SECTION I

From Lab to Table

On a Wednesday evening in March, hundreds of people showed up at Lau Pa Sat, the food centre in the heart of Singapore's Central Business District, to try a new kind of patty. It is madefromplantsbutclaimstocloselymimicthetasteofbeef-itevenbleeds.Atthatevening's event, San Francisco's Impossible Foods launched its latest product in Singapore. In the two months since, the plant-based "meat" patty has become available at more than 45 establishments throughout thecity.

Social media is abuzz with posts decreeing that it was hard to tell the difference between the fake meat patty and the real thing. The Impossible 2.0 "beef" tastes and smells just like real beef,anditsmanufacturersayseatingitinsteadofregularbeefcansavetheplanetbecausethe production of beef, particularly cattle farming, emits more greenhouse gases and uses more water than plant-based alternatives and takes up vast tracts of land that ought to be returned to thewild.

Impossible Foods is not the only player competing for a slice of the US$1.5 trillion ($2.04 trillion) animal-based protein industry. Its top competitor is Beyond Meat, founded by vegan Ethan Brown in Los Angeles. The company launched its product in Singapore last October. And, parallel to this plant-based meat industry is a cultured meat one where genuine meat is grown in labs using stem cells from animals. This industry is still in the early stage, but researchers are looking at growing "chicken", "fish" and "beef" at a price comparable with their farmed equivalents in the near future.

Humans, it seems, no longer have to rely on farmed meats. And that is good news for a world that international agencies think is bursting at its seams. The global population is set to hit 10 billion by 2050, at which point the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says meatconsumptionwillincreaseby73%.Thatdemandcannotbemetbasedoncurrentlivestock production systems because the industry already uses 70% of global agriculturalland.

Yet, how plausible is it that consumers the world over will give up actual meat for engineered proteins? Is the industry as sustainable as it claims to be? What about food safety?

Rising to the bait

ItseemstobegoingwellforImpossibleFoodsatleast,whichhasgrownitsrestaurantpartners globally by six fold over the past year. In Singapore, Three Buns Quayside, one of the first restaurantstoaddImpossibleFoodsproductstoitsmenuintheformoftwoburgers,saysboth have been top sellers. "Reception has been really good. People are buying it because they are intrigued and want to try and see if they can tell the difference," says executive chef Adam Penney. "Even after the hype has died down, people will still go for it." Bread Street Kitchen by Gordon Ramsay and CUT by Wolfgang Puck are also reporting positive responses from diners regarding the plant-based patties and say they may add more of such options to their menus.

Onthelab-grownmeatfront,alsoknownasculturedmeatorcleanmeat,therearenoconsumer studies here yet. But a 2016 survey in the US of 673 respondents found that 65% definitelyor

likelytotryit.Ofthose,athirdsaidtheywouldconsumethemeatregularly,thoughonlyabout 15% would pay more for such meat compared with conventionalmeat.

Still, for fake meat and cultured meat to replace the animal protein consumers are used to is a stretch,saysPaulTeng,aprofessorattheCentreforNon-TraditionalSecurityStudiesattheS Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). "People are used to eating animal protein and even though plant-based protein has become so much more attractive, to actually compete as a food preference with animal meat, that's going to require a generational change, and that takes roughly 30years."

Another question is whether the new food is as nutritious and sustainable as the companies claim. So far, there are no long-term studies on the impact the new food has on human health, ecosystems and food supply chains. Agriculture industry groups in Missouri have pressed the state into passing a law banning the use of the term "meat" for food not harvested from livestock or poultry.

The proponents of these meat-replacement products assert that the alternatives are even better than the original. For one, lab-grown meats are just like genuine meat since they are grown fromstemcells,saysKelvinNg,headofstrategicinnovationattheBioprocessingTechnology Institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research(A*STAR).

Plant-basedoptionsareevenbetterthanlab-grownmeatssincetheyarewithoutthecholesterol inherent in meat, according to Ricky Lin, founder of Singapore plant-based meat company Life3 Biotech. He says the food can even be engineered to be good for health, for example by adding ingredients that help reduce cholesterol inconsumers.

On the sustainability front, companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have conductedlife-cycleassessments,whichcomparethegreenhousegasemissionsandwaterand electricityuseintheentireprocessofproducingtheseproductswiththoseintheproductionof regular beef. Impossible Foods says in producing 1kg of its "beef", it uses 96% less land, produces 89% less greenhouse gas emissions and 92% less aquatic pollutants while Beyond Burger uses 99% less water, 93% less land, generates 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions and requires 46% less energy than that needed to produce a regular beefburger.

