According to the latest Institute of Service Excellence at SMU (ISES) Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG), food and beverage (F&B) outlet operators, who have been vocal about how tightened foreign manpower policies have crimped their ability to hire sufficient workers, can take comfort in the fact that this has not put their customers off. Face-to-face interviews with more than 8,000 residents and tourists, conducted in August and September, showed that customer satisfaction levels for F&B, and tourism players such as hotels and attractions, have hit record highs since the CSISG was first compiled in 2007. "It is intuitively obvious for F&B businesses to focus on improving food quality and our analysis supports this notion, that food quality is the biggest lever to customer satisfaction. However, the savvy restaurateur also appreciates that customers do not consume their food in a vacuum, and that the dining experience plays a significant role in the overall satisfaction of customers," said Marcus Lee, Academic Director of ISES.