This is an English adaptation of a FoodBud historical article originally published on August 23, 2022.
Hongzhang Consumer Research, in an article by Hongzhang Investment founding partner Weng Yinuo, described Singapore as a priority base for exploring overseas investment and entrepreneurship opportunities, especially as Chinese restaurant chains look beyond their home market.
Southeast Asia is viewed in the article as having a special role in the future geopolitical landscape, with Singapore standing out as the region's most developed market and one of Asia's densest hubs for corporate headquarters.
The article also highlights the rise of family offices in Singapore. Over recent decades, major entrepreneurs and families across China, India, South Korea and Japan have created substantial wealth, increasing demand for institutionalized private-wealth management.
Typical family office functions include:
Singapore has become a preferred Asian jurisdiction for family offices because of its reputation as an international financial center, regulatory framework, infrastructure, stable pro-business policy environment and tax incentives. The article notes that entrepreneurs not only from mainland China, but also Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia, have been setting up family investment offices there. In 2019, the Singapore Economic Development Board and the Monetary Authority of Singapore established the Family Office Development Team to strengthen Singapore's position as a family-office hub.
Singapore has nearly 6 million people, including 3.5 million citizens and 500,000 permanent residents. Its ethnic mix is roughly 75% Chinese, 15% Malay and 10% Indian. Although Chinese consumers are the largest group, the article stresses that they are not homogeneous: Singaporean Chinese and Malaysian Chinese are major groups, while ancestral food preferences include Fujian, Guangdong, Hainan and other mainland Chinese provincial influences brought by students, new immigrants, work-permit holders and tourists.
For non-Chinese consumers, local Malay Singaporeans are largely Muslim, and most eat only halal-certified food. Halal certification is therefore an important route to a broader addressable market.
The pandemic had a major impact on Singapore foodservice over the previous three years, forcing many brand stores to close. From early 2022, the market began to recover, with fast food, coffee shops and food courts showing more visible growth.
Coffee-shop formats account for a large share of local foodservice. Singapore has a deep coffee culture, especially in residential neighborhoods where clusters of coffee shops serve weekend family traffic.
FLASH COFFEE is cited as a standout coffee and tea chain, with yellow-and-red storefronts, small takeaway-led shops and a main price band of S$4-8. The article compares the model to Luckin Coffee in China, while noting that FLASH COFFEE is more concentrated on commercial streets rather than office-building locations.
BreadTalk is described as close to a national bakery brand in Singapore, while its Toast Box format is positioned as a typical Singapore-style Western all-day dining concept. In malls, the two brands are often located together or opposite each other. The operating logic is complementary: Toast Box supports dine-in and traffic capture, while BreadTalk serves takeaway occasions.
Fei Siong Group is highlighted as a successful local restaurant group, with Encik Tan as its star brand. Encik Tan serves halal-certified Malay food and targets the full Singapore population, with strong store count and traffic.
PUTIEN, founded by Singapore-based Fujian entrepreneur Fang Zhizhong, is described as a leading casual Chinese dining brand. Its milestones include Singapore's Excellent Service Award in 2005, a Bib Gourmand listing in the Michelin Guide Hong Kong Macau 2016 in 2015, and a Michelin one-star award for its Kitchener Road flagship in the Michelin Guide Singapore 2016. The article sees the brand as well suited to family dining and small gatherings, with the core challenge being the balance between standardized supply chain and store-level traffic operations.
JUMBO is presented as a highly resonant Singapore Chinese dining brand. Founded in 1987, JUMBO Group is best known for chili crab and black pepper crab, and is popular with tourists. Its portfolio includes JUMBO Seafood, JUMBO Hotpot, Ng Ah Sio Bak Kut Teh, Chui Huay Lim Teochew Cuisine, J Cafe, Yoshimaru Ramen and Singapore Seafood Republic. The seaside JUMBO location is described as a preferred place to host visitors to Singapore and as extremely busy on weekends.
The article frames overseas expansion as an increasingly important strategic topic for Chinese restaurant chains. By market size, North America, especially Canada and the United States, and Southeast Asia are seen as the major target regions. Southeast Asia, however, is fragmented, with each country functioning as a separate market and with distinct consumer profiles and behaviors.
