'There's no support for your cause': KF Seetoh advises aspiring hawkers and F&B owners to 'think twice' before starting business

Last Wednesday (March 6), the owner of The CoCo Rice, Aries Chan, announced that she would be shuttering both her stalls at Tiong Bahru Food Centre and One Punggol Hawker Centre. 

Since then, Makansutra founder and foodie KF Seetoh has taken to Facebook to share the factors behind Aries' stall closures, also cautioning aspiring F&B owners and hawkers to consider carefully before stepping into the business.

He also believed that there was a lack of support for hawkers in the industry.

In the post published on March 11, the 62-year-old claimed that when Aries was setting up shop at One Punggol Hawker Centre, the management of Punggol Social Enterprise Hawker Centre had told her that she couldn't sell nasi lemak as there was another stall in the same food centre that was already doing so. 

Therefore, Aries ended up hawking nasi kandar instead, which KF Seetoh said was "not her forte". 

Apart from allegedly not being able to cook her speciality dish, KF Seetoh shared that Aries was "worn down by high operation costs" and "felled by the abject lack and absence of manpower". 

He added that Aries faced difficulties with employing staff.

According to KF Seetoh, Aries had also shared that during some months, her revenue was in the negatives.

"Your passion, dreams and vision can merely be dust in the wind if society gives you no support to fly that ambition," KF Seetoh said. 

'I urge you to think twice': KF Seetoh 

The Makansutra founder also cautioned aspiring hawkers and F&B entrepreneurs about the risks that come with running a food business in Singapore. 

"If anyone is looking to start an F&B [business] or hawker stall in Singapore, be very careful. I urge you to think twice," he said. 

"There's no support for your cause and passion, no one represents your problem and concerns, and the hawker centre business model by the social enterprise hawker centres or SEHC management [is] non negotiable."

For context, hawker centres under the National Environment Agency's (NEA) SEHC programme are managed by socially-conscious enterprises.

In response to AsiaOne's queries, KF Seetoh opined that a tight labour market is "the main problem" that hawkers have to face. 

When asked what he thinks can be done to ease their hiring woes, he said: "Just lift that foreign manpower supply and remove the levies, these charges invariably go back to the customers.

"As it is, no locals want these hawker assistant jobs and you can't automate the tasks."

AsiaOne has reached out to the NEA for comment. 

Rising costs and hiring challenges: The CoCo Rice

In response to AsiaOne's queries, The CoCo Rice's Aries clarified some of KF Seetoh's comments in his Facebook post. 

She explained that she had not been forced to sell nasi kandar at One Punggol Hawker Centre.

"When I wanted to open a stall [there], I proposed two kinds of food I wanted to sell — nasi lemak and nasi kandar," she explained. 

But she was informed that another vendor had already been chosen to sell nasi lemak.

"They told me I can only sell one type of food," Aries added, so she decided to sell just nasi kandar.

Although she would've preferred to sell nasi lemak, as it was her forte, she said she didn't mind selling nasi kandar because it gave her a chance to "promote new food". 

"[The hawker centre] wants variety. I understand from their point of view. They don't want repetition." 

As for operational costs, Aries shared that rental-wise, it was "still okay" and manageable. 

The killer, though, were manpower costs and the rising cost of ingredients. Hiring people was also a problem. 

Aries shared that it has been hard finding Singaporeans or permanent residents who want to take up a hawker job. 

"I keep hiring such people and after I train them, a few months down the road, they say they don't want to work in this environment anymore because it's hot and the hours are long," said Aries, adding that it was an extremely "tiring" cycle. 

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melissateo@asiaone.com