Local caterer aims to provide free, quality food for migrant workers

SINGAPORE — To improve the quality of meals for foreign workers and reduce food wastage, a local food caterer will be roping in suppliers to donate excess food, that will be cooked and distributed to them.

Hesed & Emet, the parent company of Elsie’s Kitchen and Continental Delight, launched its social arm — The Hesed Table — that will drive this effort yesterday, during a reunion dinner it organised for 170 migrant workers.

The food will be free for the workers. The company’s managing director Reuben Ang, 29, noted that a portion of food wastage stemmed from good-to-eat products not meeting the “aesthetic” specifications for buyers — in terms of appearance, colour or size. Canned food nearing its expiry date is also chucked, he added.

This food surplus in the “upstream supply chain” is an area to tap into provide a sustainable solution to food-related issues, said Mr Ang, who recalled his visits to Pasir Panjang wholesale market with his father in his growing-up years, where he saw large amounts of food being thrown away “even though they were still perfectly good to eat”.

On the other hand, food safety and nutrition for migrant workers are “real needs” to be addressed, said Mr Ang. Because meals are sometimes delivered too early for these workers, the food would become stale by the time it is consumed, he added.

This is the second initiative to improve foreign workers’ diet in recent times. Last month, a non-governmental organisation announced a project called 45rice to supply fortified rice, which comes with essential vitamins and minerals, that is affordable, and delivered fresh to low-wage workers.

In March last year, TODAY reported a study on the poor nutrition of meals catered for foreign workers that can cost as much as a quarter of a worker’s monthly salary. Researchers from the National University of Singapore found that the meals — usually a pile of rice and some tinned meat or curry — are often delivered hours in advance.

Hesed & Emet said it is looking for other companies to work on the supply and distribution of better meals for foreign workers. Plans are still being worked out but, for now, The Hesed Table is looking at ad-hoc food drives to migrant workers in the Little India area and to foreign worker recreation centres. In the long term, the caterer is looking to extend the project to other needy communities, such as low-income households in Taman Jurong.

Yesterday’s dinner spread for multiracial guests of Hesed & Emet employees and their friends, employees of partnering business and rice supplier Gan Hup Lee, and other participating companies, included Lo Hei, steamboat and an Indian-style buffet.

Migrant Workers’ Centre chairman Yeo Guat Kwang urged the firm to continue keeping workers “at the heart of their business”. He added: “As a local family business that’s grown from strength to strength over almost half a century, they have been exemplary in showing how important it is for firms to invest in workers, regardless of nationality, and to treat them well.” TOH EE MING