Having talked quite a bit on social enterprises in general, I feel that perhaps we can look into details of a social enterprise, to understand their background, and how it came about. For today, we will be focusing on none other than, the one that we all know, Eighteen Chefs.
Eighteen Chefs is a social enterprise set up by Benny Se Teo, who is an ex-convict. As the name suggest, Eighteen Chefs is in the F&B industry, serving western style cuisine. Benny Se Teo was once a heroin addict, who has been in and out of prison and rehabilitation centre for countless times. But the "Grace of God" was what help him get rid of his past and become who he is today.
Being an ex-convict, it left a bad mark on him. He was resources enough to find the right avenue to get funding. His "brothers" did not help him but yet, Benny persisted and went to somewhere unexpected, NTUC.
By investing the resources and funding in kitchen equipments and food technology, Eighteen Chefs is where it is today.With great food, served by capable chefs, the food comes quickly without affect the quality of the food. However, is serving good food the biggest achievement for Eighteen Chefs? Well, it seems that what Benny aims to do with his enterprise is to empower and help ex-convicts and youth-at-risk to be confident of themselves. Using Eighteen Chefs as a stepping stone, the beneficiaries can find other jobs outside of Eighteen Chefs if they want to progress further. In fact, there are some workers who went out and became the head chef of other notable restaurant and others even set up their own hawker business.
Indeed, Eighteen chefs has done well in empowering their beneficiaries, and also, proved to society that even ex-convicts are human and can do well if they set their heart to it. With support that we can provide to them, anyone can do well and be an inspiration to society.
Hopefully, this story will inspire a few of us to be more supportive of social enterprises, not just because of their cause but because the products that they offer are of good quality. Having been to Eighteen chefs a few times, I must say that they do serve good food. Why not give it a shot if you have not been there. Who knows, you may really enjoy the food there.
Article: Eighteen Chefs – Meet The Ex-Convict Who Provides Jobs, Hope and Life. From http://danielfooddiary.com/2013/10/31/eighteenchefs/
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