Dirty laundry is not the first thing that comes to mind when you are about to open a food and beverage (F&B) outlet in Singapore. However, restaurant laundry should be a concern for aspiring chefs as much as perfecting the Mise en place. Let’s look at some of the most important reasons why F&B entrepreneurs should think seriously about laundry for restaurants from day one:
There are many factors that customers take into consideration when rating a restaurant, and it is not solely limited to the culinary presentation. Even if your menu tastes great and the Amuse-bouche selection looks stunning, customers will not be happy if the tablecloths, dish towels, and napkins look filthy. Everyone prefers to eat in hygienic surroundings. Therefore, your F&B enterprise should prioritise clean linen, starting with the initial plans to launch. Crisp white uniforms and fresh-smelling napkins will leave a great first impression and keep customers coming back for more.
Other than customers, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) may also take a keen interest in your restaurant laundry. While the SFA doesn’t specifically list regulations for laundering linen, the agency does have elaborate guidelines for cleaning and sanitising F&B business premises. Unclean tablecloths or napkins, therefore, may raise red flags during inspections. You can avoid the extra headache by having your restaurant laundry professionally cleaned to remove stains and disinfected to meet the necessary hygiene standards. In addition to the laundry that comes into contact with customers, clean uniforms and linens for your employees are also an important part of keeping your business premises hygienic and aligned with workplace safety standards.
If you thought doing laundry at home is bad, cleaning commercial laundry is an art of its own. Unlike personal laundry, commercial laundry undergoes several steps to completely sanitise and disinfect. If you are doing business laundry on-site, you may need to specially train your staff to follow these procedures and properly operate the necessary equipment. You can save the hassle by hiring a third-party laundry service provider experienced in cleaning F&B laundry. In addition to simply sanitizing, cleaners also take precautions to ensure your fabrics are not ruined in the process.
Doing restaurant laundry requires expensive equipment, trained staff, and, more importantly, space, which is often in short supply in tightly packed Singapore. The exorbitant costs of on-site laundry may come as a surprise later if you do not factor it into your initial business plan. You can keep costs down, and save up on precious space, by outsourcing your commercial laundry needs.
Focus more on building a world-class restaurant by outsourcing your laundry requirements to New York Laundry, a fabric cleaning specialist with over two decades of experience in Singapore. Avoid the costs and fuss of managing an on-site laundromat by letting the professionals do all the work! New York Laundry’s 3-point “Quality Wash” programme guarantees stain-free linens and speedy delivery. Call a customer representative at (65) 6759-8184 to learn more.
