Having a Cuppa With Double Shot of Empathy
Having a Cuppa With Double Shot of Empathy
A little ingenuity and sensitivity goes a long way at Foreword Coffee. With small tweaks to café machinery and operations, the cafe created an inclusive workplace for people with special needs.
Foreword Coffee hires people with special needs across their three outlets in Singapore, made adjustments to work flow and sourced for a coffee machine that is compatible with their baristas. Photo: Foreword Coffee
Don’t be alarmed if you see patrons at Foreword Coffee gesturing animatedly at the barista. They are not being rude. On the contrary, they are using sign language to order their drinks because the barista is hearing impaired.
Started in 2017, Foreword Coffee is a specialty coffee company with a social mission – to empower people with special needs by providing them jobs and equipping them with barista skills.
All it took were adjustments to the work flow and a coffee machine. The work processes at their cafés are split into four stations so that each staff can focus on just one task.
This way, directors Nadi Chan and Lim Wei Jie are able to play to the strengths of each staff. For instance, the cashier at their Temasek Shophouse outlet, Ms Carmen Tan, is able to remember orders and names perfectly.
Carmen never fails to greet me with a big, bright smile each time I order a drink, asking "how are you doing" in a sincere and confident way.
Mr Chow Mun Leong, who orders his daily coffee fix from Foreword Coffee
The coffee machine for Foreword Coffee’s third outlet was also specially bought for ease of use, after the pair hired staff with health conditions such as cerebral palsy. As baristas have to turn a knob to steam milk, these new staff often burnt the milk as they did not have enough strength in their arms.
The duo first invested in an automatic milk frother but the taste was subpar. So they scoured the market and found a better alternative: an espresso machine that uses a switch that can be flipped easily instead of the more conventional knob.
Pop by Foreword Coffee at Temasek Shophouse located at 28 Orchard Road, where your caffeine fix is served up by Ms Carmen Tan, Ms Tay Wei Ying, and Mr Nadi Chan. Photo: Foreword Coffee
All their lives, people with special needs have been adapting to able-bodied people, be it to our public infrastructure or workplaces. We felt it was time that things are turned around.
Mr Nadi Chan, Director, Foreword Coffee
It is clear that this way of thinking has rubbed off on some of Foreword Coffee’s patrons who are using sign language to order their beverage.
“These regular patrons could have chosen to just point out their order from the menu. But they asked to learn how to sign black or white coffee because they know our barista is deaf. It is them wanting to adapt to a person with special needs,” noted Mr Chan.
Some patrons have also learnt to say thank you in sign language, he added.
Out of 18 staff across three café outlets – located at the Civil Service College, Centre for Healthcare Innovation at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Temasek Shophouse – 14 have special needs, living with conditions such as autism, cerebral palsy and hearing impairment.
Foreword Coffee operates daily at Temasek Shophouse, a decision by Temasek to ensure a promising startup begins on the right footing. The operator’s presence at varied locations in Singapore requires the baristas to adapt to different environments as part of continuous learning.
The company is now looking to set up its fourth outlet due to a long waitlist of job applicants, something unheard of in the food and beverage sector.
“There is a pool of talent waiting to be tapped on. We are proof that they not only have the ability to work, but work well,” said Mr Chan.
A cuppa made with care and empathy. Photo: Foreword Coffee
