23-Year-Old Ex-Convict Closes School Canteen Stall, Holds Food Drive With Remaining Ingredients

Ex-Convict Closes Canteen Stall, Organises Food Drive With Leftovers

A 23-year-old ex-convict who runs a stall at a school canteen has to shut his doors due to circumstances out of his control.

These included issues with his business partners, and the unstable income of running an F&B business at a school canteen.

Despite the stall’s closure, he will still be making bentos and taking orders.

Additionally, he also intends to hold a food drive today (22 Oct) with the ingredients and food he has left.

Interested parties may sign up for the food drive through Google Forms.

Ex-convict opened canteen stall with friends before relationship soured

According to 8world News, Reuben Koh ran a Thai cuisine stall at the canteen of St Andrew’s Junior College.

He was serving his sentence at a youth correctional facility from 2021 to 2022.

Upon his release, he started running the stall at the invitation of two friends. However, the business partners were not able to maintain a healthy work relationship.

Reuben told the Chinese-language media outlet that the others frequently missed appointments and were not responsible.

“They were only at the stall for one day, which was opening day. I find it funny that they haven’t even done 5% of the work, yet are expecting half the profits.”

Earnings not enough to cover costs & expenses

Reuben decided to persevere through and run the stall on his own.

He revealed that, for the first two months, the stall made about S$1,500 a month. Then, media coverage started rolling in, which boosted income to about S$2,000.

Despite that, profits remained unstable and differed greatly each month.

“On the best day, I made S$350. On the worst day, I made only S$50. And that’s just the earnings, not the profit.”

For Reuben, expenses such as rent, transport, and meals, amounted to roughly S$1,700 a month. This means that he barely had any profit after paying for the necessities.

On top of that, he would have practically no income during school holidays.

The instability has hence caused him to not be able to catch up with the cost of running the stall.

Ceasing operations with much hesitance, may return to kitchen workforce

In light of these factors, Reuben decided to close his canteen stall for good.

“It’s been weighing on my mind for some time. Have decided (with much reluctance and a lot of hesitation) that I will not continue next year,” he announced on his Instagram page on Tuesday (17 Oct).

Reuben stated that he has learned a lot and made many good memories over the past year.

“Screwed up countless times, be it over the weekends while doing prep, or during service,” he said. “It has been an insightful, valuable experience.”

But at the same time, he acknowledged the toll that running the stall has taken on him, mentally and physically, and that it was time to move on.

“The dream will still be a dream, but for now, it’s most likely time to return to the kitchen workforce, wherever that may be, that will take me.”

Despite the stall’s closure, he will still be making bentos and taking direct orders, he added.

Will have a food drive with remaining ingredients on 22 Oct

Before he embarks on his next step, he is looking to sell off the equipment from his current stall.

Additionally, Reuben will also be organising a food drive with food made from his remaining ingredients.

8world News reports that he will hold his food drive at 211D Compassvale Lane on Sunday (22 Oct), from 5.30pm to 6pm.

Reuben said he still has about 30 packets of chicken mince and 20 packers of beef mince that have yet to be claimed, according to his Instagram Stories.

Interested parties may sign up prior to the collection timing via Google Forms.

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Featured image adapted from @food.reuben on Instagram and Instagram.