F&B sales up 40.1% YoY in May after removal of strict dine-in rules

The industry rendered $910m in sales.

After scrapping dine-in restrictions, the food and beverage (F&B) sales generated $910m in May 2022.

This is a massive 40.1% year-on-year increase, data from the Department of Statistics (DOS) showed.

Explaining this significant growth in May 2022, the DOS said it was on the back of removing strict dine-in measures compared to May last year, dine-in at the food establishments is not allowed.

This was also higher than the 11.6% F&B sales growth in April 2022, which reported a total of $815m total sales value.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, F&B sales went up by 7.9% in May 2022 over the previous month. Of this, online F&B sales made up over 24.4%, which declined from the 26.7% logged in April 2022.

Meanwhile, demand for event and in-flight catering services, and the reopening of borders led to food caterers sales growing by 101.6%.

Other F&B segments also increased as restaurant sales went up by 66%, cafes and food courts rose by 25%, and fast food outlets grew by 13.8%.