The food poisoning incident ultimately claimed the life of auxiliary police officer Mohamad Fadli Mohd Saleh -- a father of two.
On November 6, 2018, food contaminated with salmonella was supplied by Spize and delivered in 88 bento sets to security firm Brink, which Mohamad Fadli was deployed to, for a Deepavali celebration.
He died eight days later on November 14 from sepsis and multi-organ failure following acute gastroenteritis.
Some of the “alarming lapses” State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam found included:
Strains of salmonella were found on the ready-to-eat bento sets, raw food items and commonly touched surfaces such as a door handle leading to a cold room and the cold room rack.
Seven of the 34 food handlers were not registered with the National Environment Agency (NEA), which meant they had not attended the basic food hygiene course.
Faecal matter was also detected in some belacan egg fried rice as well as on kitchen tools such as a chopping board and a knife.
Interestingly, Haresh reveals that the authorities inspected the River Valley outlet a month before the incident and its standards were deemed acceptable then.
Surely, it must be complacency then, I ask.
He agrees.
“Complacency is due to fatigue. When you are in F&B, there’s a lot of fatigue. So with fatigue comes complacency.”
When the reports first filtered through, the brothers were at a loss of what to do.
“It was very reactionary. We really had no clue what to do and how to handle this. I mean, we made wrong decisions... But ultimately, we just had to go with what the authorities wanted from us, you know, and then make the best of the situation.”
The fallout was swift and their world came crashing down; Spize was in survival mode and the brothers even toyed with the idea of selling the business.
“We were looking into it. But then my brother and I sat down and realised, ‘Okay, Let's fight this.’ Let's continue for six months, to a year and then we see,” he explains.
Perhaps unknown to the public, Haresh shares that trouble was already brewing and that the food poisoning incident was just the proverbial nail in the coffin for the River Valley outlet.
Trouble in paradise
If you frequented the River Valley branch back in the 2000s, more often than not, you would find yourself sipping teh tariks and satiating that post-clubbing hunger with pratas by the roadside.
Having tables along the main road was a must for that outlet, given its high overheads. But that was actually illegal.
“The tables that we were putting outside -- those were not allowed. So, ultimately, we knew that that location, eventually we had to restructure or give it up. Because the overheads for that outlet were very high. And if we were not allowed to put the tables outside, it didn't make any sense,” he explains.
He takes a sip of his coffee, a wry smile shows and recounts a meeting he and his brother had with the authorities such as SFA, LTA and SCDF due to “too many complaints'' about the River Valley outlet causing traffic jams, being a fire hazard, and noise pollution.
“There were so many eateries but they came for us. So we already had a huge target on our backs,” he says.
“So, ultimately, we knew that that location, eventually we had to restructure or give it up,” he concludes.
Future of Spize
What’s next for Spize is probably to venture further into something called destination dining, which the outlet at Temasek Club is modelled after.
He readily admits that people come here for the environment. Surrounded by greenery and slightly hard to reach (read: exclusivity), customers surely must have the intention to dine there.
50 per cent for food, 50 per cent for the environment, he says.
But for now, the plan is to be more nimble and it’s hard to stay nimble with another physical outlet (especially with all the overheads).
Spize partnered with a wedding company as its food caterer and prior to Covid-19, business was doing so well, he uses “fantastic” twice.
At 46, he thinks he doesn’t have much time left. He tells me that in the past three years, two of his friends had passed away, leaving behind young kids, and he wonders how long can he go on for.
So what’s the exit strategy, I ask.
Conventionally, since Spize is a family business, one would think that the brothers would pass it to the next generation. But that’s not what they want for their children.
After all, the F&B life is a tough one.
The ideal exit plan is to build it to a certain size and then look to sell.
It is now 5:20pm. Time for a last question.
Since Spize is nearly synonymous with River Valley, would the brothers revisit it and build it up again.
The answer is swift, “No way.”
“It’s like a woman you fell in love with who left. So you remember the good times, you remember the bad times, but you've come to terms with the fact that you will never get back together again.”
https://mothership.sg/2021/09/spize-lessons-on-leadership/
