CCI for F&B encourages businesses in the industry to raise their service levels.

Higher funding support for enterprises to develop capabilities during the economic downturn. Find out more about the changes.

Initiated By	• SPRING Singapore (SPRING) • National Trade Union Congress (NTUC)
Supported By	• Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) • Singapore Tourism Board (STB) • Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) • Restaurant Association of Singapore (RAS)
Launch Date	25 June 2007

Aims

1. To improve service levels of organisations in the F&B sector in Singapore.
   
   
2. To increase customer satisfaction of locals and tourists through better service.
   
   
3. To cultivate service leaders in the industry who, in turn, will motivate other organisations to improve their service levels.
   
   
4. To develop service benchmarks that organisations in the F&B sector can use to measure their service levels.

For who?

• All Singapore-registered businesses in the F&B sector who want to participate in service improvement projects, including:
  
  
  • privately-owned companies 
  • partnerships
  • groups of enterprises
  • industry bodies/associations 

For what?

• To fund and support projects undertaken by organisations in the F&B sector to improve service levels/customer experience and benchmark themselves against industry standards.
  
  
• Service improvement projects may include:
  
  
  • service audits (e.g. mystery patient audits, customer satisfaction surveys etc.) to identify service gaps
    
    
  • development and implementation of service strategies, blueprints, standards or systems
    
    
  • implementation of technology to improve service levels (e.g. queue management to improve customer waiting time)
    
    
  • development of training programmes under the Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) framework to train staff on service competencies
    
    
  • participation in overseas study missions for healthcare organisations in the F&B sector to learn customer service best practices from their foreign counterparts or industry players
    
    
  • implementation of reward systems to recognise employees for good service
    
    
  • certification under Singapore Service Class (S-Class)
    
    
• Businesses can use the Service Standards developed under CCI to audit and measure their service levels. Service Standards are currently available for the following types of establishments:
  
  
  • restaurants
  • pubs and clubs

How much?

• Funding is decided on a case-by-case basis. Typically, CCI will fund up to 70% of the qualifying costs.
  
  
• Qualifying costs include:
  
  
  • professional services or consultancy fees
  • service audit costs
  • manpower costs related to the CCI project
  • service-related study trips, conferences and exchange programmes 
  • Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) training for employees (funding from the Singapore Workforce Development Agency)

Things to note

• More Service Standards are being developed under CCI. Service Standards for the following types of establishments will be released soon:
  
  
  • Food Courts
  • Food Kiosks
    
    
• Service audits or customer service surveys should preferably be done by an independent external party. Post-implementation assessment should be carried out by the same party.
  
  
• Projects must not have commenced at the time of application.
  
  
• Typically, the duration of a CCI project is about a year. The project can be as short as 9 months to as long as 2 years. This depends on what the company wants to do.
  
  
• CCI is part of the overall efforts under the F&B Capability Development Programme (CDP) to increase the capabilities of F&B establishments.

Background

1. CCI for F&B is part of the “Go-the-Extra-Mile for Services (GEMS)” – a nation-wide movement to encourage F&B organisations to commit to service excellence and raise service standards in their sector to improve Singapore's service quality.
   
   
2. As of August 2007, 44 F&B businesses have participated in CCI. Service improvements have been at their 1,100 outlets and by their 26,000 employees. They account for 25% of F&B establishments and 38% of total F&B workers.
   
   

   See:	List of F&B businesses participating in CCI

Changes from 1 February 2009 - 31 January 2010

• CCI is part of BUILD (Business Upgrading Initiatives for Long-Term Development) which helps businesses to strengthen their capabilities during the downturn for future growth.
  
  
• BUILD provides higher funding support to SMEs for all existing SPRING Singapore's capability development programmes. This applies to applications received between 1 February 2009 and 31 January 2010.

	Existing	Revised
Funding Support	Up to 50% of qualifying cost	Up to 70% of qualifying cost

For more info

Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI) For F&B

Officer-in-Charge

Ms Chan Mui Ling
Admin Executive
Business and Service Excellence Division
SPRING Singapore

Tel: (65) 6279 3731
Email: chan_mui_ling@spring.gov.sg

Related Government Programmes

• Business Excellence Niche Standard (Service) 
• Workforce Skills Qualifications (WSQ) for F&B

Related Official Speeches

• Speech by Mr Lim Swee Say, NTUC Secretary-General & Minister for Prime Minister’s Office, at the Launch of Customer-Centric Initiative (CCI) for Food & Beverage sector, 25 June 2007
  
  
• Welcome Speech by Mr Yeo Guat Kwang, Chairman (Customer-Centric Initiative), at the Launch of The Customer-Centric Initiative for Food & Beverage sector, 25 June 2007

Related Press Releases

• Launch of Customer-Centric Initiative for Food & Beverage sector, SPRING Singapore, 25 June 2007