Yellow Ribbon Bakery empowers inmates with skills to help reintegrate with society
Each order from corporates reflects a growing recognition that supporting second chances can be integrated seamlessly into business practices, says its head baker
[SINGAPORE] Javier (a pseudonym) joined Yellow Ribbon Bakery’s rehabilitative work programme three years ago, while serving his sentence at Changi Prison Complex.
He is currently in charge of the confectionary team, which produces artisanal baked goods during festive seasons, such as mooncakes during mid-autumn festival.
Besides baking, he and his team were coached by professional bakers to come up with unique flavours – such as green tea rose with blueberries – for the mooncakes in a research and development (R&D) process.
Javier called the R&D process a “difficult” one which requires a lot of trial and error. “It’s not going to be successful in the first attempt.”
After serving his sentence, he hopes to run his own food trucks at festivals selling pastries, taking the skills he has learnt – such as coming up with ingredients and formulating recipes – at Yellow Ribbon Bakery and developing them.
Javier is one of around 100 inmate-bakers participating in Yellow Ribbon Bakery’s work programme, which takes place at a large industrial bakery in the prison complex. It was set up in 2004 to equip them with baking skills and craftsmanship through on-the-job training.
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Thurston Francis Arlando, senior operations manager and head baker at Yellow Ribbon Bakery, said: “The bakery is structured to mirror industry set-ups, giving inmate-bakers a true sense of workplace discipline, routine and professional expectations.”
The bakery runs every day, and inmates participate in shifts six days a week. They produce more than 4,500 loaves of bread a day – not only for prison consumption but also to supply to hotels and restaurants, among other places.
Building skill sets
The inmate-bakers are guided by professional bakers and are involved in the entire spectrum of baking techniques.
In recent years, product innovation has become part of Yellow Ribbon Bakery’s training and production process, from ideation and prototyping to testing to product development.
“Our R&D programme gives inmate-bakers opportunities to create new products for festive sales, giving them a genuine sense of ownership and pride,” Arlando said.
Arlando noted: “Beyond technical skills, we also strive to impart soft skills like teamwork, discipline and confidence – all of which support their reintegration journey when they eventually step back into society.”
Corporate support
The bulk of Yellow Ribbon’s signature mooncake orders during the festive season comes from corporates – although Arlando noted that the amount is not always fixed.
He said corporate support has grown over the years.
“Each corporate order sends a powerful message to our inmate-bakers that their skills, effort and dedication are recognised and valued by the wider community. It also reflects a growing recognition that supporting second chances can be integrated seamlessly into business practices.”
Yellow Ribbon Bakery hopes to continue partnering like-minded corporates, while upskilling inmate-bakers and growing the bakery’s capabilities.
“This includes strengthening our R&D and innovation efforts, offering accredited training and more opportunities for inmate-bakers to develop specialised skills, and expanding our product range,” Arlando said.
YR Cares
Among other initiatives, a new charity called YR Cares was formed through the merger of the Industrial and Services Co-operative Society, NeuGen Fund and Yellow Ribbon Fund. It will be operational from H1 2026 and aims to foster stronger partnerships with corporates, social enterprises and community organisations to benefit ex-offenders and their families.
YR Cares is committing S$5 million towards programmes and services that support them. The charity will focus on four key areas which include facilitating opportunities for ex-offenders to contribute back to society, and preventing intergenerational offending via services such as case management and counselling.
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