With business events expected to make a full return to pre-pandemic levels this year at the Singapore Expo, the convention and exhibition centre is gearing up for the opportunity to finally showcase the power of its futuristic Kinetic Kitchen – a micro-central kitchen that relies on technology and a lean human team to cater meals for up to 800 guests.

Established just before the onset of the pandemic, the Kinetic Kitchen is Singapore Expo’s first in-house kitchen.

According to Khoo Yew Jin, vice president, brand & customer experience at Constellar, the organisation that manages Singapore Expo, Kinetic Kitchen was created to allow the centre to “achieve higher levels of customer delight and to elevate the level of event catering”.

The facility is armed with six high-tech machines that can stir, steam, bake, roast and more. It is operated by four experienced chefs, including Richmond Lim, chief culinary officer at Constellar. They are supported by an administrator, an operations staff, and a food safety officer.

Taking TTGmice through a tour of the Kinetic Kitchen, Lim said relying on technology for the cooking process has numerous benefits.

“One, it makes it easier for us to scale up and down for different event sizes while functioning on a lean core team. And when we hire casual labour, our criteria is not limited to those with cooking experience. Staff only need to know how to operate the machines. It takes just 15 minutes for me and my chefs to go through the machine panels with them. The complex part of cooking – the research work and machine programming – is already completed by the chefs at that point,” explained Lim.

Other advantages include consistent cooking standards, and the ability to capture data during the cooking process, allowing the team of chefs to apply science to recipe research.

The technology deployed in the Kinetic Kitchen serves more than just the cooking process. An ioniser air-purifying system removes bacteria in the air, while a 24-hour cold chain system ensures food safety and quality are not compromised in the event of any equipment breakdown.

Lim, who created the Kinetic Kitchen, also made sure to design a conducive workspace that would attract, impress and retain young culinary professionals “who value their work environment”.

Lim pushed for Constellar’s approval to outfit the kitchen with a Marrone cooking-block – something more commonly found in Michelin-star restaurants with show kitchens.

“Such high-quality equipment makes work a greater pleasure,” emphasised Lim.

Warm and white lights are utilised in different parts of the kitchen for eye comfort, while fresh air ventilation helps to maintain room temperature at a soothing 20°C to 26°C in the food preparation area.

The facility will bring in catering partners when events of more than 800 attendees descend on Singapore Expo this year. Lim will maintain control over menu, quality, presentation, food safety, and other important aspects to ensure “a high level of culinary experience at events hosted at the Singapore Expo”, said Khoo.

Khoo noted that “2024 will be a critical year for us, and will be the year that we can fully showcase the Kinetic Kitchen’s capability”.

Beyond serving Constellar’s business objectives, Lim believes that the Kinetic Kitchen can contribute positively to the business events industry and culinary profession by shaping the future of banqueting and culinary science. It functions as a learning ground for interns to learn how technology is applied to catering and to show Singapore Expo’s catering partners the wonders of technology in culinary operations.

Khoo said the Kinetic Kitchen “demonstrates that science and technology is a critical part of the culinary profession, which helps the MICE industry to attract more millennials who aspire for more sophisticated roles”.

“Some have adopted similar technology to improve their productivity (after seeing what we have achieved with the Kinetic Kitchen), while others may need more time. I believe that most will eventually adopt such technology to benefit their business and raise the standards of the wider (catering) industry,” Lim remarked.