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SINGAPORE: Hours before the first school bell rings, preparations for recess have already begun at an industrial building in Tuas.
Inside a kitchen as large as a football field, workers begin cooking the day’s dishes in industrial-sized vats. It is almost 5am and at least 1,000 meals must go out by 7am.
“Time is of the essence to keep the food fresh,” said Mr Ho Shau Foong, central kitchen director at Wilmar.
“Once the food is packed, it is sealed in an insulated container and sent to the dedicated truck, right to the school.”
Staff at Wilmar cooking dishes for bento meals on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
A staff member cooking vegetables at Wilmar's central kitchen on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
In January, 13 schools across Singapore rolled out a central kitchen model at their canteens. The initiative was built on a 2022 pilot at Yusof Ishak Secondary School, which was managed by SATS, to address a shortage of canteen operators.
Wilmar, Gourmetz and Chang Cheng Mee Wah were the operators selected by the Ministry of Education (MOE). The ministry said the decision was based on factors including meal price competitiveness, menu variety and track record.
Wilmar manages four of the 13 school canteens: Casuarina Primary, Chongzheng Primary, Northoaks Primary and Outram Secondary’s new Anchorvale Crescent campus.
The rollout, however, has been off to a bumpy start. Some parents and students raised teething issues.
At Casuarina Primary, one parent told CNA previously that there were missing items from orders and delays in food distribution.
Another parent said she did not manage to place an order for her Primary 1 daughter after her payment failed. Other parents encountered issues ordering online, resulting in long queues at recess time and further delays.
Wilmar has acknowledged the issues and said it was responding to parents and working with the school to address concerns.
Mr Ho added that technical issues emerged when Wilmar integrated their system with the smart card that students use to redeem their meals.
“But we station our technical team in every school, every day, even until today, to make sure that every glitch is being taken care of, every meal is being served,” he said.
Meals from central kitchens have been in the spotlight after photos of catered meals at Hwa Chong Institution went viral on social media. Hwa Chong has since said that it would work with caterer SATS to review its recipes.
SATS provides the meals at HCI, and the school is not part of MOE’s central kitchen model initiative.
The kitchen at Wilmar on Jan 14, 2026. The size of the kitchen is as big as a football field. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
When CNA visited Wilmar’s central kitchen on Wednesday morning (Jan 14), workers were preparing five different bento meals for the day.
Each meal consists of a carbohydrate, a protein and a vegetable dish. A vegetarian option is also available, and all bento meals are halal.
The school meals are just one part of Wilmar’s extensive operations. On the whole, Wilmar produces about 10 tonnes of food a day – equivalent to around 33,000 meals – as they serve other sectors such as hotels and dormitories.
For schools alone, this is around 300 to 400kg of food, with about 500kg of raw materials used each day.
Raw food materials at Wilmar, on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
Menus are planned about four weeks in advance, and orders must be placed by noon two days prior. Once the orders are in, the raw materials are ordered, and cooking preparations begin the next day.
“We have our full information system to calibrate all this data to make sure that the food we cook is of exact portion, exact weight, with little wastage,” Mr Ho said.
On school days, the kitchen sets up at 4am, and cooking begins at around 4.45am.
It currently takes four staff members to pack one bento meal at Wilmar. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
Food in containers at Wilmar packed and ready, on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Tan)
Once the dishes are cooked, they are transported to a packing room. It takes four people to pack a bento box – three people scoop a dish each, and one closes the lid. The meals are then laid on a conveyor belt and sent to delivery trucks.
Mr Ho said they hope to automate more processes once the menus are closer to being finalised.
Asked how the meals are kept warm for recess time, which typically begins at around 9am, Mr Ho said meals are placed in food warmers at every stage, excluding the delivery trucks, which are insulated.
Students with allergies may indicate their dietary restrictions in their profile. Dishes with allergens will then be filtered out during the preordering process.
Mr Ho added that all meal sets are cooked and packed separately, and scoops are not mixed to prevent cross-contamination.
Staff at Wilmar loading bento meals onto trucks, on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Tan)
So far, Wilmar has received “very good feedback” on the taste of their bento meals, Mr Ho said.
Popular items include chicken rice and pasta, he added.
“But due to the ingredient use, it seems to be a bit dull to the children. We are getting this feedback from the students and parents directly,” he said.
As per MOE guidelines, most of the carbohydrates are wholegrain, and Wilmar uses a moderate amount of spices.
“So we make it up by using more colourful vegetables, corn and carrots to give the aesthetic appeal,” he said.
CNA sampled the finished bento meals at Wilmar on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
Asked about concerns that the new canteen model will diminish the traditional recess experience of buying food and human interaction, Mr Ho said that Wilmar has decided to maintain a hybrid model in canteens to keep the human touch.
Canteens operated by Wilmar have a live stall selling freshly-prepared food. These include either one rice and two noodle options, or two rice and one noodle option at S$2 (US$1.55) for regular and S$2.50 for large sizes.
At the same time, Wilmar is hoping to entice more students to opt for preordered meals. Preordered meals have shorter queuing times and there are more options to choose from. The price ranges from S$2 to S$3.50, depending on portion size.
On average, around two-thirds of students across the four schools are opting for preordered meals, while one-third are buying from the live station, Mr Ho said.
“But these are early days. The numbers may change over the weeks, as we change our offerings in our preorder food,” he said.
Source: CNA/er(mi)
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FAST
SINGAPORE: Hours before the first school bell rings, preparations for recess have already begun at an industrial building in Tuas.
