A TikTok video has gone viral, dubbing a Koufu outlet at Le Quest Mall the “saddest Koufu in Singapore”.
Posted by yokey017 on Aug 14, the subtitle read: “Only 4 out of 11 stalls open. Drinks, caifan, western, chicken rice.”
The video pans across a near-empty food court, showing numerous vacant stalls – some with their signboards still up, but no stall owners in sight.
It’s unclear when or what time the video was taken.
The New Paper understands the lease for Koufu Le Quest is ending in October.
Netizens speculate reasons
The post quickly gained traction, amassing more than 120,000 views and 1,000 likes.
“This food court has been like this for the longest time,” said a comment.
Many netizens pointed to steep rentals as a possible reason for the closures.
“Government should look into rental issue,” one wrote, with some estimating rent for a small stall to be about $8,000 to $10,000 a month. Others pointed to manpower shortages.
“High rentals and lack of manpower are always the reasons,” one user commented.
“No one wants to work a 12-hour shift with low pay and demanding customers expecting their food to be ready in five minutes.”
Another highlighted the plethora of options available. “It’s too competitive laaa. There’s a few coffee shops surrounding the area, and there’re other food stores in Le Quest,” said a user.
Rising food prices also came up as a concern, with some lamenting that higher rentals were often passed on to customers – pushing them towards cheaper options such as the hawker centre nearby.
Others urged stallholders not to accept unsustainable rental rates.
“If rental costs are high, just reject it. If everyone cooperates, landlords will eventually be forced to revise the prices,” another added.
Other outlets too?
Several commenters say they’ve observed similar scenes elsewhere.
“(The outlet at) Anchorpoint is also in the same situation,” said one user. Another pointed out: “There’s one opposite Taman Jurong hawker center, it’s quite empty too.”
“Hawker culture will die very soon if it continues at this rate,” one remarked.
In response to queries from The New Paper, Koufu Group acknowledged that some foodcourts may currently have lower stall occupancy “due to factors such as evolving consumer preferences, shifting foot traffic patterns, and post-pandemic recovery trends”, but said this was “not representative of our overall network performance”.
The group added that it is “actively engaging” with potential tenants, introducing new dining concepts, and enhancing marketing initiatives to boost customer traffic and tenant interest.
“Many of our foodcourts continue to enjoy strong occupancy and footfall, and with over two decades in operation, we remain confident in our long-term strategy to adapt to market changes, support our tenants, and deliver quality and variety to the communities we serve.”
TNP has reached out to yokey017 for comment.
According to its website, Koufu Group, established in 2002, aims to “bring forth ‘Koufu’ to everyone”, with a mission to provide good food and service rooted in traditional Singaporean cooking and the coffee shop culture.
In addition to operating Koufu food courts, the group also manages other food hall brands such as Gourmet Paradise and Happy Hawkers, as well as concept stores like Dough Culture and cafés such as 1983 Coffee & Toast.
