Kam's Roast Express at Ion Orchard reportedly 'kicked out' by food court operator, says director

Kam's Roast Express at Ion Orchard's Food Opera, a sub brand of Food Republic, will be shuttering at the end of June — after it's been reportedly "kicked out" of the food court, according to executive director Robert Chua. 

"After five solid years, Kam's Roast Express in Ion has reportedly been kicked out despite consistently being a daily top three sales stall and we are told it will not return, even after the revamped renovation," wrote the TV veteran and restaurateur in a Facebook post on Tuesday (June 2). "Kam's Roast will be leaving Ion at the end of this month." 

According to Robert, Kam's Roast had agreed to what it understood to be the food court operator's final offer and had signed an acceptance, but the acceptance was later rejected "after about a month".

"I'm disappointed to see that some F&B operators act in bad faith toward tenants — through unreasonable demand, interference and bullying," he continued, adding that "a top-performing stall being removed and an accepted offer being rejected doesn't make business sense". 

In the same post, he also announced that his F&B group would no longer do business with Food Republic and its parent company BreadTalk — and that its existing Kam's Roast and Ju Xing Fish outlets at The Food Place by Food Republic at Raffles City will not renew their contracts after they expire in two years. 

Other F&B franchises owned by Robert's group include Joy Luck Teahouse and Tim Ho Wan. 

Kam's Roast was first brought to Singapore by Robert in 2016, while the express outlet at Ion Orchard opened in June 2021. 

The restaurant specialises in Cantonese barbecued meats and currently has one main outlet at Jewel Changi Airport and two express kiosks, one at Ion Orchard and another at Raffles City. It was first started in Hong Kong by Kam Shui Fai and Kam Kinseng Kwan Sing as Yung Kee Restaurant.

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Food Republic is a food court concept founded by the BreadTalk Group — the F&B organisation behind its namesake bakery chain.

AsiaOne has reached out to Kam's Roast and the BreadTalk Group for comments.

Address: 2 Orchard Turn, #B4-03/04, Food Opera @ Ion, Singapore 238801
Opening hours: 10am to 9.30pm daily

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carol.ong@asiaone.com