Delivering good food and service their forte

Taking pride in food presentation is one of the factors that has delighted Big Onion’s returning customers.

EVENT catering is more than just delicious food for Big Onion Food Caterer Sdn Bhd (Big Onion).

“Food catering seems pretty simple and straightforward – cook the food, send to the location and serve. But there’s a lot more to it.

“Today, it is all about overall customer experience.

“Every aspect is equally important, from service and presentation, to meeting customers’ needs and ensuring their guests are well taken care of.

Founded in 2010, Big Onion is helmed by brothers Foo Kuan and Foo Khun, who is the director and executive chef of the company.

Big Onion Food Caterer Sdn Bhd managing director Liang Foo Kuan (left) and director and executive chef Liang Foo Khun proudly showing the gold award their company won for Best in Marketing at SOBA 2017.

Their passion for food started way back in 1979, as the Liang family ran food and beverage (F&B) businesses ranging from coffee shops to cafes and Chinese restaurants.

Foo Kuan recalled their first catering order of 15 pax was from a friend’s company.

Soon, the news of good food got around and regular customers came requesting for catering orders.

“The orders grew from 10 to 20 pax and eventually went up to 100.

“We realised there was an opportunity in food catering and we could only focus on one business at that point of time, as managing each business is different. We then decided to slowly migrate to a catering service from the conventional retail business in 2005.

“Also, another reason for diverting our family business is that running cafes and restaurants ties you down as you need to be physically at the premises, whereas we can be more flexible and cater to more people through food catering,” added Foo Kuan.

Eye-pleasing table settings add to the ambience while catering for an event.

Foo Khun pointed out that food handling is very important in catering.

“It involves a lot of factors to be put into consideration, such as food quality and hygiene.

“For instance, when you are catering for 1,000 pax, you have to ensure the food is still fresh and warm when served at the event location.

“A well-trained team together with logistics, equipment and tools play a huge role,” he said, adding that food presentation is equally important these days as customers request a one-stop service platform.

Big Onion started off with 70% of its business being household events, including housewarming and birthday parties, while the remaining are corporate clients.

As the business progressed, the company obtained the halal certification and its food safety management systems were ISO 22000:2005 standard-certified.

“Today, our portfolio of 400 corporate clients include multinational corporations and government-linked companies. We have also served our country’s royalty.

“Over the years, corporate clients took over by making up to 85% of the business,” said Foo Kuan.

Big Onion’s catering menu began with Asian cuisine before expanding into Western cuisine.

That was when Foo Khun returned from Melbourne after finishing his studies in culinary arts, and working in established hotels to incorporate his experience into the business.

The catering menu branched out to more menu combinations and food varieties, including interesting creations of canapés and small bites.

Big Onion’s Signature Nasi Lemak beingpresented in mini servings.

“We take the time to understand our clients, then advise and propose an integrated catering service to them by bringing up fresh ideas and new menus on top of meeting their needs and demands, which they are happy with as it goes beyond what they requested,” said Foo Khun.

To keep abreast of the latest trends and developments in the F&B and event industries, the brothers often travel overseas to learn new ideas in areas such as food art and presentation, decorations, technology and thematic event management.

When asked about the success behind the impressive growth and success of the company, Foo Kuan emphasised on quality and understanding customers’ needs.

“Whether it is a private party for 10 pax or a corporate event for hundreds, never

compromise on quality in all areas and the result will speak for itself.

“Understanding customers’ needs is also top priority, an element not to overlook to guarantee customers’ satisfaction and also ensure guests are taken care of.

“What keeps us moving forward is our customers’ satisfaction and positive testimonials,” he said.

To reach out to the social media savvy target audiences, Big Onion also invests in online marketing through Google Adwords, which eventually drives traffic to the company’s website.

Big Onion was The Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) 2017 gold award winner for the Best in Marketing category.

Foo Kuan said the prestigious award encouraged and motivated the company to do more.

Roti jala served in bite-sized portions at the buffet line.

“It is truly an accomplishment to us, and has pushed us to do better and excel further.

“As the company progresses and improves, we will definitely send in our submission again.

“We cannot be stagnant after certain accomplishments. We have to constantly improve and learn to stay relevant in the industry,” he said.

Foo Kuan added there may be hiccups along their entrepreneurship journey but what is important is to learn from mistakes and move forward.

“For example, we have experienced issues such as unprofessional staff behaviour, customers getting wrong menus and even delayed arrivals to event venues due to unforeseen traffic.

“From there, we progress towards talent development as well as implementation of our company’s standard operating procedure and ISO certification to ensure smooth operation, enhance efficiency and improve productivity to boost customers’ satisfaction,” he said.

Both the brothers expressed their appreciation to everyone in the Big Onion family, from frontliners to the management team.

“As passionate as we are to meet our customers’ demands, we also ensure our employees are well taken care of because we progress as a team.

“We strongly believe that every employee yearns for development and we provide continuous learning opportunities through training sessions to upgrade their knowledge and skills for the betterment of their careers and quality of life,” said Foo Kuan.