Royal Brunei Culinary (RBC) is keen to supply services to local F&B businesses following the recent launch of their central kitchen and headquarters in the Lambak West Industrial Area.
By operating Brunei’s largest central kitchen, General Manager of RBC Hj Jeff Hadiman Dato Paduka Hj Danial shared that RBC aims to position itself as a F&B solutions company, with its state of the art kitchen having both Halal and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) certification.
Backed by their new 110,000 square feet facility and 583 staff, RBC is looking to provide outsourcing of kitchen and commissary services, competitive procurement of raw materials and the use of test kitchen facilities and culinary expertise.
During a dialogue yesterday with local businesses, Hj Jeff said that they have been producing several thousand meals daily, but now have the capability to scale to 20,000 meals daily with shift operations round-the-clock.
“With our (high production) scale and volume, industry-certifications and skilled staff, we can help businesses to produce F&B products according to their recipes (and specifications) at competitive rates, enabling businesses to focus more on marketing and growing demand for their products,” said Hj Jeff.
DARe CEO Javed Ahmad – whose organisation jointly organised the dialogue at RBC’s headquarters – said that MSMEs should look into leveraging on RBC’s facilities as an avenue for them to help them scale production more cost-effectively; which in turn would further increase RBC’s overall output – creating a “win-win” situation for both parties.
“Running a large scale, central kitchen requires significant capital and operating expenditure as well as specialised expertise; this is RBC’s core business,” said Javed.
“Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) looking at a reliable and lower risk means to increase their output can really look at engaging RBC, and as RBC gains more business they will continue to increase their competitiveness in production and sourcing materials.”
Jeff explained that businesses can retain their own packaging and branding while outsourcing with RBC, and sign non-disclosure agreements to ensure their recipes remain confidential.
RBC’s central kitchen currently supplies to its five eateries – Express, Anjung Saujana, Dyansty, Seasons and Horizons – as well as to Royal Brunei Airlines (RB) and all major hospitals in the country. RBC also supplies to several major franchises and regularly does catering for large scale events and meetings.
Yesterday’s dialogue was attended by 10 local MSMEs in the F&B sector: I Say Yatta, NOICE, Superwater Marketing, Mr Baker’s Bakeshop, Iskandar Curry House, A.Ayam, SPHI Foods, Taurean Bakeshop & Café, Pan & Work and Wing-it. These businesses are part of DARe’s Elevate – a business development programme for high potential local MSMEs.
DARe’s Elevate runs in cohorts and aims to build MSMEs to be more sustainable, resilient and capable of international expansion. The programme provides businesses with customized assistance in developing strategic roadmaps, mentorship, networking opportunities and financing solutions.
RBC began as a joint venture in 1975 between RB and Hong Kong-based catering company Dairy Farm to supply in-flight meals. The company changed its name from Dairy Farm (Brunei) to Royal Brunei Catering in 1988 – and in the same year opened its first fast food outlet Express at the Brunei International Airport.
