Sustainable Business / Giving Migrant Workers a Taste of Home

Givng Migrant Workers a
Taste of Home

SATS’ five-month journey to feed thousands of migrant workers

Singapore’s COVID-19 Circuit Breaker in early-April 2020 marked the beginning of SATS’ five-month journey to feed thousands of migrant workers, when a growing cluster emerged in one of the dormitories.

SATS prepared over 45,000 meals daily at the peak of this massive undertaking. Teams across its Food Solutions business had less than 48 hours to gather resources to provide three meals a day with snack packs to migrant workers housed in various locations and to several government quarantine facilities nation-wide.

Amidst challenges such as a reduced workforce, tight timelines, and having to reconfigure operations to produce hot food cooked just in time instead of chilled ambient meals, everyone came together for the greater good. Staff from various catering teams, Aero Laundry, Gateway Services, and even management joined the efforts to pack meals.

Providing meals from their homelands is the least we could do for the sacrifices these people have made for us.

Production supervisor Eileen Hoong and duty manager David Ho were instrumental in keeping production running smoothly. Eileen recollects, “it took a lot of cooperation and coordination to get the food delivered safely to residents in a timely manner.” Experienced executive sous-chef Jordi Noguera and chef Jennifer Teo oversaw kitchen operations and menu development alongside executive sous-chef Saravjit Singh, or chef Saini as he is better known, to create new Bengali menus too.

“Food is a staple part of life and good food reminds people of home, their friends and family,” shares chef Saini. To give the migrant workers a taste of home, the team specially brought in Ponni rice and mangoes as a treat. Other ethnic groups also savoured the familiar taste of Sichuan cuisine and celebratory food and drink like dumplings and bandung, amongst others, during the Dragon Boat Festival and Hari Raya.

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To give the migrant workers a taste of home, the team specially brought in Ponni rice and mangoes as a treat.

Assistant vice president of aviation catering, Garry Yeo, grins as he recounts, “it was a moment to remember when we saw a photo of the workers giving a thumbs up for the food”. Jordi sums up the team’s sentiment by saying, “the cleaners, food planners, purchasers, people from transport and production line all contributed in a huge way to make this a success. We have nothing but respect for everyone here.”