Beach Road coffee shop imposes $10 surcharge for outside food, but owner says it's merely a 'deterrent'
Coffee shops are one of the most affordable places for food and drinks.
One coffee shop at Beach Road, however, has recently started implementing a $10 charge for diners who bring outside food and drinks onto their premises, reported Shin Min Daily News on Friday (Jan 6).
The management of this coffee shop pasted a notice on one of their pillars about a month ago, which reads: "No outside food and drinks allowed. A surcharge of $10 [sic]".
Richard, who has been managing the coffee shop for about six years, told the Chinese daily that diners tend to bring other items, including coffee from other F&B outlets into the premises.
"Because we also sell bread and coffee, it affects our business. Some customers don't even clean up after themselves before leaving," said the 66-year-old.
He also cited examples in the past where groups visited the coffee shop, but only one person would order food and drinks. "It's quite unreasonable," he griped.
Since the notice has gone up, Richard said that the situation has improved, with lesser diners coming in with outside food.
That being said, Richard also revealed that the management hasn't actually enforced the surcharge, and that the notice only serves as a deterrent.
Rather, his staff simply remind diners of the rule. "We simply point to the notice, and customers understand."
No rule against such regulations
According to Steven John Lam Kuet Keng, director of Templars Law LLC, coffee shops are private commercial establishments, which means that the owners and operators are free to come up with their own regulations for the premises.
Lam compared it to how some restaurants charge diners a corkage fee for bringing their own alcohol. "It's not illegal," he said.
Last June, a birthday celebration turned awry for a group of friends who were asked to fork out an extra $50 for bringing a cake from another F&B establishment.
Roy told Stomp then that he and his friends had made a reservation for five people at Le Jardin, a French restaurant at Fort Canning Park.
"Le Jardin did not allow a cake to be brought in by us for a birthday celebration. They claimed that no outside food was allowed and many restaurants in Singapore are like that as well.
"After some discussion, they informed us that they could allow us to eat the cake in the restaurant but a $50 charge would be added as they considered this an event."
However, Roy claimed that he was not informed about this regulation when he was making the reservation, or when the restaurant called to confirm — despite him mentioning twice that it was a birthday celebration.
Although they eventually reduced the charge to $20, Roy and his friends decided to dine at another restaurant in Clarke Quay.
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