The endeavour to provide this service saw the setting up of a factory at the Naval Base area off Sembawang, at 110 Jalan Kedai. The factory was housed in a Nissen hut which was previously used by the British military personnel. The factory started with 1A grinding machines, which are plate grinders that powder spices. At that time, there was a demand for spices to be ground. People dried and mixed spices in their own homes and brought them to the factory to be ground. Mr K N Unnithan saw the opportunity to provide a service where people who wanted ground spices or flour, could purchase them directly from the factory, instead of bringing the raw spices or rice to be ground. That saw the development and launch of the HOUSE BRAND Curry Powders.

A Pulverizer Unit and 2A Grinding machines were set up to produce the single grind and ground mixed spices. Single grind products like Coriander Powder, Turmeric Powder, Chilli Powder and mixed ground spices like Meat/Chicken Curry Powder, Fish Curry Powder, Sambar and Rasam Curry Powders were launched. Mr K N Unnithan used to develop and test the blends at home before processing it at the factory. The flour range, like Rice flour, Besan (Gram or Chickpea flour) and Atta Flour were also produced under the House Brand banner.

Singapore in the 1950s was an entrepot for spices. As such, spice raw materials were available throughout the year. Mr Unnithan started purchasing raw spices from the wholesalers, and stocked them at the Nissen hut. As the business grew, he rented more units along the stretch of Jalan Kedai to store the raw materials. The workforce which started with around 5 staff, slowly grew to 20 by the late 1970s. Office staff, spice grinders, packers, and sales and delivery staff were recruited. A fleet of 3 trucks was added to deliver products all over Singapore.

The House Brand story can be charted along 3 phases.

The First Phase (1958 to 1988) covers the Founding and early growth of the Business by Sri K N Unnithan from 1958 to the time the baton was passed to the second generation in 1989. The Second Phase (1989 to 2018) covers the Expansion of the Business. The Third Phase covers the Consolidation of the Organic Business and Introduction of New Engines of Growth from 2019 onwards.

In the 1980’s the Singapore Government had announced that the Naval Base area was to be re- developed, and businesses at Jalan Kedai had be relocated. Mr Unnithan decided to set up a factory at a 2300 sqm site at the Woodlands East Industrial area that was newly launched by the Jurong Town Corporation Limited (JTC). The site was leased for 30 years from JTC, commencing on 16 Apr 1986. A Single Part - 2 storey building, 1100sqm gross floor area, was constructed, and started operations on 24 Oct 1989. The shift to the new premises at 50 Senoko Drive signalled the end of the first 30 year phase (6 June 1958 to 24 Oct 1989) and the beginning of the next era. The transition also saw the handing over of the management of the company from the Founder, who passed on in 1986, to the next generation. The workforce of around 30 staff stayed true to the principles of the Founder, that is, to serve our customers, stakeholders, partners and society at large with integrity, honesty and excellence. It was around this time that House Brand products entered NTUC Fairprice Supermarkets.

The second phase, from 1989 to 2018, saw the business embracing technology to aid its expansion. The product range was expanded to include more spice mixes, instant mixes and bottled spices. We scored a few firsts in Singapore and the region. We were the first company in Singapore and second in South East Asia to introduce cryogenic grinding technology for Spice processing. Cryogenic processing involves cooling the spices with Liquid Nitrogen prior to grinding so that they do not lose their aroma or quality during the grinding process. We were the first company in Singapore to introduce zip-lock packaging for spice mixes. This provided convenience to users who prior to this had to empty contents in a container or secure the packet using rubber bands. The customer base included Modern Trade and Food service companies like Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong, Redmart, SATS Catering and Select Group.

To cope with the growth in business the company embarked on expanding the working space. From a Single Part - 2 storey building, the building transformed into a Part 2/Part 3 Storey building doubling the gross floor area to 2279 sqm. The staff strength increased from 45 in 2010 to 65 in 2016. The continued growth warranted the need for a bigger space, thus negotiations with JTC for more space commenced in 2014. At that time, Suriya started working with Enterprise Singapore (formerly SPRING Singapore) to develop a new production line for Ready to Eat and Ready to Cook (RTE/RTC) products. Suriya worked with the Food Innovation and Research Centre at Singapore Polytechnic to develop recipes. This was the first step in moving from an ‘Ingredient’ based product line to ‘Finished or Cooked’ product line. A small range of Ready to Cook and Ready to Eat products was launched in 2015 under the House Brand banner.

JTC agreed to Suriya extending its lease at the same land parcel at 50 Senoko Drive upon the expiry of the lease in 2016. Suriya was permitted to construct a multi-storey factory to meet its growing operational needs.

Suriya moved to temporary premises at 24 Senoko Drive whilst construction commenced at 50 Senoko Drive. Operations at 24 Senoko Drive commenced on 7 June 2016. Suriya embarked on Automation, Workflow Redesign and Human Resource Capability Development with support from Enterprise Singapore. Prototypes to automate the spice processing system and introducing Cryogenics into the various phases of spice production were commissioned during this period.

On 24 May 2018, Suriya shifted to its new home, a 5 and a half storey building at 50 Senoko Drive with a gross floor area of 7400 sq m. The new building was designed to incorporate the new RTE/RTC product lines as well as the automated spice processing system that allowed for cryogenic cooling.

The building housed the following facilities:

• • Fully automated spice processing system.
• • Automatic Spice Packaging system.
• • Kitchen and retort/frozen food processing unit.
• • Warehouse.
• • Loading/Unloading/ Distribution bay
• • Ancillary Office and Workers Dormitory

Suriya implemented the recommendations of the studies conducted with respect to Workflow Redesign and Automated Spice Processing. The automated spice processing system has a framework where the raw spices are input at the start point and the system grinds, mixes, cools, sieves and bags the ground output at the end point. Liquid Nitrogen is input at different stages during the process to cool and ensure that the aroma and volatile oils are retained in the ground output. There is no direct human contact with the product during the processing. Manpower savings and product enhancement are the results of these developments.

Anticipating the growth of the business and the requirement for more space, Suriya leased another property at 36 Senoko Crescent to store and process rice in 2018. Suriya is approved by ITE as a ‘Certified on the Job Training Centre’ for Spice Processing since 2006. Most of the House Brand Product Range has Halal certification. House Brand has embarked on its Third Phase from 2019. The staff strength as at year 2020 is 80 and the distribution fleet has more than 20 vehicles.