Friday, September 07, 2018

Community Care Leadership Learning Journey

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What do the Community Care sector and Food Service sector have in common? More than you think - both face challenges with manpower crunch, rising costs, difficulties in attracting local talents, technology disruption, and more discerning and demanding customers.

Community Care sector leaders got a taste of how a top F&B company, JR Group, managed these challenges in an exclusive Community Care Leadership Learning Journey to JR Group, organised by AIC on 28 August.

JR Group has F&B businesses that include ready-meals manufacturing, institutional and contract catering, a collection of restaurants, and the Chef-in-Box Vendcafé that has received international media attention and hype. Its sister company, Sin Hwa Dee, which produces their Chng Kee’s sauces, grew from a small local business into a global brand found in over 30 countries, with clientele such as Burger King, McDonalds (HK), Yoshinoya, Grand Hyatt Hotel, and SATS Catering, etc.

Mr Tony Chng, Chief Operating Officer of JR Group, hosted the learning journey and shared how he mitigated and navigated through various challenges with innovative initiatives. He also touched on manpower optimisation by the Group.

One of the participants, Mdm Low Mui Lang, Executive Director, The Salvation Army, Peacehaven said, “I learnt valuable lessons from this learning journey, especially the need to have the vision and determination to keep abreast of changing needs and how best to meet them. JR Group was also willing to share both good practices and aswell as practices that did not quite work out.”

JR Group’s innovative “secret ingredients” to mitigating the challenges faced.
Optimisation strategy by JR Group between a traditional coffee shop and Vendcafé to potentially deliver 17,600 meals a day. 
JR Group saw a successful launch of Chef-In-Box, the first hot food vending machine in Singapore. JR Group’s other successful automation is its Chef-In-Box Vendcafé, the world’s first fully automated and unmanned vending machine café. 
Mr Chng sharing with participants on the Chef-In-Box vending machine.
JR Group will be launching a new initiative – Food for Elders. This new project under FoodInnovate aims to assist food companies to develop food products designed for elderly consumers in Singapore. 
Food samples for Food for Elders Project, which aims to develop ready-to-eat meals with adequate nutrition and appropriate texture for seniors with limited mobility at home and in a community setting.
The session concluded with an on-site tour of JR Group Holdings’ facility. Participants at the Community Care Leadership Learning Journey also viewed the facility’s state-of-the-art machinery and automated equipment.

“It was an eye-opener for me to see the production process and how manpower needs are kept low with technology. It was a good learning journey,” shared Ms Winnie Koh, CEO, Moral Home For The Aged Sick Limited.

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