Haze hurts an F&B business in four places: fewer walk-ins and shorter visits, staff who are sick or stuck at home, fresh stock that doesn't sell, and a cash-flow gap while rent and salaries stay the same. Open-air outlets such as hawker stalls, night-market stalls and open-front mamak and kopitiam usually feel it first. Takeaway and delivery tend to hold up better. The owners who come through a haze season in good shape decide in advance what they will do at each Air Pollutant Index (API) level. They watch their sales by the hour instead of by feel, and they keep payroll and the books up to date so they know exactly what the haze cost them. This guide covers where the 2026 haze stands, what the numbers mean for your outlet, a plan by API level, and how Popcorn POS, Million and AutoCount help on the shop floor and in the back office.
A quick note on terms: many people search for "AQI", but Malaysia's Department of Environment (DOE) reports air quality as the API (Indeks Pencemar Udara). Singapore uses the PSI. Both use the same bands: 0 to 50 is good, and anything above 100 is unhealthy.
Where the 2026 haze stands (as of 15 October)
This year's smoke comes from fires in Kalimantan and southern Sumatra, carried towards Malaysia and Singapore by south-easterly winds. At 5pm on 15 October, 34 areas in Malaysia recorded unhealthy API readings. The highest were Klang (195), Johan Setia (192), Nilai (191), Pasir Gudang (184), Seremban (181) and Shah Alam (180), according to DOE data reported by Malay Mail.
Schools have been closing state by state. On 12 October the Education Ministry closed all primary and secondary schools in Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya for the following day, along with several districts in Selangor and Pahang (Malay Mail). Across the Causeway, Singapore's 24-hour PSI was unhealthy in all five regions on 13 October (The Star).
The cost is adding up. Sunway University economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng estimates the haze is costing Malaysia RM20 million to RM50 million a day, and possibly RM600 million to RM1.5 billion a month, and says it suppresses retail footfall (Malay Mail). Other economists expect households to cut back on outdoor recreation, travel and dining during a long episode (The Star). Readings change by the hour, so check the latest figure before you act on any number in this guide.
What the API numbers mean for your outlet
The bands below are the DOE's. The staff column follows the Ministry of Health's workplace advice as reported by The Borneo Post. The last column is our own rule of thumb for F&B outlets.
| API | Category | Staff working outdoors | What it usually means for an F&B outlet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 50 | Good | No restrictions | Normal trading |
| 51 to 100 | Moderate | No restrictions; keep an eye on staff with asthma or heart conditions | Haze visible on some days. Check filters and stock masks now, while it's easy. |
| 101 to 200 | Unhealthy | Minimise strenuous outdoor tasks, provide suitable respiratory protection, move vulnerable workers indoors where possible | Outdoor tables empty first. More takeaway, quieter evenings at open-air outlets. |
| 201 to 300 | Very unhealthy | Avoid strenuous outdoor work | Schools in the area are likely to close. Open-air trading becomes hard to justify; delivery and takeaway carry the day. |
| Above 300 | Hazardous | Avoid outdoor activity | Consider shorter hours or closing open-air outlets. Run only what you can run safely indoors. |
Use the reading from the DOE station nearest your outlet, not the national picture. The official source is the DOE's APIMS site, which updates every hour. Schools are generally closed once readings pass 200, but some closures this October came at lower readings, so watch the Education Ministry's announcements as well if many of your staff have school-age children.
How haze hits an F&B business
Fewer walk-ins, shorter visits
When the air turns, people stay in. In the 2019 haze, trade associations told reporters that some food outlets saw visits fall by as much as half. Al fresco hawkers and mamak restaurants took the biggest hit, some kopitiam cut their hours to lunch and dinner only, and diners who did come in ate quickly and left or took their food away (Malay Mail, 2019). Expect a similar pattern this year: outdoor seating empties first, and dine-in shifts towards takeaway.