Plant-based meat is also more sustainable because the industry cuts out the middle process of using crops to feed the livestock. Rather, the crops are immediately turned into "beef" in a production facility that requires less water and space than livestock would require. Says Kim Stengert, communications director at WWF Singapore: "In meat substitutes, we're eating the crops we grow instead of feeding them to animals that we later eat, so the environmental footprint will be smaller."

Elaine Siu from the Good Food Institute notes: "According to the World Resource Institute, it takes nine calories of corn, soy or wheat to get just one calorie of edible chicken meat. That's an 800% food waste. Growing more food means using that much more land, water, fertiliser, fossilfuels,pesticidesandherbicides.Itisinherentlymoreefficientandsustainabletoproduce meat either directly from plants, or growing the cells directly, instead of growing theanimal."

Proof of the pudding

Ultimately, the factors holding back the mass adoption and consumption of meat-replacement products are price and taste. Impossible 2.0, for example, costs Penney from Three Buns

Quaysidethreetimesasmuchasregularbeef-although,ontheplusside,itcankeepforlonger than beef and is more consistent in terms of taste and quality. Penney makes a smaller profit by pricing the Impossible Burgers at a more palatable rate for consumers, they cost $27 each compared with $17 for a conventional one with comparableingredients.

Lab-grown meats are even more expensive because they are grown in pharmaceutical-grade nutrient media and placed in bioreactors that simulate the temperature considerations of a live body.Indeed,anotherissuethattheyfaceisthetextureandtasteofthemeatreplacements.But these issues industry watchers believe can be easily overcome. The first lab-grown burger presented in August 2013 cost US$330,000 to produce. By March 2016, Memphis Meats had unveiled a lab-grown meatball at a cost of US$18,000 a pound. A year later, it had chicken nuggets that cost US$6,000 apound.

Still, industry watchers do not expect a complete replacement of livestock meat with plant- basedandlab-grownalternatives.Whilethefoodindustryisinnovatingwithalternativemeats, the agriculture industry has not been idle. Says Teng from NTU: "The money invested in outdoor farming far outstrips indoor and cellular farming, so there will be a lot of progress in outdoorfarming."AddsGhazalli:"Weexpectthatfakemeatsandculturedmeatswillgradually command a larger slice of the pie as the adoption rate goes up and alternative meats become more popular, but it is likely that both traditional and alternative meats will coexist in the supermarketaisles."

Finally, there is the socioeconomic aspect to the consumption of these foods. The concept of clean eating is still very much a privileged preference of the First World. "In low-income countries, there are no viable substitutes for meat that can offer the same caloric value, and complete substitution could be detrimental to health. In addition, livestock farming provides income to about one billion people, most of whom are in the lower-income group," Ghazalli says. "While it is easy to see the positive environmental impact of replacing farmed meat, we also need to ensure the socio-economic impacts, which can be very profound, are mitigated."

(adapted for academic purposes from The Edge Singapore, 6 May 2019)

Question 1

(a)Describetheneeds,wantsanddemandsofconsumerswhowouldeatplant-basedmeats such as Impossible meats or Beyond Burger at restaurants like Bread Street Kitchen and Three BunsQuayside.

(b)Evaluatethree(3)macroenvironmentforcesandexplain,withsupportinginformation,one (1)trend each that will impact the growth and success of Impossible Meats and BeyondBurger.

(Note: It is necessary to conduct secondary research and support your discussions with evidence.)

SECTION II

Singapore's historic Raffles Hotel reopens following two-year makeover

Singapore'shistoricRafflesHotelhasofficiallyreopenedtoguestsfollowingextensiverenovations that left the hotel completely closed for about twoyears.

Duringarecentvisittothehotel,justdayspriortoitsofficial1stAugustreopening,theexcitement among staff is palpable -- and no one is more thrilled than general manager Christian Westbeld to see their years of conceptualizing and hard work finally on display to theworld.

"We think this will never be done again on this scale," he tells CNN Travel. "We've taken this renovation very seriously and we've put a lot of effort and time into it. The extended time it took has been wisely invested.

"The hotel is a lot fresher. Areas look a lot brighter, they look a lot lighter, they look a lot more invitingandapproachable,whichissomethingthatwewantedtoachieve.Wewantedtore-lookat luxury -- not being stiff, formal and intimidating but rather engaging and conversational. It's very comfortable and beyond anything that is available inSingapore."

Thiswasnoordinarymakeover.Withthelastmajorrenovationtakingplacein1991,RafflesHotel Singapore, which opened in 1887, needed a complete overhaul. But the challenge of course was how to retain the aura of the hotel's colonial architecture while also providing modern travellers with the tech and comforts they've come to expect in a luxurystay.

