Singapore is a food heaven, defined by our collective love of good food. The Covid-19 pandemic, along with its many layers of restrictions, continues to disrupt the F&B scene but some F&B operators took the opportunity to emerge stronger and better. While navigating the murky waters of the 2-5-8 policy, businesses learn to adapt and strategize business operations to fit the new norm.
This year, we recognise partners who continue to set their hearts and mind in providing the best to their customers, their workers and being a significant contributor to the F&B community. Each of these partners is akin to a piece of a puzzle that makes up the bigger picture. These partners work with the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) to pave the way to break new grounds and raise the industry to higher standards.
SG Top Cafes
Excellence is never accidental; it is the result of good intention, intuitive design, sincere effort, relentless commitment, skilful execution, sheer grit, and tenacity. How does this form of excellence then transform into commendable outcomes? Backed by the ‘Certified F&B Mystery Judge’ panel of judges, who are all well-equipped with the knowledge to objectively quantify and qualify their dining experience, the SG Top Café Awards was borne.
Launched in 2019, the event was celebrated with café owners, coffee roasters, baristas, educators and industry professionals through an exclusive invitation to an awards ceremony held at e2i together with the publication of SG Top Cafe guide, recognising Top Cafes across twelve categories.
2021 e2i Industry Trailblazer Awards (Barista 4.0 and Company 4.0)
The e2i Industry Trailblazer Award is given to partners who have helped to build up and anchor the two pillars that e2i has mapped out for the F&B industry – Barista 4.0 and Company 4.0.
Barista 4.0
Barista 4.0 is a key archetype in the F&B industry under NTUC’s Worker 4.0 concept. Our workers and employers are facing the need to change their way of doing things, as the economic landscape is being disrupted at an unprecedented level hastened by the pandemic. Barista 4.0 prepares professionals in the coffee industry to beef up their capabilities to be ready for digital transformation and to be nurtured towards ‘Worker 4.0’. This is achieved by working closely with industry partners to conceptualise, form, and evolve e2i’s Barista 4.0 concept.
After deploying the automatic tray de-stacking system at the Commissary, Domino’s Pizza Singapore is now able to produce more trays each day with lesser manpower. They are also able to hire older workers or less able-bodied employees for the dough production station, as the physical requirements are no longer as taxing.
With heavy lifting and constant bending up and down a thing of the past for the tray stacker, the risk of injury is greatly reduced. The chances of the trays slipping and dropping on the employee’s feet are now eliminated since the process has been mechanised.
Company 4.0
To nurture a worker to become a ‘Worker 4.0’, e2i need like-mind partners who are willing to invest in their workers and these companies are none other than our ‘Company 4.0’. This year, under Company 4.0, we show our appreciation to our companies who have taken the initiative to work with e2i on identifying the training needs and closing the skills gaps of their employees, creating their own unique Company Worker 4.0. As part of these Company Worker 4.0, these companies have embarked on various initiatives such as productivity projects, being part of the NTUC’s Company Training Committee (CTC) as well as OTR and training collaborations to upskill their workers.
Place and Train Media Awareness Plan
Over the years, many companies and their employees have benefitted from Place-and-Train, a programme that aims in supporting companies to provide relevant training to plug the skills gap of their workers.
Under the Place-and-Train Media Awareness Plan session, we recognise the efforts of partners who have invested their time and resources to groom their local workforce. Through this, we hope to spread the message on the importance of training, for both youths entering the workforce to seek mentorship and training in their career, as well as to help ease mid-career switches into a new industry.
Food Technologist 4.0
As we celebrate and acknowledge our partners’ hard work and achievements, we also work towards building up a community to continuously uplift the F&B industry! As such, with much excitement, we are honoured to announce the launch of an upcoming F&B 4.0 pillar – Food Technologist 4.0. Food Tech 4.0 is a collaboration between e2i, Better Together, and our sector champion, Mr Richard Khaw from Nanyang Polytechnic, who is also the President of The Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology (SIFST).
Under Food Technologist 4.0, we seek to deep dive into areas such as food safety, cold chain management, quality control, and food preservation to retain nutrition while extending the shelf life of various products. As with the other F&B 4.0 pillars, we will work with industry partners to develop relevant updated skillsets and an all-encompassing learning framework that would allow professionals from various industries to apply what they have learned from Food Technologist 4.0 to their respective fields of work.
Look out for it!
For more information, contact https://e2i.com.sg/
