Chapter 1
Introduction: Company Background

MISSION AND GOALS OF APEX-PAL
VISION OF APEX-PAL
CORE VALUES OF APEX-PAL
COMPANY CULTURE

Apex-Pal was established in 1996 as a garment trading business. In 1997, it redirected its focus on the fast-paced food and beverage (F&B) industry and started its first F&B chain, Sakae Sushi. In spite of the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, which had far-reaching negative economic impact within Asia, Apex-Pal overcame extreme odds and triumphed at a time which saw many other F&B outlets closed down.

Apex-Pal chose to focus on its dynamic and innovative style of management in order to distinguish itself from other F&B companies. It consistently offered customers in Singapore a taste of the latest international dining trends. Moreover, management at Apex-Pal had always placed (and still does) strong emphasis on understanding what their patrons wanted and strove to be sensitive to their needs. All these paid off handsomely. Apex-Pal grew into a star on the local restaurant scene, giving it much needed leverage to become a formidable player in the international F&B markets.

In 2007, Apex-Pal had a total of nine brands under its umbrella, namely Sakae Sushi, Sakae Teppanyaki, Sakae Pizza, Sakae@Campus, Hei Sushi, Crepes and Cream, Uma Uma Men, Sho-U and Nouvelle Events. On 10 April 2008, it launched its 10th food brand, Sakae Izakaya at Fort Siloso Beach, Sentosa. It has diversified its business and is now involved in franchising its brands, food import and distribution, business-to-business supplies and events catering. In terms of markets, it has outlets in Malaysia, Philippines, China, Hong Kong and the United States, just to name a few. In the pipeline are plans to expand into Russia and other parts of the world.

Looking to the future, Apex-Pal intends to remain committed to its global growth through rewarding partnerships with its business associates, while it continues to be vitally engaged with the communities it is a part of. It aims to be a global F&B industry player with roots entrenched in where it first grew.

MISSION AND GOALS OF APEX-PAL

Apex-Pal has a very simple and concise mission statement which summarises the F&B company's direction and goals in one easy-to-remember sentence: “To provide good quality food and excellent service at the best value”. In this simple sentence we see three key values being expressed, namely:

1. To provide good quality food: which would be in line with what an F&B company's main aim should be.
2. To provide excellent service: which takes the good food one step further by ensuring that patrons will have a complete dining experience at any of Apex-Pal's F&B outlets.
   
3. Taking the food experience to a whole new level where patrons enjoy the best value when they dine at Apex-Pal's F&B outlets.

VISION OF APEX-PAL

While the mission statement of Apex-Pal guides the working principles of the company, the vision statement helps to steer the long-term direction of the company, that is, “to build global brands”. This expresses the ambition and drive of the management team of Apex-Pal.

CORE VALUES OF APEX-PAL

The core values of Apex-Pal are aptly summed up by the acronym EPIC, which comprises the first letters of the words: Excellence, Productivity, Innovation and Compassion. As seen in their annual report, the core values are summed up as follows:

• Excellence is our minimum standard
• Productivity in everything we do
• Innovation to simplify and compete
• Compassion to all

COMPANY CULTURE

Apex-Pal started off as an entrepreneurial venture, but it has not forgotten the very values — innovation and creativity — that propelled the company to achieve its current success today. The CEO has succeeded in instilling a culture of

adventurism and innovation, and each employee is encouraged to push the envelope of his or her own capabilities and explore new ideas in this fast-evolving industry. This has led to a number of breakthroughs — such as Apex-Pal's contribution as an exemplary quality-food supplier to the local F&B industry. Its fixation on research and innovation has led the company to set up its very own food research and testing facility in Singapore in order to ensure excellent food quality and product innovations. It is with this innovative culture that Apex-Pal hopes to achieve global success.

Apex-Pal's company culture, with regards to its management practices and human resource policies, as well as the views of its leaders, will be discussed in greater depth in the rest of this book.