Inside a kitchen as large as a football field, workers begin cooking the day’s dishes in industrial-sized vats. It is almost 5am and at least 1,000 meals must go out by 7am.
“Time is of the essence to keep the food fresh,” said Mr Ho Shau Foong, central kitchen director at Wilmar.
“Once the food is packed, it is sealed in an insulated container and sent to the dedicated truck, right to the school.”
Staff at Wilmar cooking dishes for bento meals on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
A staff member cooking vegetables at Wilmar's central kitchen on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
In January, 13 schools across Singapore rolled out a central kitchen model at their canteens. The initiative was built on a 2022 pilot at Yusof Ishak Secondary School, which was managed by SATS, to address a shortage of canteen operators.
Wilmar, Gourmetz and Chang Cheng Mee Wah were the operators selected by the Ministry of Education (MOE). The ministry said the decision was based on factors including meal price competitiveness, menu variety and track record.
Wilmar manages four of the 13 school canteens: Casuarina Primary, Chongzheng Primary, Northoaks Primary and Outram Secondary’s new Anchorvale Crescent campus.
The rollout, however, has been off to a bumpy start. Some parents and students raised teething issues.
At Casuarina Primary, one parent told CNA previously that there were missing items from orders and delays in food distribution.
Another parent said she did not manage to place an order for her Primary 1 daughter after her payment failed. Other parents encountered issues ordering online, resulting in long queues at recess time and further delays.
Related:
Wilmar has acknowledged the issues and said it was responding to parents and working with the school to address concerns.
Mr Ho added that technical issues emerged when Wilmar integrated their system with the smart card that students use to redeem their meals.
“But we station our technical team in every school, every day, even until today, to make sure that every glitch is being taken care of, every meal is being served,” he said.
Meals from central kitchens have been in the spotlight after photos of catered meals at Hwa Chong Institution went viral on social media. Hwa Chong has since said that it would work with caterer SATS to review its recipes.
SATS provides the meals at HCI, and the school is not part of MOE’s central kitchen model initiative.
The kitchen at Wilmar on Jan 14, 2026. The size of the kitchen is as big as a football field. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
A CALIBRATED PROCESS
When CNA visited Wilmar’s central kitchen on Wednesday morning (Jan 14), workers were preparing five different bento meals for the day.
Each meal consists of a carbohydrate, a protein and a vegetable dish. A vegetarian option is also available, and all bento meals are halal.
The school meals are just one part of Wilmar’s extensive operations. On the whole, Wilmar produces about 10 tonnes of food a day – equivalent to around 33,000 meals – as they serve other sectors such as hotels and dormitories.
For schools alone, this is around 300 to 400kg of food, with about 500kg of raw materials used each day.
Raw food materials at Wilmar, on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
Menus are planned about four weeks in advance, and orders must be placed by noon two days prior. Once the orders are in, the raw materials are ordered, and cooking preparations begin the next day.
“We have our full information system to calibrate all this data to make sure that the food we cook is of exact portion, exact weight, with little wastage,” Mr Ho said.
On school days, the kitchen sets up at 4am, and cooking begins at around 4.45am.
It currently takes four staff members to pack one bento meal at Wilmar. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
Food in containers at Wilmar packed and ready, on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Tan)
Once the dishes are cooked, they are transported to a packing room. It takes four people to pack a bento box – three people scoop a dish each, and one closes the lid. The meals are then laid on a conveyor belt and sent to delivery trucks.
Mr Ho said they hope to automate more processes once the menus are closer to being finalised.
Asked how the meals are kept warm for recess time, which typically begins at around 9am, Mr Ho said meals are placed in food warmers at every stage, excluding the delivery trucks, which are insulated.
Students with allergies may indicate their dietary restrictions in their profile. Dishes with allergens will then be filtered out during the preordering process.
Mr Ho added that all meal sets are cooked and packed separately, and scoops are not mixed to prevent cross-contamination.
Staff at Wilmar loading bento meals onto trucks, on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Justin Tan)
HYBRID MODEL
So far, Wilmar has received “very good feedback” on the taste of their bento meals, Mr Ho said.
Popular items include chicken rice and pasta, he added.
“But due to the ingredient use, it seems to be a bit dull to the children. We are getting this feedback from the students and parents directly,” he said.
As per MOE guidelines, most of the carbohydrates are wholegrain, and Wilmar uses a moderate amount of spices.
“So we make it up by using more colourful vegetables, corn and carrots to give the aesthetic appeal,” he said.
CNA sampled the finished bento meals at Wilmar on Jan 14, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Raydza Rahman)
Asked about concerns that the new canteen model will diminish the traditional recess experience of buying food and human interaction, Mr Ho said that Wilmar has decided to maintain a hybrid model in canteens to keep the human touch.
Canteens operated by Wilmar have a live stall selling freshly-prepared food. These include either one rice and two noodle options, or two rice and one noodle option at S$2 (US$1.55) for regular and S$2.50 for large sizes.
At the same time, Wilmar is hoping to entice more students to opt for preordered meals. Preordered meals have shorter queuing times and there are more options to choose from. The price ranges from S$2 to S$3.50, depending on portion size.
On average, around two-thirds of students across the four schools are opting for preordered meals, while one-third are buying from the live station, Mr Ho said.
“But these are early days. The numbers may change over the weeks, as we change our offerings in our preorder food,” he said.
Related:
Source: CNA/er(mi)
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