After a tumultuous 2020, this is a year to look forward to.

It’s time for the service industry, in which F&B plays an important role, to get back on its feet and who better to look to for support than today’s youth.
Millennials – a generation whose goal is to socialize – have been fueling this industry over recent years.

So how can we learn and cater to a segment such as this?
By observing them.

For one, they prioritize the environment they are in and who they eat with. Our sector needs to realize digital communication is key and in order to build trust among the young it needs to move away from traditional forms of promotion and rely on word-of-mouth through social media platforms.

Millennials are also part of a group that, at its very core, is averse to establishments that rely on duplication, such as celebrity restaurants and chains that use a common copy-and-paste method.
This is a generation that do not blindly chase stars but rather admire entrepreneurship and somehow always root for the underdogs.

Beyond the young, our sector needs to consider wider changes in society.
Working from home is now de rigeur with enormous impact on society and a shared awareness of possible crisis.

Telecommuting, flexible workplaces and hot desking that infiltrate our culture, force businesses to pivot and to realign themselves to fit into this domestic space.
This seems to translate into a trend of establishments focusing on smart, casual dining – that choose a single product they can hone and refine to attract attention – as well as home-based businesses, who produce just one item (or category) and rely on it entirely.

Such businesses utilize consultive marketing – selling not just food but knowledge and solutions.
For example, a salad shop that not just sells vegetables but also educates on sustainability and a zero-waste lifestyle. Or a home-based kombucha brewer, who also teaches classes on fermentation and their by-products.

In an environment affected by WFH, the future of businesses: how we think, create and sell will also change and businesses will need to cope with these new circumstances.

In my opinion, two types of F&B establishments will experience momentum from 2021:

Global brands like Starbucks and McDonald’s: will never disappear if they pay attention to market trends and the value they offer. Consumers know that no matter where they go in the world, one will receive a similar experience for their intrinsic qualities, such as consistency, efficiency and dependability,

Private dining and independent start-ups: will be supported by Generation Y and younger as long as they are mature in their usage of technology and social media, These businesses contribute to an eclectic dining market place making the Singapore F&B scene vibrant and indirectly contributing fresh social media content that millennials crave.
The desaturation of the Central Business District coupled with hopefully astute management will certainly favor the growth of these entities.