Story and Photo by Shukry Rashid
NTUC Foodfare and Temasek Polytechnic (TP) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on 5 January 2017 that will see them both leverage on each other’s capabilities to develop healthier food for the masses.
The collaboration brings together the expertise of TP’s food and culinary science research and development (R&D) and Foodfare’s food service and manufacturing business. The R&D by TP will be done by its students, culinary chefs, food scientists and nutritionists.
Foodfare CEO Perry Ong said that he is glad for this collaboration, which taps on TP’s expertise in food science and R&D. He added: “Coupled with our retail and manufacturing capabilities, we strive to make a social impact by providing more affordable and healthy meal choices to the community.”
This partnership is in line with the Health Promotion Board’s efforts to raise awareness on the need to improve carbohydrate quality in staple food and switch from refined to unrefined staples.
The initiative will also play a role in developing nutrition education programmes for the community, especially in the healthcare, eldercare and childcare sectors.
Healthy and Convenient
For a start, TP’s School of Applied Science has already created seven varieties of low Glycemic Index (GI) meals. Low GI food is healthier because they will be digested and absorbed slower by the body, making the consumer feel more satiated for much longer.
The variety of low GI meals are now available to the public at NTUC Foodfare’s newly opened Kitchen Loft located at Mapletree Business City and Tower Café at the National University Hospital.
Through Foodfare’s catering services, these meals will also be served to residents of St Joseph’s Home and NTUC Health’s nursing homes.
TP has also created six varieties of low GI ready-to-eat frozen pizza that will be part of NTUC FairPrice’s range of house brand products. They will be available at all FairPrice stores from April 2017 and prices will be announced soon.
The low GI meals and convenient food products are the first of its kind in Singapore.
TP has also worked with Foodfare in the training of its chefs to ensure the final quality assurance of its low GI meals and convenient food products.
TP plans to capitalise on this partnership with Foodfare to build skills for the future and contribute towards the transformation process in the food services industry. Foodfare will also provide TP students with internships and project opportunities, and industry training for its staff.
Source: NTUC This Week
