Why This Homegrown Bakery Upskills Employees Via A Mystery Judge Course

Working in the F&B industry is more than just about creating great-tasting food. Important skills include visual presentation, ambience and environment, and food pairing experience.

If you’re looking to make a mid-career switch to this industry, how would you be able to quickly access these skills that are usually acquired through years of experience? Would your company be able to send you relevant training courses to support you in your professional development?

Montreux Patisserie, a homegrown bakery since 1995, recently enrolled ten employees in a Certified F&B Mystery Judge (CFMJ) Programme to gain knowledge of the science behind consumers’ dining experiences, tapping on the Professional Development (PD) scheme offered by NTUC’s Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).

Why did this bakery send its employees for a mystery judge course?

1. Gain relevant industry skills

Not every staff in an F&B company has a background in this industry. Some staff come from horizontal functions such as accounting and operations from other industries, and would need training to better understand the dynamics of the F&B industry.

Montreux Patisserie chose to send its staff for a one-day CFMJ programme to learn a wide range of topics such as consumer psychology and behaviour, service excellence, and sensory training. Participants acquired insights into what consumers look out for while joining a community of like-minded food experts to improve standards across the board.

2. Raise product and service quality

In the F&B industry, every consumer is a mystery judge. Consumers assess whether the food, ambience, customer service and dining experience provide value for money, and if the establishment is worth patronising again and /or deserves a positive review.

As Montreux Patisserie serves a range of customers in the B2B and B2C, via offline and online channels, with a variety of pastries and desserts, being able to understand how customers choose and evaluate food and catering is important, especially in Singapore’s competitive F&B industry.

Gaining skills into how consumers thoughts, perceptions and behaviour helped Montreux Patisserie continually improve their product and service quality to cater to their customer’s needs, whether it is through traditional sales channels, website or its Shopee platform.

3. Boost staff’s confidence at work

Ms Chloe Yeo, Deputy Accounts Manager, and Ms Lee Mei Ling, Operations Manager, both from Montreux Patisserie, shared how the CFMJ course had positively impacted their professional development.

Ms Chloe Yeo, Deputy Accounts Manager, gained the confidence to share her opinions to improve her company’s product and service offering after attending the Certified F&B Mystery Judge Programme

As Chloe often interacts with suppliers, customers and colleagues, the skills and knowledge from the CFMJ course gave her the confidence to give detailed feedback during food-tasting sessions and build stronger relationships with these stakeholders.

She explained, “After understanding the basic principles of food and wine pairing and being equipped with mystery judge knowledge, I am now more confident to share my view especially on how visuals and colour can affect the overall food presentation. I’m now in a better position to share my insights with my colleagues such as our R&D team and chefs.”

4. Enhance your work performance

Ms Lee Mei Ling picked up critical F&B skills from a Certified F&B Mystery Judge Programme that positively impacted her performance as an Operations Manager

Like Chloe, Mei Ling’s confidence improved after attending the CFMJ course. In addition, Mei Ling shared that the course had a direct impact on her productivity and performance as the course increased her understanding of her responsibilities and the industry skills she needed to perform her job effectively.

“I learnt a lot more on how visual, sound, colour and environment can psychologically affect the taste of food, which makes a great impact on how we should market or promote our product in the near future. I would strongly encourage the public/colleagues to participate in this professional development course as it would definitely help them in their profession,” she said.

5. Raise your potential for career resilience and advancement

Mr Derrick Wang, the HR Manager of Montreux Patisserie, shared how professional development enables employees keep up with technological advancements and market changes.

“The PD programme allows us to enhance and reskill our existing experience staff skillset to help them on their current job task or maybe even new job tasks. Through training and development, it will help them to build confidence to tackle the challenges they may face on the job. Employees also get a better perspective of their learning and professional development goals for work and career advancement,” he elaborated.

To learn more about careers at Montreux Patisserie, visit montreux.sg/career.

Montreux Patisserie bakery Singapore