How to Open a Coffee Shop (Kopitiam) in Singapore

The kopitiam is one of the most familiar formats in Singapore: a drinks counter serving kopi and teh, a row of food stalls, shared tables and often a fridge of beer. It looks simple from the outside. In practice, a coffee shop is a small property business, a drinks business and a payment-collection business at the same time. This guide is for two kinds of reader: the person who wants to run the whole coffee shop, and the hawker who wants to take a stall inside one. If you are weighing a hawker centre stall instead, read our hawker stall guide; for a standalone café, see how to open a café in Singapore.

Operator or stallholder: two ways into the coffee shop trade

The two roles carry very different risks.

	Coffee shop operator	Stallholder inside a coffee shop
What you hold	The lease or ownership of the whole unit	An agreement with the operator for one stall
Main income	Stall fees from stallholders, plus the drinks stall and often beer	Your own food or drink sales
SFA licence	Food Shop Licence for the coffeeshop	Food Stall Licence for your stall
Main risks	Rent on the whole unit, empty stalls, cleaning, staff, utilities, compliance	Stall fee against sales, the operator’s rules, the agreement’s length and exit terms
Starting capital	High: tender bid or purchase, fit-out, drinks stall, furniture	Lower: stall equipment, stock, deposit

Many operators start as stallholders or as drinks stall owners and move up once they understand the numbers. If you are new to F&B, running a stall first teaches you the footfall, peak hours and cost structure of a coffee shop without taking on the whole unit.

Finding a coffee shop: HDB tenders and private units

Most kopitiams sit in HDB estates. Broadly, you can get one in three ways: bid in an HDB tender for a rental coffee shop, buy or lease a privately owned coffee shop unit, or take over an existing operation.

HDB rental coffee shops

HDB lists its commercial units for rent, including eating houses, on its leasing portal, HDB Place2Lease. HDB’s January 2026 annex on budget meals refers to new rental coffee shops tendered “under PQM framework”, meaning bids are assessed on price and quality rather than rent alone. Tender documents set out the criteria, deposit, tenure and conditions for each unit, so read them carefully and check HDB for the current process.

The budget meal initiative after January 2026

According to HDB’s January 2026 announcement and its annex, changes took effect from 10 January 2026:

• New rental coffee shops: tenderers “are no longer required to propose budget meals as part of PQM tender proposal”. If the operator chooses to take part after winning the tender, it receives a 5% rental discount for the entire new tenancy term, and must offer one economy rice (two vegetable dishes and one meat), one halal meal, one breakfast item and two budget drinks.
• Existing rental coffee shops that take part receive a 5% rental discount for the full three-year tenancy term.
• Privately owned coffee shops that take part receive a discount on the Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL) fee for their Outdoor Refreshment Area, as set out in the annex.
• HDB’s announcement says operators who offer budget meals must pass the full discount on to participating stallholders.

If you take part, the drinks stall is directly involved: two budget drinks are part of the requirement. Price them as a separate item on your menu so you can track how many you sell.

Private coffee shops and takeovers

Buying or leasing a private coffee shop, or taking over an operator’s business, is a commercial deal between you and the seller or landlord. Check the approved use of the unit, the remaining lease, any existing stallholder agreements you would inherit, and whether any Outdoor Refreshment Area is covered by a current licence. Get a lawyer to review the documents before you pay a deposit.

Licences: food shop licence for the coffee shop, food stall licence for each stall

SFA’s list of businesses that need a licence puts coffeeshops under the Food Shop Licence, and puts individual stall units inside coffeeshops, food courts and canteens under the Food Stall Licence. Stalls in NEA-managed hawker centres are different: SFA says NEA helps hawker stall operators get their SFA licences as part of tenancy administration.

Licence	Who needs it	SFA fee and validity
Food Shop Licence	The coffee shop operator, for the premises	$195, valid one year
Food Stall Licence	Each stallholder inside the coffee shop, including the drinks stall if it is run as a separate stall	$32 a year

SFA’s application process page says the stallholder applies for the Food Stall Licence. The documents include the tenancy or lease agreement and the IRAS Certificate of Stamp Duty. If the main operator pays stamp duty on behalf of stallholders, SFA says to ask the operator for a copy of the certificate. The application also needs a layout plan showing where your stall sits within the coffee shop. Operators can make this easier by keeping a clean floor plan with stall numbers ready to share. Apply through GoBusiness, and check the latest fees there.

