The very nature of a food court - with its many vendors and wide customer base - poses a challenge when it comes to customer satisfaction.
It is no surprise then that food courts form the food and beverage (F&B) sub-sector with the lowest level of customer satisfaction, compared to other F&B segments such as restaurants, fast-food joints and cafes.
Although its score of 64.8 falls under the F&B sector average of 67.7, the food-court segment has in fact shown steady and significant improvement since its customer satisfaction levels were first measured in 2010.
In the latest round of scores, the Institute of Service Excellence at Singapore Management University (ISES) also published for the first time individual scores for food-court operators Kopitiam, Koufu and Food Republic. All performed poorer than the sub-sector average, which was pulled up by "other food courts".