Delivery holds up better, but not automatically
In 2019 the large fast-food chains were said to be "doing okay" because of their delivery services. This year, economists again expect food delivery and online orders to benefit as people spend more time indoors. The catch is that riders work outdoors too. The same economists warn that delivery riders face higher health risks and may cut their hours, so delivery times can stretch on the worst days.
Staff: MCs, school closures and outdoor work
Haze brings more sick days and more "presenteeism", where staff turn up but can't work properly (The Star). School closures add another problem: staff with children may need to stay home at short notice. Anyone who works outside also needs protecting, whether they run a stall, serve outdoor tables, carry stock in or do your own deliveries. During the 2019 haze, the Human Resources Ministry urged employers to allow flexible work, including working from home where possible. It also told them to set criteria for stopping outdoor work, keep enough N95 respirators in stock and fit-test them for outdoor workers (Malay Mail via Newswav, 2019).
Fresh stock that doesn't sell
Fresh ingredients don't keep. Operators in 2019 said food wastage made their losses worse, because they kept prepping for normal days that never came. If you prep to last month's numbers through a haze week, you lose money twice: once on the missed sales and again on the food you throw away.
Cash flow
Rent, salaries, loan repayments and supplier bills stay the same when sales drop. A few weeks of thinner takings can squeeze cash, especially for multi-outlet operators, where one badly hit open-air outlet drags down the whole group. You need to know, outlet by outlet, how big the gap is.
Who is hit hardest
This is our rough guide, not survey data. Your own sales reports are the real answer for your outlet.
| Type of outlet | Exposure | What usually changes |
|---|---|---|
| Hawker stall, night-market stall, food truck | High: customers and staff are outdoors | Fewer customers, shorter trading hours |
| Mamak, kopitiam, open-front restaurant | High | Diners eat and go; more takeaway |
| Air-conditioned café or restaurant | Moderate: indoors, but customers still have to travel | Quieter evenings, more delivery |
| Mall outlet | Moderate | Follows the mall's own footfall |
| Cloud kitchen or delivery-led outlet | Lower on demand; depends on riders | Orders may rise; delivery times may stretch |
A haze plan by API level
The worst time to decide what to do is 6pm on a Friday when the API hits 180. Agree the triggers with your managers now, write them down and stick them up next to the cashier. A simple version:
| API | Front of house | Staff | Kitchen and stock |
|---|---|---|---|
| 51 to 100 (get ready) | Check air-conditioner filters. Prepare takeaway and delivery signage. Make sure your QR menu works. | Stock masks. Agree who covers if someone calls in sick. Know which staff have school-age children. | Normal prep. Pull last haze season's numbers if you have them. |
| 101 to 200 | Bring outdoor seating in or reduce it. Keep doors closed where you can. Promote takeaway and delivery. | Keep outdoor tasks short. Masks for anyone working outside. Move vulnerable staff indoors. | Prep to the last few days' actual sales, not last month's. Push dishes that travel well. |
| 201 to 300 | Consider closing open-air sections. Shorten hours if evenings are dead. | Avoid strenuous outdoor work. Expect absences when schools close. Let office staff work flexibly. | Cut perishable orders. Run a smaller menu. |
| Above 300 | Decide whether to close open-air outlets. Keep only what can run safely indoors. | Avoid outdoor work. Update staff on plans every day. | Hold back fresh deliveries until readings fall. |
Also decide who makes the call at each outlet and when you'll review it, for example every morning at 10am using the latest reading. Then tell your customers. A short post saying you're open for takeaway and delivery costs nothing and keeps regulars ordering.
Use your POS data, not gut feel
Haze makes every day feel slow. Your POS shows whether it actually is, and exactly where. With Popcorn POS:
- Compare hour by hour. Real-time reporting comes on every plan. Put a haze Tuesday next to a normal Tuesday, see which hours dropped, and cut the right shift instead of guessing.