Staff who prepare food and drinks must meet SFA’s food handler requirements, including the WSQ Food Safety Course Level 1. That applies to the person brewing kopi as much as the cook.

Selling beer: the liquor licence

Beer is a steady earner for many coffee shops, but it needs a liquor licence from the Singapore Police Force, applied for on GoBusiness. SPF’s licence classes page lists:

• Class 2A: beer only, consumed on the premises, 0600 to 2359hrs, $460 a year.
• Class 2B: beer only, consumed on the premises, hours as indicated on the licence, $285 a year.
• Class 1A and 1B cover all liquor, if you also want to sell spirits or wine.

SPF’s application page says the application needs approval from the land authority, such as HDB, and that processing takes about three weeks once complete. Geylang and Little India are Liquor Control Zones with shorter hours. Our bar guide covers the classes, conditions and zones in detail.

Decide early who sells beer. In many coffee shops the operator holds the licence and sells beer from the drinks stall, often alongside beer promoters from the brewers. Whatever the arrangement, beer sales should go through one till so you can reconcile stock against sales.

Running the drinks stall

For many operators the drinks stall is the core of the business: nearly every table orders a drink, and drinks are fast to prepare and easy to price. It is also the busiest counter at breakfast.

The kopi and teh vocabulary is a modifier problem

A regular can order “kopi-o kosong peng”, “teh-c siew dai” or “kopi gao” in one breath. Each is a base drink plus a set of choices:

• Base: kopi, teh, Milo, Horlicks, cham (kopi and teh mixed).
• Milk: condensed milk (default), -o (no milk), -c (evaporated milk).
• Sugar: normal, siew dai (less sweet), kosong (no sugar), ga dai (more sweet).
• Strength: normal, gao (strong), po (weak).
• Temperature: hot, peng (iced), sometimes with a surcharge for iced.
• Takeaway: da bao, with a packaging charge if you have one.

If you set up every combination as a separate item, the menu becomes unmanageable. In a POS, the cleaner approach is a short list of base drinks with modifiers for milk, sugar, strength and temperature, and a price adjustment only where one applies. ChaChaCha supports custom modifiers, and its English and 中文 interface and kitchen tickets suit counters where staff work in different languages. Keep the button layout in the order customers speak, so staff can tap as they listen.

Speed and stock

• Put the top ten drinks on the first screen. Most orders at breakfast are the same few.
• Track stock you can count: condensed milk, evaporated milk, canned drinks, beer and packaging. See our inventory management page for the basics.
• If tables order from a drinks runner, decide whether staff collect cash at the table or customers pay at the counter, and train everyone the same way.

Sub-letting stalls and licensee agreements

The agreement between operator and stallholder is the most important document in a coffee shop. It is a private contract, so terms vary widely. Whether you are the operator writing it or the stallholder signing it, make sure it covers:

• Stall fee structure. A fixed monthly fee, a share of sales, or a mix. If any part depends on sales, the agreement must say how sales are measured.
• Term, renewal and exit. How long the agreement runs, notice periods, and what happens if the operator’s own tenancy ends early.
• What the fee includes. Utilities, cleaning, pest control, dishwashing, table clearing, gas and waste collection.
• Menu rules. Most operators avoid duplicating dishes between stalls. Some reserve all drinks, including canned and bottled drinks, for the drinks stall.
• Payment collection. Whether stalls take their own payments or the operator collects centrally, and when and how the operator pays out.
• Budget meals. If the coffee shop takes part in HDB’s initiative, which stalls provide which meals and how the rental discount is passed on.
• Licensing and hygiene. Who applies for what, and who is responsible for food handler training and records.
• Deposit and fit-out. Deposit amount and refund terms, and who owns equipment when the stallholder leaves.

Stallholders should ask for the full agreement in writing before paying anything, and have it read by a lawyer if the sums are significant. Operators should use one standard agreement for all stalls so rules are consistent.

