Heritage businesses caught between wok hei and productivity

Singapore

SINGAPORE'S heritage businesses in the food and beverage (F&B) industry are finding it a challenge to strike a balance between raising productivity and retaining the authenticity of traditional processes, even as they endeavour to grow or maintain their existing operations.

Raising productivity - an often touted solution to manpower woes - is not that easy to do, they say, especially for those with a single outlet or limited scale.

Machinery can "only help so much", said Cedric Tang, PR and marketing director, and third generation business leader of Swee Kee Eating House and Ka Soh. Sometimes, traditional cooking methods, which are a lot …