A Bakery Educators Journey through Asia and Beyond
What started out as a trip to China and the opportunity to experience the people and country was the first step in an adventure in Asia that has continued for the past 26 years. From assisting in the planning of the bakery in machinery that would be sent to the cities of Suzhou and Wuxi and getting ready to spend some time in Italy to the surprise opportunity of a job in Singapore life has taken many twist and turns along the way , all may I say positive.
The experience in the Chinese cities, the facilities at both and the make do provisions in the two bakeries were enhanced by the interaction with the local people, young and old. My first Chinese New Year in the January of 1993 , being invited into a local home to be part of what I now know is an important tradition for all Chinese. The hunger from the people to learn something new, balanced against the old tradition of do not tell two people the same thing as they might take information and run away were all new learning experiences for me.
Singapore March 1 , 1993 was the start of a two-year contract to establish Singapore first professional baking school , it was a big challenge and one that I took with an open mind to succeed. The task of building the new facility by way of organising layout, equipment, flooring, tools , equipment to fit an empty warehouse was interesting to say the least.
Developing curriculum after consultation with local industry bakeries , writing material , having it translated in Mandarin etc. were enormous challenges as none of the employed staff had the technical background to do this. The fact that we were able to open classes with our first group of students in the July of 1993, had people amazed that I could get things operational so quickly.
Our official opening in the September 1993 by Minister without portfolio , Mr. Lim Boon Heng was a milestone as the publicity from that event meant that we quickly were running classes 7 days a week . The students , staff, and general public that we encountered were all very supportive of the school and took enormous pride in the place , an aspect that was not evident in Australia from students. The five years at BITC in the end took a tole and I needed to take a break to refresh.
March of 1998, I joined CerealTech Pte Ltd a Singaporean company specialising in Ingredient Technology Systems for the regional baking industry. The company was run by Mr. Foo Ko Kin a Singaporean who I became friends with during my time at BITC. This was the start on another leg of this journey and a wider exposure to the region and bakers within. I was afforded the opportunity travel to countries like Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, China, Taiwan, Jordan, and Korea, working with local bakeries and suppliers as a technical consultant .
Locally in Singapore we stated running bakery training programs at CerealTech for customers and general public in the areas of bread , cake, pastry, and dessert making. We collaborated with American Institute of Baking (AIB) * footnote AIB was recognised in Asia as the provider of industrial bakery training offering their correspondence courses in Baking Technology and Science of Baking.
In 2002 we established the first McDonalds technical baking program for the makers of the McDonalds buns in the Asia Pacific region and have been doing so every year since. McDonald’s and suppliers were required to meet strict quality standards. This course was designed to provide a technical forum where all aspects of bun production were covered.
Working with local marketing company Richard Lieu and Associates representing US Potato Board ( now Potatoes USA) , California Raisins on research projects , recipes, seminars , workshops all over the region brought interesting highlights as each country had different expectations on the use of these product. Travelling to the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines extolling the benefits of the inclusion of US Dehy potato in bakery products as well as the use of California Raisins to the keen and receptive audiences brought many positive experiences.
Undertaking consultancy work with Sara Lee Asia at its first fresh food bakery in Indonesia, outside of Jakarta in Cikarang producing filled buns. Additional projects saw me in the Chinese cities of Shanghai and Beijing as they explored options on establishing a presence in the China market through third party manufacture. Working in Korea at the Samlip General Foods bakery ( major food conglomerate ) conducting baking trials and producing product sampling for focus group. This was part of the due diligence process Sara Lee were undertaking as they were at that time interested in purchasing the company .
During these years I was able to gain more first hand and deeper knowledge of bread and bun making in plant bakeries . To also gain an appreciation of the challenges faced in a large industrial setting and how important consistency is in process of achieving good quality products.
In the September of 2007 CerealTech and myself established a company called CerealTech Training to embark on another training school in the CerealTech premises in Woodlands. This was later to become CerealTech School of Baking Technology Pte Ltd through its upgrading to a Private Education Institution and has been in operation now for 12 years offering Vocational bakery training to industry and general public.
The writing of the curriculum and course materials was like a second child birth and quite painful in terms of the number of days, weeks, months, and hours required to set up the material for our course “ Diploma in Baking Arts and Science “. Again, the design , layout, and challenges to establish the business and get it to a sustainable stage required lots of dedication and time. This time however as a shareholder required a different level of commitment.
It may sound like all I did was work during these years and you would be right for the first 12 years . However, I did manage to socialise with the locals by way of sessions at a local watering hole at Riddles Bar at the old ANA hotel at Nassim Hill. Tennis with a group of expats on the weekend , dinner parties and a time on the executive of the Australia New Zealand Association (ANZA). Not to mention the odd game of golf in Johor where it was much cheaper or on the seven-hole Royal Tanglin , pitch and put course opposite the Singapore Botanical Gardens.
I decided to make a change in my personal circumstances realizing that it would be more enjoyable if I had someone to share it with. I have been very blessed to find a life partner who is now my wife, and this has brought fulfilment a balance and great joy just to both our families. We spend time in Singapore and Sydney each year and my Sydney girls like to travel to Singapore every opportunity to shop and enjoy the food offerings.
