Grain lifts the lid on reinvention with first-ever live kitchen experience

Grain is bringing its brand values to the front burner through a multisensory experience that blends food, floristry and storytelling.

Designed as a multisensory deep-dive into the brand’s creative and culinary journey, the one-day-only event titled "From test to table" invited guests to experience the innovation, experimentation, and storytelling that have defined Grain’s identity over the past decade.

Timed with its 11th anniversary, the activation was created in collaboration with brand consultancy Anak and botanical design studio This Humid House. Through eight immersive exhibits, guests explored how the brand has shaped its food philosophy over the past decade, with a focus on experimentation, balance, and reinvention.

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The event also served as a launchpad for Grain’s new catering menu and configuration, developed to bridge the gap between restaurant-quality meals and large-scale service. Roughly 200 invited guests, including media, partners, and customers, attended a closed-door dining preview that featured Grain’s latest menu creations. Dishes included a modernised Ispahan sweet and sour fish, inspired by the French macaron flavour, and a fresh onion chicken stew designed to retain its complexity even at scale.

The new setup was designed by Grain in consultation with Anak, with botanical installations from This Humid House, blending culinary storytelling with visual theatrics. Grain said the event was a way to "lift the lid" on both its successful and failed recipes, highlighting the brand’s focus on experimentation and continuous improvement.

Founded in 2014, Grain was among the first in Singapore to adopt a cloud kitchen model. Its new catering menu, which includes over 30 new dishes, is now available to consumers.

“We’re incredibly excited to finally open up the world of Grain through our first-ever living kitchen experience. It’s a glimpse into the journey so far and a reflection of how we’re constantly growing and reshaping our approach to food, one step at a time," said Isaac Tan, co-founder and chief taste officer at Grain.

He added, "As we enter our 11th year, we’re unveiling a refreshed menu and our latest catering experience that we believe will redefine what people expect from meal on demand and catering services. This is just the beginning of our next chapter," 

John Lim, founder of This Humid House, said the studio responded to Grain’s recipes and ingredients by crafting botanical compositions that echoed their clarity and inventiveness.

"Their food already tells a strong story, we’ve extended that into the visual language of plants and flowers. The result blurs the line between floristry and food, but stays grounded in flavour," he added. 

In tandem, Hanyi Lee, creative partner at Anak said, "As Grain’s creative partner over the past six years, we’ve been deeply inspired by their fearless approach to innovation and the way they’ve never stopped reimagining how food can be experienced. Over the last decade, they’ve served millions across Singapore and quietly transformed what people expect from catering and meal deliveries. It’s about time the stories behind the brand are told."

Lee added that the collaboration with Grain and This Humid House was designed to bring these stories to life “up close and personal”, through a multisensory experience that mirrored the brand’s bold and experimental spirit.

The project follows a string of recent wins for Anak. In April, BreadTalk appointed the agency to lead a global brand refresh following a closed-door pitch. The move comes as the bakery brand celebrates its 25th anniversary and expands across Southeast Asia, China, the Middle East, and beyond. Anak is tasked with revitalising BreadTalk’s brand platform, visual identity, and customer experience.

Separately, the Science Centre Board (SCB) named Anak as its branding and design agency for the new Science Centre. According to GeBIZ documents seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE at the time, the agency will be responsible for creating a new corporate identity, including logo, colour palette, iconography and style guide, to ensure brand consistency across touchpoints.

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