By Fawwaz Baktee
How to be lean and mean in the F&B industry? Three companies show how it’s done, and at the same time make things better for their business and employees.
Vaner Investment, Iron Chef Cuisine, and Montreux Patisserie showcased their productivity projects in a learning journey organised by NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) on 18 August 2015. All of three companies tapped on e2i’s Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP) in 2014.
Vaner Investment
A company specialising in food preparation for chargrill bars in coffee shops, Vaner Investment found it a challenge to meet operational demands with the equipment they had to marinate food and make hamburger patties.
To overcome the problem, the company acquired a Vacuum Tumbler and a hamburger forming machine.
The vacuum tumbler reduces the time needed to marinate food while the hamburger forming machine is able to produce hamburger patties in various weight, shapes and sizes.
Before acquiring the Vacuum Tumbler, the company took 10 minutes to manually marinate 10kg worth of food. The company can now marinate more than 50kg in the same amount of time.
With the hamburger forming machine, the company is now able to produce 40kg of hamburger patties in one hour as compared to the 3 hours required to produce the same amount previously.
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Before Implementation |
After Implementation |
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Time taken for various operational tasks: 300 hours/month |
240 hours/month (20% improvement in productivity) |
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An increase of 7%-10% in wages for 10 workers |
Iron Chef Cuisine
Specialising in western food such as chicken chop and producing for more than 10 of its Collin’s Grille Bento restaurants currently, Iron Chef Cuisine plans to expand the company further. It decided to invest in equipment used at its central kitchen in order to become more productive and efficient in food preparation.
Through the IGP, the company invested in Tilting Kettle with Mixer that allows for easy preparation of sauces, and the slice and portion cutter that makes work easier and faster –one employee can prepare 300kg of meat in only 4.5 hours, compared to the two days for two employees previously.
The company also invested in a refrigeration system that gives extra storage for food at any one time, reducing the need for multiple food purchases.
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Before Implementation |
After Implementation |
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Time taken for various operational tasks: 240 hours/month |
192 hours/month (20% improvement in productivity) |
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An increase of 20%-30% in wages for 14 workers |
Montreux Patisserie
In the business of whipping up pastry and desserts for hotels, restaurants, cafes, clubs, hospitals and schools, Montreux Patisserie also supplies to big events such as the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix.
To deal with the huge demand, Montreux Patisserie tapped on the IGP to purchase the Bravo Trittico Executive EVO 120 – an automated cooking machine that allows a quick and consistent production of pastries and other confectioneries.
Previously, employees had to manually prepare food items. The machine’s two chamber system, on the other hand, allows pastry chefs to cook and freeze in one automated process, allowing the company to produce more and expand its production lines.
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Before Implementation |
After implementation |
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60 mins to prepare food items |
15 mins to prepare food items |
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Long cleaning procedure for tools, accessories and various small equipment used |
Automatic cleaning process of machine |
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An increase of 9%-10% of wages for 15 workers |
Source: NTUC This Week