Never mind that every move they made required government approval this is a historic Singapore property, which was designated a national monument in 1987.

"We did not lose the architectural charm, the colonial heritage," says Westbeld, noting that plans for the renovation were actually in the work for close to a decade.

"ThatisthebiggestplusandIthinkthethingpeoplewillnoticefirst.Yetatthesametimewehave modernized in a way that is deserved for the current Singapore time and era we're in," Westbeld continued.

Though much of the renovations would not be on display to guests i.e. back of the house stuff like engineering systems and kitchens repeat guests of Raffles Singapore will spot the tangible changes as soon as they step foot in the lobby, which no longer has a front desk.

This has made way for the Writers Bar, already proving to be a popular after-work spot among young locals, based on the crowds we saw during our recent visit.

Moving to the guest rooms, the revitalized Raffles offers nine categories of suites: State Room Suites, Courtyard Suites, Palm Court Suites, Personality Suites, Residence Suites, Promenade Suites, Grand Hotel Suites and Presidential Suites.

"Suites are much more comfortable than before. No noise disturbances. Beautiful bathrooms. Technologythatisnotoverpoweringitisjustanaddedtooltomakeyourlifealittlebiteasier," says Westbeld.

"It was always very clear for us what we wanted to achieve. We never want to be in the headlines orthenewsbecausewehavethelatestcutting-edgetechnology.Thisisnotwhatwestandfor.We are an iconic, legendary service provider and that is what we want to be known for," continued Westbeld.

As part of this commitment to service, all guests now have their own butler, who is the main point of contact and will disseminate requests to the appropriate team, from airport transfers and spa appointments to restaurant reservations and room service.

GuestscanrequestassistancefromtheirbutlerviatheDigiValetapponthein-roomtablets,which handily control the TV, lights and air-conditioning aswell.

The hotel's F&B experiences have been completely revamped as well.

Takethelong-treasuredTiffinRoom,partofRafflessince1892,whichservesupincredibleNorth Indian cuisine. As part of the renovations, wooden herringbone flooring was added, along with decor that showcases locally made porcelains and tiffinboxes.

New restaurants include Le Dame de Pic a collaboration with Chef Anne-Sophie Pic of the three-Michelin star Maison Pic in Valence, France.

Even the hotel's ultra-touristy Long Bar, inventor of the original Singapore Sling, has been given a refresh and features contemporary plantation-inspired motifs.

Several new dining concepts have yet to open: BBR by Alain Ducasse;y by Jereme Leung, which stands for art in Chinese; and the Butcher's Block, which as the name implies offers a wide selection of top meats.

As the hotel historian Danker leads visitors around the property, his pride is evident. Eventually thereisthe"walloffame,"agallerythattakesvisitorstimetravelingthroughthepastwithimages ofnotableguestssuchasElizabethTaylor,CharlieChaplin,RudyardKiplingandAvaGardner,to name just afew.

Danker has met many of them, including Michael Jackson and John Wayne. But ask which guest truly left him star struck and he doesn't hesitate. Queen Elizabeth II, who visited in 1989, he tells CNN Travel.

Itisthisreverencetothepastalongsideapassiontoensurethehotel'srelevanceinthepresent, that has captured the imaginations of both Singaporeans and internationaltravelers.

For locals, the hotel is a key page in the story of their city's history. According to Westbeld, Singaporeans have been very supportive of the changes.

Today, a new generation of Singaporeans is coming to create their own memories at the hotel just as their parents and perhaps even grandparents have.

"It is one of the most humbling experiences to be a part of this, to have the privilege to be GM at Raffles Hotel in such a defining moment," says Westbeld.

(adapted for academic purposes fromhttps://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/singapore-raffles-hotel-reopening/index.html)

Question 1

a)Discussthefour(4)characteristicsofservicesinthecontextofRafflesHotel,including how they have implemented or could implement strategies to overcome the challenges posed by these four characteristics ofservices.

b)Examineone (1)cultural, social and personal factoreachthat could influence consumers to book a stay at the revamped RafflesHotel.

Question 2

a)Analyseandsuggesttwo(2)productmixpricingandtwo(2)priceadaptationstrategies that Raffles Hotel has adopted or could use to increase itsrevenue.

b)Assume that you are a marketing research consultant. Explain thesix (6)steps in the marketing research process when conducting a market research for Raffles Hotel after the makeover to find out how well the refurbished hotel has been received by hotel guests and suggest new marketing strategies that it could implement to attract new customers and increase itsrevenue.