Cashless payments: SGQR, PayNow and CDC vouchers

Coffee shop customers now pay in many ways: cash, PayNow, PayLah!, NETS, cards and vouchers. A single SGQR code, as described by MAS, lets customers pay with many e-wallets and banking apps from one code at the counter.

Heartland coffee shops can also register to accept CDC Vouchers. Redemption runs on a separate merchant app, not your SGQR or card terminal, so staff need to know which to use. Our CDC Vouchers merchants guide explains registration, scanning and payouts.

ChaChaCha takes PayNow, PayLah!, NETS, Visa/Mastercard and GrabPay through DBS, UOB and 2C2P, with split payments and automated reconciliation. For stalls, the practical test is simple: at the end of the day, can you see how much came in by each payment method, and does it match the bank? See POS payments for more.

Collection and reporting across many stalls

This is where coffee shop operations get messy. There are two common set-ups:

1. Each stall collects its own money. Simple for the operator, but any sales-based fee depends on each stall’s own records, and customers may have to pay at several counters.
2. Central collection. Customers pay at one point, or through a shared QR code, and the operator pays stallholders their share. This needs sales recorded by stall, and a clear settlement statement for each stallholder.

Central collection is closer to how a food court works. If you are considering it, read our food court POS page and our comparison of multi-outlet POS systems, which covers central menus and consolidated reporting. Ask any vendor, including us, to show you exactly how sales are split by stall and how settlement reports look, and get it in writing.

Whatever the set-up, the reports that matter are daily sales by stall, sales by payment method, voids and refunds, and a monthly summary that matches the bank. ChaChaCha’s reports and Xero integration help keep those figures tied to your accounts. QR ordering can also take pressure off the drinks counter at peak times; see QR ordering.

Costs, funding and grants

Costs vary too much between units to give reliable figures without a source, so plan by category:

• Premises: tender bid rent or purchase price, deposits, stamp duty, legal fees.
• Fit-out: drinks counter, plumbing, exhaust for cooking stalls, tables and chairs, fans, lighting, signage.
• Licences: SFA Food Shop Licence ($195), Food Stall Licences ($32 each a year, usually paid by stallholders), liquor licence if you sell beer.
• Equipment and systems: coffee boilers, chillers, dishwashing, POS terminals, printers and payment devices.
• Working capital: wages, utilities, stock and a buffer for empty stalls in the first months.

Use our POS cost calculator and POS cost guide for the technology line. Our F&B business plan guide walks through a full budget and cash-flow forecast.

From 30 September 2026, PSG, EDG and MRA combine into the EDGE Grant. Enterprise Singapore states support of “up to 70% for SMEs”, with levels differing by activity, paid on a reimbursement basis. AppsPOS has been a PSG pre-approved vendor and is approved under the EDGE Grant; see our grant guide for how it applies to a POS.

Kopitiam checklist

If you are the operator

1. Decide on HDB tender, private purchase or lease, or takeover.
2. Check HDB Place2Lease for eating house tenders and read each tender’s conditions.
3. Decide whether to join the budget meal initiative and plan which stalls provide which items.
4. Register your business and apply for the SFA Food Shop Licence on GoBusiness.
5. Apply for a beer or liquor licence with land authority approval, allowing about three weeks.
6. Draft one standard stallholder agreement and a floor plan with stall numbers.
7. Decide on stall-by-stall or central collection, and how you will settle with stallholders.
8. Set up the drinks stall POS with base drinks and modifiers, and a single SGQR at the counter.
9. Register for CDC Vouchers if eligible.
10. Check EDGE Grant eligibility before you sign for equipment or systems.

If you are a stallholder

1. Get the full agreement in writing and check fees, term, exit and what the fee includes.
2. Get the tenancy agreement and Certificate of Stamp Duty, and apply for your Food Stall Licence.
3. Make sure everyone handling food has WSQ Food Safety Course Level 1.
4. Agree how payments are collected and how you will see your daily sales.

If you want to see how ChaChaCha would handle a drinks stall or a multi-stall set-up, contact us for a quote. Pricing is quote-based.