Catering Online were reviewing some hotels when Mr Tony Seow, former COO of Purple Sage invited us to visit the bistro where he was providing consultancy services to. We then decide to catch up over coffee. As we sat down, our conversation naturally turned to Purple Sage, the boutique catering company he founded.
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| Tony (pictured right) receiving the World Gourmet Summit "Outstanding Caterer of the Year" Award in 2010 |
Purple Sage came onto the catering scene in 2002 and from the onset, Mr Seow decided that it would revolutionise the perception of catered food. They did away with tray-fulls of mass-produced food, sloppy service and introduced trendy menus, classy presentation, a strong brand image on their cutlery, marketing material and uniforms and provided customer-centric services.
As Mr Seow recounted, within three years of opening, Purple Sage achieved a turn over of $5 million dollars and by 2006, had bagged the Singapore Promising Brand Award and the prestigious World Gourmet Summit “Outstanding Caterer of the Year” award in 2009, trumping established names like Garibaldi Group of Restaurants and Les Amis Catering. Purple Sage went on to clinch the award twice.
Under his leadership, Purple Sage became a fully-fledged one-stop caterer providing services like floral décor under Azalea and fine dining table and glassware rental under Event Wares. He also started Chiffon, a private dining concept. A keen believer in marketing, he brought Purple Sage into the social media and digital marketing arena early and was among the first caterers to have a Facebook page and the first to launch its own e-magazine (Taste) and a weekly e-newsletter.
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| Bucking the trend - Purple Sage's stylish presentation & dining concepts |
As we ended our conversation, it was clear that Mr Seow takes tremendous pride in his achievements at Purple Sage. Although he has since sold the company and is no longer involved in its operations, he continues to be active in the F&B scene providing consultancy services. Through that platform, he hopes to share the lessons he gleaned from experiencing an entire lifecycle of running his own catering business. He is currently involved in several F&B consultancy projects with boutique hotels, bistros and cafes. He also hopes to groom the next generation of F&B entrepreneurs and leaders.
Milestones
• Midas Touch Award 2013
• Outstanding Caterer of the Year at the World Gourmet Summit Awards of Excellence over two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010
• Work Life Excellence Award in 2008
• Spirit of Enterprise Award, Singapore Promising Brand Award and Patron of the Arts Award in 2006. During the same year, he was also nominated as a candidate for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year.