Before the School Bell Rings

Food

An inside look at how Wilmar's central kitchen supports school meals under Singapore's new canteen model

For decades, school canteens in Singapore have operated much like food courts, with individual stallholders preparing and selling meals independently. In recent years, however, rising costs, labour shortages and declining enrolment have made it increasingly difficult for schools to sustain this model.

In September 2025, the Ministry of Education announced that 13 schools in Singapore would switch to a central kitchen meal model from 2026. Wilmar was selected as one of the four operators to support the rollout by preparing and delivering school meals.

There is a prequel to this story. In an earlier piece, we went inside our mega kitchen — an integrated facility spanning the size of 10 football fields and producing over 6,300 tonnes of food products each month. Today, a dedicated part of that operation is focused on preparing meals for schoolchildren across Singapore. What follows is another behind-the-scenes look at how those meals come together.

First, the ingredients are prepared

All meals are freshly cooked the day they are served

Packing and delivery

This behind-the-scenes work recently caught public attention when media crews stepped into our kitchen to see how school meals come together. Check out these stories on CNA, The Straits Times, and Lianhe Zaobao (Chinese) to discover different perspectives!

A video of our operations by The Straits Times: