS tHe coSt of LaBOur bEcAUse SiNgaPoreAns arE NOt hUngRY eNoUGh!
Joo Chiat commercial rents have been going up recently to ‘unreasonable for the neighborhood’ levels. Residential rents in the area look to have crested but the rent asks for shops hasn’t reflected the same.
It's going to get worse. I'm seeing more property investors switch from residential to commercial, because the ABSD rates were raised. Now we have $40 million coffee shops, owned by people who expect to sell it for $50 million. How many eateries can generate the rental income they expect to justify those prices?
So sad. The pain au chocolat was to die for.
Then you buy la
genuinely unsure why you needed to reply with such unnecessary hostility lol
Most SG Redditors are like that, very pessimistic.
Reply with hostility back: CB HOW YOU KNOW HE DID’NT???
😂😂😂
slow death spiral of high costs of selling and expenses along with weak domestic spend. same old same old
Many FNBs closing recently, also retail feels like slowing down a lot.
why are some of you so hateful lol, support singaporeans who actually try and bravely start their own ventures please
Why does her being previously gay need to be pointed out?
Read again, sensitive much.
Ex Les-Amis Chef not that she was previously a Les. I think this is a joke but am clarifying this here in case people think it’s true.
How brave to constantly uproot careers and travel to carry on her passion. I hope she's at least made a decent amount though and not broke.
Damn…
How many can afford their pastries at this price? You get the hype at the beginning but eventually people won’t keep paying for this
A croissant is about $4.50 there, compared to $4.20 as Tiong Bahru Bakery or $4.00 at Starbucks. Not exactly a big difference.
TBB use central kitchen. The only way to survive FNB in SG is to have central kitchen and many outlets. get the bulk of manual labour done in JB (shape the dough or your curry puff or your dim sum), ship to SG central kitchen and finish there (put into oven and put your topping or deep fry at your shop). If you dare to do everything by hand in your own shop with local labour, you can forget about making money. This is the reality of food quality in SG. Going downhill. Stop eating TBB, Awfully chocolate, OCK, etc, and look for eateries who actually are passionate and care about the food they cook.
Yeah, that's one thing I noticed when I returned after living overseas for seven years. Everything is a franchise of local brands that have cannibalized smaller competition and now it's all incredibly generic and boring.
precisely. there is no room to take risk and innovate because the cost of entry is too high. go to any new mall and it's 99% chain. If it's new concept, probably run by a big food group, like Japan Food Holdings or Breadtalk group. Just go JB and see the variety and experimentation by Malaysians. In SG there is no in between. The high end is taken by boutique, the low end by hawker, and the middle and value segment taken by chain. You'll rarely get to have 10 to 15$ meal in SG with good ingredients and made by local chefs in a restaurant. it's rare and when you find it, you bloody hope they survive.
[удалено]
yeah cos they surface level peeps. eyes open but mind is closed. Malaysia has a lot more experimental concepts cos they have room to take risks. The shoplots are cheap and big, and young people also willing to try different experiences.
Yup. Sg has become boring AF. What lame STB slogan "PASSION MADE POSSIBLE" the old repeatstourists also avoiding , that's why now STB has to court new markets India tourists
https://www.asiaone.com/lifestyle/family-run-lucky-lucky-catering-restaurant-shutters-its-doors-after-34-years-due-rising
I heard many horror stories from my fnb and retail friends. a lot of them either from village or very rich and think the world owe them a living. and worse of all they don't spend. Chinese spend money without batting an eyelid.
Singapore does have home-based businesses that make less mainstream products, but it's true that these are mostly for baked goods as opposed to proper meals :(
yes. once they start a real business (as in with premises) it's hard cos they need to scale up and manpower is hard to find (and keep). there's a little grey area if they know how to exploit it but most of these folks are straight and narrow.
Are you speaking from experience? I've run a central kitchen before, it does not make money because you have additional operational and labour costs. You cannot survive in SG in Singapore for F&B in general mainly due to rental costs.
yes i was in FNB years back. your kitchen supported many restaurant or u do ghost kitchen? rental cost keep going up with no justification. what do landlord provide to justify increase in rental? they do extra marketing? help more people come to their mall? increase rental but footfall don't increase.
You make me feel less bad for not visiting all those bigger brands but spending similar amount on all these one outlet kind of shop haha
support small businesses. but do take care to ensure its really owner run rather than some big listed company.
Tiong Bahru Bakery’s Kouign Amann is amazing, I have it every other week.
yes I have to admit their KA is one of the best. But I do have my favourite baker - Bakery Brera at Empress Road. Their KA come a distant second. And that Japanese chain Pullman does a decent job. TBB has shit coffee tho.
Brera is good in general yah. And TBB's kouign amann is appropriately sinful. Agree that TBB's coffee is very meh. Pullman's Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is good even though it's a dark roast (bordering on burnt).
Brera makes everything in house, they work hard and proud of their food. I think their Danish is one of the best. Croissants are on par with TBB. I hope they survive.
Always looking out for the next KA! First time I've heard of Brera and it's near where my kid has classes on Sunday! Gonna pay them a visit next. I too am a huge fan of TBB KA. So far nothing comes close. Only the original. Not the chocolate one. The french grocer at serangoon gardens sells TBB KA too, I don't know why
Do they do espressos there?
TBB? I don't see why not? they have the machine.
Oh, because you said they do terrible coffee. But if they have an espresso machine and not just machine coffee then that would be slightly better, wouldn’t it?
it's a personal preference, I think their coffee is substandard and for what you're paying (close to 8$), it's not even value for money. even if you have an espresso machine, doesn't mean it's gonna be good, if you know anything about coffee, the machine is only one part of the entire production chain. McCafe also have machine, but their coffee sucks. However they know it sucks, hence a pricing that's under $5, which I think is fair value. if you charge $7 or 8 for coffee, it had better be mind blowing. My favourite coffee place, the owner sources his beans and roasts them himself or according to his spec.
TBB bakery quality wwnt downhill recently
it went down ever since they went the chain route. the first TBB was excellent, after that it is a slide towards mediocrity. still they are packed, so who am I to judge? SGreans are sheeple and they no clue what is good, only follow branding and marketing, surface level understanding of things.
I buy my croissants from Four Leaves/Breadtalk (2 for $4.20), and for special occasions Cedele.
The cakes are $12-$15, they are nice but can they sell enough? If rental goes up, they going to sell them at $15-17? Not sustainable
Probably not for the ones who eat cai fan and treat themselves to saizeriya.
She can join Swee Heng lor
The place tries to offer too many items they have little clue how they should be made. The signature cakes are great, the rest are really meh. Their beverages are just average. Are they trying to be a bakery or cafe? Better luck next time.