Corporate Profile
The history of Old Chang Kee goes as far back as 1956 when it started with just a small stall in a coffee shop outside the former Rex cinema along McKenzie Road. People just loved the delicious pastry stuffed full of curried potatoes, chicken, a slice of egg, fried with several herbs and spices. Each curry puff was carefully handmade and properly sealed to lock in the unmistakable aroma that won the hearts of many Singaporeans.
In 1986, Han Keen Juan made a pivotal decision that was to change his life as well as the food scene in Singapore. He traded a comfortable job with an established MNC for the hot and greasy kitchen of Old Chang Kee. With whatever savings he had, he bought over the control of the company. Facing an uncertain future ahead of him, he had only one goal in mind - to transform Old Chang Kee into a successful business entity.
Strategic MoveHan quickly set about modernizing and re-engineering the business. He implemented new systems and took critical steps to ensure quality standards. He launched aggressive programme to grow Old Chang Kee to become Singapore's leading brand of curry puffs and other hot savories. His hard work paid off for in 1992, he was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year and was hailed by Newsweek and the now defunct Asia Magazine as the man to watch.
In his true entrepreneurial spirit, he took another big gamble by investing in a 20,000 sq ft modern factory in Woodlands. Back then he was producing his curry puffs from a small corner of the coffee shop and later moved to a slightly bigger premise in a flatted factory in UBI. But he knew that in order to bring the company into the big league, he had to keep upgrading and hence his move to Woodlands. With the move to bigger, modern premises came bigger challenges for him. He had to change the mindset of his people. He had to convince them that the modern machineries and modern processes were not designed to replace them but rather to standardize the work flow and to ensure stringent quality control.
Old Chang Kee markets its curry puffs through various concepts - from kiosks along the road, to supermarket outlets and to modern shopping malls. With one of the best curry puffs around and achieving high marks in accessibility, variety and wholesome goodness, Old Chang Kee has also diversified and extended its product range to include other snacks, desserts and complementary products such as chicken spring rolls, sotong balls, fish balls, crab claws, sesame balls, sotong fritters and pineapple, corn and yam pies, etc, all produced with the same high quality standards that go into making its classic curry puff.
Our New LeaderAfter bringing Old Chang Kee to its height, Han soon realized that it was time to groom a new leader. He needed a strong visionary leader to bring the company to the next level and so in 1995, he brought in William Lim Tao-E, a young graduate of an Australian university. He brought with him fresh ideas and applying innovative marketing strategies to keep in sync with shifting consumer trends.
As Managing Director, William Lim together with Chairman, Han Keen Juan embarked on the next stage of the journey, which is to establish Old Chang Kee as a major recognizable brand in modern Singapore while preserving its valuable heritage.
We Are HalalIn 2004, Old Chang Kee set on to fulfill one of its brand values which are to develop products that would appeal to the multi-cultural and multi-religious segment of society. We draw our inspiration of the various spicy finger foods from different ethnic cultures. Recently we achieved "Halal" certification to reach out to the Muslim community.
The 'Old Chang Kee' BrandToday, we are delighted that Old Chang Kee brand has become a household name. Our painstaking effort to achieve top of mind awareness among Singaporeans has paid off handsomely. In 2004 and 2005, Old Changkee was awarded the Singapore Promising Brand Award and also the Singapore Heritage Brand Award.
Our StarsEach brand name embodies the unique promise, aspiration and personality of the product. In order to differentiate the product from others in today's competitive market, Old Chang Kee has developed memorable and distinctive brand names for all our products.
Brand Mission
Our mission is to deliver superior quality hot finger food and ready meals at a value-for money price positioning; in a clean, and customer friendly retail environment.
The Old Chang Kee brand aims to fulfill the following promise- To deliver consistently a wide variety of high quality hot finger food and ready meals through standardized food preparation processes.
- To refine, and modernize traditional food recipes for the modern, multi-cultural customers.
- To provide an alternative to fast food for the busy and mobile city dwellers.