- Prep to what's selling. Gross profit reports cover transactions, product sales, attendance and outlet performance. Check which items still move on haze days and order fresh stock to match.
- Compare outlets. Multi-outlet management with a central dashboard comes on every plan, so you can see if your Johor outlet is down while Klang Valley holds. Our guide to consolidated multi-outlet reporting explains how.
- Check from home. Edge by Popcorn, the owner app, shows sales reports and business insights from anywhere, which helps on days when it's better to stay off the road.
- Take orders with fewer hands. The QR e-menu (Basic plan and above) lets customers order from their own phones, which helps when you're short-staffed.
- Add delivery. GrabFood and Foodpanda integration is available on the Advance plan (as one of three integration choices) and on Ultimate. If you're on Lite or Basic and delivery is becoming a bigger share of sales, this is a good time to look at it. Our POS cost guide sets out what each plan includes.
- Know who actually turned up. Attendance tracking (Basic and above) records who clocked in, which matters when shifts change every day.
Keep payroll, leave and the books steady with Million and AutoCount
Haze months are messy for the back office. There are more MCs, last-minute shift swaps and office staff working from home, and the bills stay the same while sales dip. Popcorn POS comes from Rockbell, which also provides Million and AutoCount accounting, payroll and HR software in Malaysia and Singapore. Here is where each one helps.
Leave, MCs and attendance
- Million HRMS: staff apply for leave in the mobile app or web portal and can upload their medical certificate with the application, and supervisors approve it there. Staff can also clock in and out from the app or portal, and lateness and overtime are calculated automatically.
- AutoCount Cloud Payroll: e-Leave and e-Claim, e-Attendance, and an Employee Self Service portal and mobile app where staff download their own payslips. It runs on Microsoft Azure, so office staff can use it from home.
Payroll that stays right when shifts change
- Million Payroll: tracks annual and medical leave, covers LHDN, EPF, SOCSO, EIS and HRDF, and imports attendance summaries from Excel. It is installed on your own computers (on-premise).
- AutoCount Cloud Payroll: covers PCB, EPF, SOCSO, EIS and HRDF, and links to local banks for salary payments.
Seeing the real cost in your books
To know what the haze cost you, the sales in your accounts have to be complete and up to date. Popcorn POS connects to Million Accounting and AutoCount, so outlet sales go into the books without anyone retyping them. Our guide to POS accounting integration for multi-outlet chains explains how each connection works. In Million Accounting, the cash flow statement, profit and loss report, and the customer and supplier aging on the dashboard show how much room you have before the next payroll run and supplier payment.
Outlets or an office in Singapore too?
Singapore reports haze as the PSI, published by the National Environment Agency, and uses the same bands. For Singapore entities, Rockbell's Singapore office provides Million Payroll with CPF, the Million Leave Management and Time Attendance systems, and AutoCount HRMS. Details are at rockbell.sg. For Malaysian businesses, the full Million and AutoCount range is at rockbell.com.my.
After the haze: keep what worked
- Compare haze weeks with normal weeks, outlet by outlet, by hour and by product. That's your real cost, and your starting point for next year.
- Keep the changes that paid off. If a smaller takeaway menu or delivery bundle sold well, it may be worth keeping all year.
- Update your trigger table with what actually happened at each API level.
- Put next season in the calendar. Regional haze usually comes with the dry south-west monsoon months, roughly June to October. Review the plan, masks and staff contacts before then.
Get ready before the next haze day
Air quality figures in this guide come from DOE and NEA readings reported in the press on the dates shown. Health advice can change, so follow the Ministry of Health and DOE for the latest. Product details for Million and AutoCount are taken from Rockbell's websites; check current features and pricing with the Rockbell team.
If you'd like to see how Popcorn POS reports, QR ordering and delivery integration would work at your outlet, and how it connects to Million or AutoCount for accounts and payroll, request a demo. Our team will walk you through it on your own menu, with no obligation.