For that reason, many Chinese restaurant brands choose Singapore as a regional headquarters and localize supply chains where needed. The preferred path described is to prove the model in Singapore first, then replicate into Indonesia, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian markets. Because Singapore has a large Chinese consumer base, it has become a common bridgehead for Chinese restaurant brands entering Southeast Asia.
Hot pot is one of the strongest categories in Singapore. Haidilao is identified as the largest operator in the category. Singapore was Haidilao's first overseas market: its Clarke Quay restaurant opened in 2012, marking the beginning of its global expansion. In 2013, Haidilao opened in Arcadia, Los Angeles; in 2014, it opened in Seoul; in 2015, it entered Taiwan and Japan; and in 2017, it entered Hong Kong.
In 2021, Haidilao's restaurants outside mainland China generated RMB2.722 billion in revenue, accounting for 6.9% of total restaurant-operation revenue. Its overseas restaurants also had higher average spend than mainland China: RMB197.9 per customer outside mainland China versus RMB101.2 in mainland China in 2021. The article notes that overseas restaurants also face higher labor and rent costs and must adapt to local markets and consumer habits.
The article also discusses Haidilao's then-considered plan to spin off Super Hi International Holding Ltd by way of distribution in specie and list it separately on the Hong Kong Main Board by introduction. Super Hi and its subsidiaries primarily operated restaurant businesses outside Greater China, including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Haidilao's board believed the proposed spin-off would serve the interests of the company and shareholders by allowing Super Hi and the rest of the group to develop better within their respective geographies and create future value on an independent listed platform.
From a consumer-experience perspective, Haidilao's signature services, including noodle performances, birthday celebrations and gifts, were widely shared on overseas social media. On TikTok, searches for HAIDILAO included many posts around noodle dance, free toy and nail salon themes, with many videos exceeding 100,000 views.
The article says hot pot overall has been broadly accepted by Singapore consumers and has moved beyond an old low-end image. Most chain hot pot brands are positioned in the mid-to-high range. Chinese brands Xiaolongkan and Dalongyi also had Singapore stores, with strong weekend traffic. Their soup bases and seasonings were shipped from Chinese supply chains to preserve authentic flavor.
Chinese beverage brands Nayuki and Heytea had also entered Singapore. Based on the author's observation, their business appeared average, possibly because of positioning, with mainland Chinese tourists making up a large share of buyers. Singapore's tea-drink market was still dominated by pearl milk tea and Taiwanese brands, while fruit tea had not yet become highly popular. Coconut-themed shops, fresh juice shops and yogurt shops were commonly seen local beverage formats.
Specialized Chinese dining formats also had successful examples. Yunhaiyao's Yunnan cuisine was viewed as having a good reputation in Singapore, with distinctive dishes. For Chinese diners, the product was described as broadly authentic, especially steam-pot chicken and mushroom dishes.
Singapore foodservice had been hit hard by the pandemic, especially individual small operators, but closures also freed up some high-quality retail locations. Labor is a major constraint: government rules on foreign-worker allocation make staffing costly and difficult. This differs sharply from mainland China and limits the appetite for large-scale chain expansion.
Although average ticket size is relatively high, labor cost as a share of revenue is also high. Central-kitchen food-safety inspections are strict, and prime store rents are expensive.
The article's summary view is that Chinese cuisine has much higher acceptance in Singapore than in the past, and leading brands are showing a trend toward chain operation. However, because the population base is small and community lifestyles differ from China, the ceiling for store scale is visible. In general, a chain with more than 10 stores can already be considered relatively large in Singapore.
Singapore's mixed population gives the market a highly diverse dining landscape, with cuisines from many countries and many long-standing local brands that remain popular. The article's preliminary judgment is that Singapore still offers significant opportunity for new foodservice brands, but operators should lower scale expectations. The more practical role is as a starting point for expansion into other Southeast Asian markets, and as a headquarters and management base.
Note: IPO, spin-off, revenue and forward-looking expansion comments above reflect the article's historical context as of August 23, 2022.