Food & beverage research
in Singapore
A product can score well in a tasting lab and still fail on the shelf. Consumers eat in kitchens with screaming children, in food courts where they are already full from the stall next door, and from delivery bags that sat in a rider's backpack for forty minutes. We test food and beverage products in the conditions where they actually get consumed, with the statistical rigour needed to tell you whether the difference between two variants is real or noise.
Assembled has delivered food and beverage research spanning central location product testing with ANOVA and JAR scoring, in-home cooking ethnography, shopper intercept studies, menu optimisation programmes, and solo dining occasion research across Singapore's diverse consumer segments. Our F&B panel includes QSR regulars, home cooks, premium dining consumers, and F&B procurement decision-makers.
Every project description below follows our standard confidentiality practice. Client names are withheld. Participant identities in all photography are obscured or replaced in accordance with Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act. Product formulations and variant details remain confidential.
Central location testing and sensory evaluation
For a major QSR brand, we ran central location testing across four restaurant outlets with 120 consumers evaluating pizza variants. The research was designed to generate statistically significant comparisons between formulations, so we built the protocol around ANOVA analysis with post-hoc significance testing. Participants rated crust texture, flavour balance, cheese quality, topping freshness, and overall appeal. The subgroup analysis revealed that preference patterns split sharply by visit frequency. Heavy QSR consumers preferred bolder seasoning. Light visitors preferred subtler flavour profiles. A single "winning" variant did not exist across both segments.
A separate multi-phase programme for the same category tested eight distinct product variants across fried chicken, cheese combinations, and Korean-style preparations. Phase 1 established baseline performance using JAR (Just-About-Right) scoring, which identifies whether specific attributes over-deliver or under-deliver. One variant scored well on overall preference but JAR analysis showed it was perceived as too salty by 35% of participants. That finding would have been invisible in a simple preference ranking. Phase 2 tested the reformulated variants and confirmed the improvements held.
In-home cooking and consumption research
For a packaged food brand entering Southeast Asia, we conducted in-home ethnography sessions observing how Singaporean households actually prepare and consume meals. Researchers spent two to three hours in each kitchen, documenting pantry contents, cooking sequences, brand switching moments, and the gap between what participants said they cook and what was visible on their shelves. One household described themselves as "health-conscious" while their pantry contained twelve instant noodle varieties and no fresh vegetables. That contradiction, invisible in any survey, reshaped the brand's messaging strategy for Singapore.
The ethnographic approach also captured consumption contexts that product development teams rarely witness. A participant cooking dinner while supervising homework and answering work messages on her phone was not evaluating flavour with focused attention. She was evaluating speed, mess, and whether her children would eat it without complaint. These real-world constraints shaped product format recommendations that lab-based sensory testing would never surface.
Retail and shopper behaviour studies
For a global snack brand, we ran shopper intercept research across three supermarket chains in Singapore, observing and interviewing consumers at the point of purchase. Researchers documented the browse-to-basket journey, capturing how long shoppers spent in the aisle, which products they picked up and put back, and what triggered the final purchase decision. The research found that packaging back-of-pack claims influenced purchase more than front-of-pack design in two of the three retail environments, a finding that contradicted the brand's investment allocation between front and back packaging.
Shelf placement studies added a spatial dimension. We photographed competitive shelf sets across retailers and tested consumer navigation patterns using a combination of accompanied shopping trips and post-shop interviews. Consumers in one retailer consistently missed the brand because it was shelved with "international" foods rather than with the category competitors where shoppers expected to find it. Relocation to the correct aisle section produced measurable trial increases within the first quarter.
Menu optimisation and new occasion research
For a major QSR brand developing a solo meals concept, we designed a three-method programme with 165 participants. Focus groups explored the solo dining occasion, capturing what triggers a solo meal purchase, what emotional and functional needs it fulfils, and how it differs from ordering for a group. Central location testing evaluated product formats and portion sizes. A quantitative survey sized the market opportunity and measured concept acceptance. The integrated design meant qualitative findings explained the quantitative numbers, and the numbers validated what the focus groups suggested.
Solo meals turned out to be a distinct consumption occasion with its own logic. Portion expectations differed from simply halving a sharing size. Price-value calibration shifted because solo diners benchmarked against a hawker meal, not against the brand's own combo pricing. Packaging needed to signal "this is a complete meal for one" without triggering the social stigma some consumers still attach to eating alone. These insights shaped not just the product but the entire launch positioning, menu placement, and pricing architecture.
Why food research
matters in this market
Singapore is one of the most competitive food markets in the world per square kilometre. Four dynamics shape what research needs to capture.
Every food product in Singapore competes against hawker food that costs SGD 3-5 and tastes extraordinary. Consumers evaluate packaged meals, QSR offerings, and restaurant dishes against this benchmark. Price-value research in Singapore needs to account for a competitive floor that does not exist in most other developed markets.
Chinese, Malay, Indian, and Peranakan food traditions coexist in a single household. A "mainstream" flavour profile does not exist. Sensory research panels need ethnic balance to reflect actual consumption patterns, and product formulations need to account for spice tolerance, halal requirements, and dietary restrictions that vary across segments.
Heat and humidity affect product performance from warehouse to table. Textures change, packaging sweats, and shelf life compresses. Central location testing needs to evaluate products at realistic serving temperatures and humidity conditions. Lab results from temperate-climate R&D centres frequently fail to predict Singapore shelf performance.
A significant share of food consumption now arrives via delivery platforms. Products travel in thermal bags, sit in lobbies, and get reheated. Research that evaluates food only in freshly-prepared restaurant conditions misses how most consumers actually experience it. Delivery-state testing reveals a different set of product strengths and weaknesses.
For methodology details including focus groups, in-depth interviews, ethnography, and quantitative surveys, see our practical guide. For other industry specialisations, see our healthcare, financial services, and skincare & beauty research pages. For our IDI methodology, see in-depth interviews.
Talk to us about
food & beverage research
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