Does your child love baking and creating culinary delights? Does he dream of someday managing or owning a Food and Beverage (F&B) company? How can parents support their children’s aspirations with the right choice of school?

In this exclusive interview with Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), find out how our children can receive a curated education designed and delivered by industry experts and leaders via enrolling in NYP’s Diploma in Food & Beverage Business.

NYP has been training local F&B talent for 10 years, constantly reviewing and aligning its curriculum to the latest industry trends and needs. In addition, NYP enhances our children’s F&B Business education with unparalleled industry exposure to masterclasses, internships, overseas competitions, and even job-matching with leading F&B partners.

Photo: NYP supports young talent to represent Singapore at overseas competitions such as the 51st UIBC International Young Bakers Competition

Q: Why should my child consider a career in F&B?

A: The F&B industry is dynamic and exciting. With the birth of novel dining experiences and trends in delivery, cloud kitchens, digitalisation, and sustainable foods, this is the best time to consider a career in an industry that is rapidly transforming.

Graphic: Growth of Singapore’s F&B industry (Singstat Food & Beverage Services Index, Dec 2022)

For example, Asia-Pacific is predicted to become the largest cloud kitchen (delivery-only services with no physical/dine-in space or takeaway counter) market. Within Singapore, the cloud kitchen market is set to grow to SGD 1.05 billion by 2023.

Technology like E-payments, E-menus, automated inventory management, cloud computing and analytics, as well as AI and machine learning, are increasingly incorporated into F&B production facilities and restaurant operations.

Q: What vision does NYP have for my child as a graduate of its Diploma in Food & Beverage Business?

A: At NYP, we develop our learners with industry-relevant skills that’ll help them thrive in the workplace. We also help spark their innovativeness – always challenging them to think creatively for alternative solutions to everyday problems. Most importantly, we ensure they grow into responsible individuals, championing social and sustainable causes.

To empower your child with multiple skills, our Diploma in Food & Beverage Business is the only diploma that allows your child to choose between two Specialisations in the second year – F&B Management or Culinary Arts under the tutelage of experienced business lecturers and chefs.

We also have General Studies Modules, where your child can build life skills and explore other skills such as foreign languages, IT, robotics, health, or social sciences. To guide your child’s career choices, we provide Education & Career Guidance counselling and support.

Q: How have NYP students thrived in the Diploma in Food & Beverage Business?

Photo: Nurul Nashyira Bte Suhaimi (left) and Elton Pang Tai Shun (right) from NYP represented Singapore at the 51st UIBC International Young Bakers Competition in Taipei, Taiwan

A: With support from its industry partner Axquisite, two final-year Culinary Arts students from NYP represented Singapore in the recent 51st UIBC International Young Bakers Competition – held in February 2023 in Taiwan. Both students displayed strong culinary and baking skills throughout their three years of study at NYP.

Photo: Nurul Nashyira Bte Suhaimi assembling her team’s competition showpiece, which depicts Singapore’s multicultural diversity and cuisines. She also baked croissants, her favourite bread, for the UIBC competition.

Nurul Nashyira Bte Suhaimi was inspired by her mother’s cooking to explore a career in F&B. She appreciated the option to learn both culinary skills and business skills as this combination will bring her closer to her future aspiration of opening her own restaurant.

Her ability to showcase her talents has landed her opportunities including an internship tenure at Les Amis, a three-Michelin Starred restaurant. With the skills and networking opportunities through NYP, Nurul is confident of her career prospects upon graduation.

Photo: Elton Pang Tai Shun decorating his favourite bread, Or Nee Roti (Coconut Taro Bun) at the UIBC competition, where each team had to bake 140 products with 13 different shapes in five categories.

Elton Pang Tai Shun had an interest in F&B since he was young and liked to help out in the kitchen. Inspired by how food brings people together, he applied for NYP’s Diploma in Food and Beverage Business with strong support from his parents.

Elton shared that he benefitted from NYP’s holistic teaching style, which balances both technical and life skills. Students in his course are empowered to run a full restaurant by themselves to develop their F&B business acumen and management skills. They also get support on internships, alongside career and upskilling advice. An internship with Regent Hotel and overseas competition experience gave him invaluable training and exposure. Elton looks forward to practicing all that he’s learnt post-graduation.

Q: How can my child benefit from NYP’s Diploma in Food & Beverage Business?

A: NYP students can choose to specialise in hospitality management, culinary arts, food service management, food marketing, food service entrepreneurship, F&B management and baking and pastry arts. NYP also offers state-of-the art training facilities that rival industry players – a full-service restaurant and café, beverage lab as well as fully-fitted kitchen labs.

Our partnerships with key industry players such as Les Amis, Unilever Food Solutions, Raffles Hotel, Dilmah, Bon Café, and Axquisite provide your child exposure to masterclasses, mentorship, and industry professional sharing, global immersion programmes, exchange programmes, and overseas internship programmes.

Your child can also stretch his culinary and F&B skills in competitions, such as the UIBC International Young Bakers Competition in Taiwan, Worldskills – a global competition of skills for young people, and Food Hotel Asia, and network with global companies and F&B talents.

In his final year, your child will get the opportunity to apply his skills in a real-world setting through the Teaching Enterprise Project where alongside other students, they’ll run a full-service restaurant, L’Rez, managing the entire suite of operations from menu research and development to marketing and sales.

The students will also benefit from the diploma’s internship programme partnership with esteemed local and international brands like Lo & Behold, Ritz Carlton, Shangri-La, COMO and many more.

Learn more about Nanyang Polytechnic’s Diploma in Food & Beverage Business here.

Pictures courtesy of Nanyang Polytechnic.

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