Restaurants losing to fast food outlets as receipts dip in April 2014

Grab and go food sales increase by 2.1%.

Restaurateurs need to put extra effort in to wooing their customers, as data from the Department of Statistics revealed that restaurants recorded a 1.3% month on month decrease in receipts for April 2014.

Other eating places such as cafes and canteens also recorded a 1.2% month on month decline, while food caterers logged a 0.3% decrease.

During the same period, fast food outlets recorded an increase of 2.1% in receipts compared to the previous month.

Here’s more from the Department of Statistics:

Compared to April 2013, turnover of other eating places (such as cafes and canteens), fast food outlets and food caterers rose between 1.6% and 3.9% in April 2014.

However, turnover of restaurants decreased 0.8% during this period.

The Retail Sales Index (RSI) and Food & Beverage Services Index (FSI) measure the short-term performance of retail and food & beverage (F&B) services industries based on the sales records of retail and F&B services establishments. Sales figure refers to the value of retail goods or food & beverages sold to consumers during the month, excluding taxes on products such as Goods and Services Tax (GST), Additional Registration Fee (ARF) and Certificates of Entitlement (COE).