F&B businesses in Singapore to get boost in tech use and more under 3 new initiatives
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Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling (centre) with Ms Jeannie Lim (left), an assistant managing director at EnterpriseSG, and Mr Paul Kan – country head, Business Banking Singapore, UOB – at the Food Services Forum on Oct 13.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
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SINGAPORE – Food and beverage businesses will get a boost in areas such as tech use, menu designs, food preparations outsourcing as well as help with going digital under three new initiatives.
Two of the initiatives are programmes launched by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) on Oct 13.
The first is the F&B Process Optimisation Programme, which will help businesses review and improve their outlet operations, covering everything from layout and workflow design to technology adoption and menu engineering.
This is to help companies that are less familiar with new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-enabled solutions, or industry aggregators that streamline processes.
To encourage businesses to embark on this programme, EnterpriseSG will provide up to 50 per cent grant support.
The second is the FoodX programme, which encourages F&B businesses to outsource food pre-preparation to established food manufacturers. This follows a successful pilot launched in 2024, which helped close to 200 F&B outlets streamline their operations and reduce manpower-intensive kitchen work through outsourcing.
Under this programme, EnterpriseSG will fund up to 50 per cent of outsourcing costs for eligible F&B businesses.
The third initiative is a partnership between EnterpriseSG and UOB to help the F&B industry.
A memorandum of understanding between them signed on Oct 13 will focus on three key areas – the first is providing advisory services for F&B companies on selecting digital and AI-enabled solutions to enhance operational efficiency.
The second is a curated suite of digital solutions offered at preferential rates to drive digital adoption. EnterpriseSG and UOB will also hold joint seminars and workshops to equip F&B companies with the knowledge and confidence to adopt the digital and AI-enabled solutions.
The new initiatives were announced by Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling at the Food Services Forum 2025, organised by EnterpriseSG and the Singapore Productivity Centre (SGPC). She noted that one early adopter of the FoodX programme is local brand Kopi and Tarts, which operates close to 20 outlets across the island.
“Through the FoodX pilot, Kopi and Tarts outsourced ingredient preparation for its ayam merah and protein bowls. This saved each outlet one to two hours of food preparation time daily,” she said.
The two new programmes were developed based on insights from the Food Services Productivity Report, which the SGPC worked on in collaboration with EnterpriseSG.
The report, which includes interviews with and on-site assessments of more than 350 F&B companies, provides companies with industry-level benchmarks that enable them to measure their productivity levels and to improve their business performance.
The study identified three critical success factors for performance: systematic process optimisation, centralised food preparation, and technology-enabled solutions.
The new initiatives will support more than 1,000 food and beverage companies over the next two years.
“I encourage food and beverage businesses to embrace these opportunities to transform their operations, strengthen capabilities, and keep our food services sector vibrant and competitive,” said Ms Low, who is also Senior Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth.
