Mr Lee Yi Shyan at Ministerial Visit to Kopitiam Investment Pte Ltd, 18 Feb 2010

Speech by Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Minister of State for Trade & Industry and Manpower at Ministerial Visit to Kopitiam Investment Pte Ltd at 3:00pm on Thursday, 18 February 2010 at Kopitiam Food Court, Changi Airport Terminal 3

Food Safety - A Fundamental Capability For Growth

Mr. Alden Tan, Managing Director, Kopitiam Group,

Mr. Lee Seow Hiang, Chief Executive Officer, Changi Airport Group

Mr. Ang Kiam Meng, President, Restaurant Association of Singapore,

Mr Wong Mong Hong, President, Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good Afternoon,

Happy New Year!

I am delighted to join you here at Kopitiam at T3 this afternoon. This place is abuzz with the Lunar New Year festivity. I can sense an air of optimism and expectation as we usher in the new Tiger Year.

Introduction

When we think about Changi Airport, pleasant imageries always come to mind. To me, Changi Airport has always been an icon for Singapore. It encompasses the many fine qualities travellers from Singapore and around the world have come to appreciate and expect - comfort, ease-of-use, efficiency and warmth. To remain the best airport in the world requires continual improvement not just by the Changi Airport Group itself but the cooperation of all its tenants. It is therefore a significant occasion that we are witnessing Kopitiam’s adoption of HACCP at T3 and Budget Terminal.

What is HACCP? In short, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) is an internationally recognized food safety management system that covers all aspects of food safety from paddock to palate. By adopting the international food safety standard, our food operators will be amongst the world-class league of players producing safe and wholesome food. We will be able to further strengthen our credibility in food services as well as food export.

Food courts and food centers are a common sight in Singapore. And yet it is not an easy feat for food courts to embark on an international standard, stringent food safety programme. They need the full cooperation and commitment of their stall tenants and sub-contractors.

Kopitiam has accomplished this by putting in place a proper system for food safety. The HACCP helps Kopitiam workers avoid practices that could lead to food contamination, accidents and loss of man-hours due to closure and customer complaints. By eliminating the possibilities of bad dining experience for their customers, HACCP could also be thought of as an important productivity programme that raise service quality and customer satisfaction.

I understand that SPRING and the Changi Airport Group (CAG) are working together to encourage the food operators in Changi Airport to be HACCP-certified. I commend CAG’s management for taking the lead to augment Singapore’s reputation in food safety.

I am pleased to note that 105 food companies have already come onboard the Food Safety Programme and many of them are HACCP-certified. These companies demonstrate that they are able to organize themselves in a disciplined way to convey the confidence and benefits of

Innovative Ideas for Service Efficiency

Since its establishment in 1988, Kopitiam has introduced a number of innovative concepts to the food court industry. It was the first to introduce the concept of cashless dining at food courts in Singapore in 2004.Today, 700,000 cards are in circulation, bringing not only convenience to its customers but also improving the service efficiency amongst the tenants with the streamlined payment transactions.

Kopitiam has also recently embarked on a pilot project “iPager” which lights up to notify the customer once the food is ready. Innovative ideas like this seek to improve customer service and efficiency. Of course, the growth of Kopitiam, now comprising 90 outlets island wide, allows for economies of scale. It can do what individual food courts are unable to: with centralized kitchen, systematic training and rotation of workers, lower cost of raw material purchases and amortizing innovations chain-wide.

More importantly, for their innovations such as those mentioned, Kopitiam would be able to increase sales and profitability without a corresponding increase in their need for workers. The result is a win-win one: business owners have better top and bottom lines, workers become better trained and better paid. I therefore hope the food industry will quicken their efforts in innovations to raise productivity. Our next phase of growth will have to come from innovations and productivity.

Conclusion

Apart from firm-level productivity enhancement, our food manufacturers, food services providers and logistic partners must think of ways to innovate at the industry or cross industry level. They ought to consider making the supply and value chain more efficient and productive. I would therefore urge SFMA, RAS and the relevant partners come together to discuss what they can do as an industry and partners to embrace technology, automation, innovations, training of workers and raise productivity. If we persist in these efforts, we will have an even more competitive food industry as well as a vibrant F&B scene.

Today, HACCP has given us a start point. Innovations will bring us through the journey of excellence. Against the backdrop of a rising Asia, the demand for food services will grow. Our players in the food industry have a bright future. May I take this opportunity to wish the industry a great leap forward, just as an energetic tiger would, in the New Year and beyond.

Thank you.