Mr Lee Yi Shyan at the groundbreaking ceremony of BreadTalk's new headquarters, plot 1A Tai Seng Street, 31 Aug 2011

SPEECH BY MR LEE YI SHYAN, MINISTER OF STATE FOR TRADE AND INDUSTRY AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AT THE GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY OF BREADTALK’S NEW HEADQUARTERS, PLOT 1A TAI SENG STREET, ON WEDNESDAY, 31 AUG 2011, 9.45AM

Mr George Quek, Chairman of Bread Talk Group

Employees of the Bread Talk Group,

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good Morning.

Thank you very much for inviting me to the ground-breaking ceremony. It is an auspicious occasion. This ground breaking event signifies yet another momentous milestone in Bread Talk's growth and innovation history. Bread Talk's commitment to this investment is especially far-sighted and strategic seen in today’s volatile business environment.

Volatile Operating environment

Just last year, Singapore achieved a record growth of 14.5 per cent. As we moved into the second half of 2011, we began to see a cloudier economic outlook with questions like whether the world will enter into a double-dip recession. America and some European economies have deep-seated, structural difficulties to address. Japan’s economy remains lackluster. Emerging economies and Asia fortunately, remain as bright spots for now, with continued investments and consumption.

Even then, our exports, like others in the region, have slowed in recent months. Economic cycles have become more volatile and compressed. Forecasting demands have become more difficult. A new normal seems to have emerged. Our businesses must therefore learn to accept this “new normal” and devise ways to “stay afloat”. We need to sharpen our competiveness and resilience. 

Importance of Innovation

One way to sharpen our competitiveness is through innovation. To me there are two types of innovations. First there is the small innovation: to seek incremental improvements; to raise operating efficiency; to optimize resource allocation; to try and cut cost wherever possible by 2 to 4 per cent. In short, small innovation is about doing things better. Small innovations are necessary. They often take place on the shop-floor, in the production room, on a daily and continual basis.

The second type of innovation seeks breakthroughs in value creation and / or cost reduction. It often comes about after a major process redesign, through the creation of new products and services, and even the application of a new business model. In other words, it is about doing different things.

Within this International Headquarters that Bread Talk is building, we can expect many elements of such small and large innovations.

Already, by innovating on a staple such as bread, the company has created over 1,000 different breads, buns and cakes. A well-known example is its signature “Pork Floss Bun”. Besides breads, buns and cakes, the company has gone on to develop other brands and innovative concepts such as Food Republic and Toast Box, and also successfully brought in Din Tai Fung which popularized xiao long baos.

Beyond developing novel products, Bread Talk is also revamping its supply chain and business model. The new building is expected to house a new Central Kitchen that will support up to 1,000 bakery outlets globally in the next 5 years. This would effectively double Bread Talk's existing capacity for expansion. In addition, there will be added benefits to using supplies from this Central Kitchen: Break Talk buns will taste exactly the same across all outlets when desired, or taste exactly as it is needed for a specific market. In this way, Bread Talk could ensure consistency and quality across all its outlets.

Training Workers for Enhanced Productivity

As Bread Talk innovates and revamps its business model, it has not forgotten to bring along its workers. Since the start of 2011, Bread Talk has also ramped up their WSQ (Workforce Skills Qualifications) training. It also plans to align more in-house training to WSQ benchmarks for better performance. I also understand that this headquarters will also house a “Training Academy” for skills development and productivity enhancement to develop its employees.

In terms of training frontline staff, Bread Talk has done well. In 2010, Bread Talk embarked on its first Customer Centric Initiative to train 365 staff for better customer service. As a result, the company’s customer satisfaction level improved by 44.2 per cent, and productivity increased by 15.5 per cent in terms of sales generated per man hour.

Conclusion

In closing, I would like to commend Bread Talk's management and staff for its continuous efforts to build a truly global Singapore brand. From the Middle East to Jakarta, from Hong Kong to China, there are many Bread Talk stores. I have even heard about illegal “Bread Talk lookalikes” in India. A friend from northern Jiangsu said he saw Bread Talk opening up a store in a mall. He quipped: “你们新加坡的BreakTalk，连我们那儿也不放过!”

Bread Talk is a story about innovation and growth. I hope it inspires many other SMEs to achieve great heights, just as Bread Talk has. On this note, let me congratulate Mr George Quek, Ms Katherine Lee and the staff of Bread Talk on your great achievements. May I wish you greater success in the years ahead.

Thank you.