Why did F&B receipts crash last month?

F&B sector grew only 4.2% yoy in February as Singaporeans avoided restaurants, fast food places and caterers.

All three sub-sectors took a hit. Restaurant sales contracted 2% yoy from an 18.5% growth in January 2012, with fast food outlets dropping from 3.6% yoy from 15.7% and food caterers reducing to near-zero growth from a blistering 17.3%.

Only the other eating places sub-sector -- which consists of cafes and canteens -- showed strengthening receipts with an impressive 13.7% growth from a flattish 1.9%.

Here's more from Department of Statistics Singapore:

Sales of Food & Beverage Services. Sales of food & beverage services (seasonally adjusted) increased 5.6% in February 2012 compared to the previous month. Compared to a year ago, sales of food & beverage services went down 4.2% in February 2012.

Month-on-Month Change (Seasonally Adjusted). After seasonal adjustment, all major segments reported higher turnover in February 2012 over January 2012. Turnover of restaurants, other eating places (such as cafes and canteens) and fast food outlets went up between 3.9% and 8.2%. Food caterers reported a marginal 0.6% increase in receipts compared to the previous month.

Year-on-Year Change. Compared to February 2011, other eating places recorded a 13.7% increase in receipts in February 2012. Turnover of fast food outlets and food caterers also rose 3.6% and 0.9% respectively. On the other hand, turnover of restaurants decreased 2.0% in February 2012 over February 2011.