CHICKEN rice has been described by culinarians as the 'national dish' of Singapore. Its position as a hawker centre staple, as well as a menu item on first-class Singapore Airlines flights, underscores its unrivalled popularity.
But it is a dish that is too often incorrectly prepared, says Thomas Chiam, master franchisor of The Chicken Rice Company.
Self-professed gastronomer Mr Chiam and his wife Jane started Friends Restaurants & Catering Group in 2005 and ventured into chicken rice in June this year. 'Chicken rice is a popular local dish but its standard varies,' says Mr Chiam, who laments the frequent use of excessive chilli, MSG or even rooster meat.
The Chicken Rice Company aims to offer customers a version of the local dish that is not only more authentic but also healthier than standard fare.
With this brand of chicken rice, only Sakura chicken is used - a special breed of chicken that has less fat and more succulent, flavourful meat. The chickens are reared in climate-controlled environments and fed a mixture of natural ingredients including corn, soybean and Japanese lacto-bacteria that are flown in from Japan.
No growth hormones, chemicals or antibiotics are used, and the chickens' weight is monitored so that their meat remains supple. 'The end-result is a healthier chicken, with less fat because of the feed,' say Mr Chiam.
Being the only chicken rice operator in Singapore to use only Sakura chicken in all its dishes is a key ingredient for success, Mr Chiam believes. 'One of the core values of Western cuisine is to use quality ingredients that stand out on their own,' he says. 'We decided to apply the same concept.'
Even the chilli and ginger sauces served with the chicken rice are made from scratch - no pre-packaged ingredients are used. With outlets at Newton Food Centre and Lau Pa Sat, it is easy to sample this distinctive dish yourself. For $3.80 you get to enjoy chicken, rice, achar and a bowl of soup - a simple but satisfying meal.
However, Mr Chiam has gone one step further to make sure he keeps ahead of the fierce competition.
Besides the franchise chain of hawker stalls, The Chicken Rice Company has a licensed chicken rice catering arm, that provides parties with a chicken rice theme.
'Restaurants are so competitive and overheads are so high,' says Mr Chiam. 'You cannot rely solely on walk-in customers. If you're on a single revenue stream, you're in trouble.'
Instead of the typical buffet line set up by most caterers, The Chicken Rice Company set up a mobile food stall with a chef to prepare the food on location.
'In every business you need a differentiator,' says Mr Chiam. 'It's these little touches that make a difference. The cost of providing them is marginal, but to the consumer, it's something different. It's a nice touch.'
Mr Chiam also prizes himself on the consistent quality of his chicken. The key to this, he says, is having less people carry out the same tasks.
'If you have chicken rice cooked at multiple locations you will have multiple versions,' he says. So all his chicken is cooked at the central kitchen in Clementi by the same workers, then transported to the franchise outlets. Leveraging on Friends Restaurant & Catering Group has helped The Chicken Rice Company in several ways.
The central kitchen previously supported only the Friends Restaurant outlets and catering service. Start-up costs for The Chicken Rice Company were kept low by making use of the existing kitchen facilities, such as a huge walk-in refrigerator and a 100-litre boiler to store the chicken and prepare the stock.
'Instead of investing in new equipment and training, we just added new product lines to our kitchen and catering service,' says Mr Chiam. 'We took what we already had and expanded it.'
He was also able to serve Sakura chicken at his Friends outlets to see how well it would be received, as well as determine the reliability of his supplier.
'Good business is really about planning,' says Mr Chiam, who spent a year doing taste tests, sourcing for labour and locations, refining his product and learning how to best minimise costs. 'Don't plan for best-case scenario, plan for the worst,' he says.
He also stresses the importance of reading the market. 'It's important to sell what you know the consumer wants, not just what you like or what you enjoy doing,' he notes.
He has high hopes for The Chicken Rice Company. Locations in the heartland have been identified and he is working on a soy sauce chicken. 'We've produced a simple dish with a unique blend to it,' he says. 'Chicken is chicken to most people - until they taste this.'
This article was first published in The Business Times on September 16, 2008.
