Sales, Social and Tech

Indian rojak sauce, a local Singapore peanut sauce, does not contain any seafood ingredient. Yet, in 2009, Vibrio Parahaemolyticus - a seafood based bacterium - was linked to a massive food poisoning case in Singapore and even resulted in two fatalities. How did this bacterium cross contaminated with a peanut sauce which had no seafood ingredient? This was one of the case study highlighted in the Food Hygiene Course I attended as part of the Workforce Skills Qualifications training as part of upgrading. This course is compulsory for all food handlers in Singapore, even if the food handlers are service staff and are even part time staff. If, during investigation by the National Environment Agency in Singapore, establishments have food handlers who have not attended the course may face six demerit points per handler. Twelve demerit points results in immediate suspension of the establishment for two weeks. In this course, I learnt that bacteria cross contamination is the major...

Many F&B outlets I worked with have a Facebook Page first and website second. Go to any F&B outlet and you will see a poster that says Find Us On Facebook. However, finding us on Facebook is not as easy as it seems. The biggest problem is Facebook Search as it isn't as good as Google. Facebook Search, it seems, is based on the Page Name, not Vanity URL, and it matches the text accordingly. For example, if your Page Name is ABC Cafe and your customers search for ABCCafe, Facebook search will bring the customer to ABCCafe Facebook Page instead of ABC Cafe Facebook Page. I worked with a merchant who faced the same problem as above.  The merchant brand name as ABCShoes Pte Ltd but its Page Name was ABC Shoes. A customer actually found a ABCShoes Page and liked that page thinking it was from ABCShoes Pte Ltd. The customer was finding it weird that the content was different and highlighted it to the shop when she was there. Even the staff was confused with ABCShoes and ...

You can't avoid Facebook today. With over one billion users, finding somebody without a Facebook account is a rarity.  Lots of F&B establishments have already started on Facebook marketing. Some have found hits, other misses.  After dealing with F&B merchants on how to launch their Fan Clubs for their Facebook Page, I have found that there are still doubts about using Facebook as a marketing tools. As such, I am starting from the ground up. Intermediate and advance marketeers can skip these first few posts.  So why Facebook? 1. A medium which provides you with a captive audience When Facebook first launched Pages, they added a fan button where Facebook users become fans of your Page. They made a decision to change it to Likes but it is weird to call them likers.  So those who join the Page are still known as fans. These fans are your captive audience. Besides email, no other medium provide that online tool to give you a captive au...