Mr Soh Wai Wah, Principal & CEO, Singapore Polytechnic;

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentleman,

Good morning.

Introduction

1          I am delighted to join you at Singapore Polytechnic to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Food Innovation & Resource Centre (FIRC). My heartiest congratulations to the FIRC on reaching this significant milestone.

The FIRC is a key partner in the Government’s efforts to develop Singapore as a leading food and nutrition hub

2          FIRC is a key partner in developing Singapore as a leading food and nutrition hub in Asia. The Food Manufacturing industry has done well, contributing $3.7 billion to Singapore’s GDP and employing about 40,000 workers. The FIRC and other industry stakeholders have and will continue to be key to sustaining these achievements, and guiding our companies in their transformation efforts.

3          As a centre that champions the adoption of food science and technology, the FIRC has assisted more than 620 companies in 1,000 projects since its inception. It provides food enterprises with a one-stop platform to access technical expertise and consultancy services in new product and process development, including packaging, shelf life evaluation and market testing. It serves as a Centre of Innovation (COI), with a pilot plant, application laboratories, test kitchen and sensory suite where companies can develop innovative products, solve manufacturing issues and adopt new processes. These have served our food companies well in three valuable areas: innovating new products, going to overseas markets, and upskilling workers.

Creating innovative, value-added food products

4          First, the FIRC plays a critical role in helping companies conceptualise, develop and scale-up innovative products for commercialisation. In today’s competitive food industry, food manufacturers need to develop unique and strong value propositions to effectively market their products. I am happy to hear that more than 40% of the projects that the FIRC has been involved in have resulted in commercialisation success. Let me share some examples. You may all have heard of the iconic Singapore Sling cocktail.  Its local manufacturer, Straits Preserves, took the drink a step further and made it into a Singapore Sling jam. Another company NuHoney, produced a carbonated thirst-quenching honey water, which won an international award at the International Union of Food Science and Technology (IUFoST) for the Most Innovative Ingredient category. Yet another example is Li Da Foods, which capitalised on the growing Halal market to launch a range of ready-to-eat dishes with all-time Asian food favourites such as Sambal Belachan and Beef Rendang.

5          To keep industry abreast with the latest technologies, FIRC has also invested in a High Pressure Processing (HPP) machine that companies will be able to access at a resource sharing facility in Warehouse Logistics Net Asia. This technology will help to extend the shelf-life of food products by up to three times while retaining their nutritional value, quality and taste. To date, more than 45 companies have attended FIRC’s masterclass to learn how to apply this technology to their food products.

Growing the export market for the food industry

6          Second, FIRC has been helping food companies to expand globally, such as by making use of packaging technologies to improve the exportability of unique Singapore food products. Exports play a significant role for our food manufacturers, growing at a compound annual rate of 6.1% in the last five years. Today, more than half of the Food Manufacturing industry’s output is exported to Southeast Asia, Japan and China. It is thus important for our companies to look beyond the domestic market to stay ahead of the competition. Take for example Irvins Salted Egg, a homegrown company that has managed to successfully export its salted egg fish skin and potato chips to the Philippines, and has plans to expand to Hong Kong and Indonesia. I’m glad to see Irvins here with us at today’s event.

7          In June 2016, the FIRC collaborated with Swiss company Crisp Sensation to bring a novel technology which enables crumb-coated foods and snacks to retain their crispiness for hours. Through the FIRC, the crumb-coating technology has been used to successfully develop premium crumb-coated foods for both the Korean and Japanese markets.

8          FIRC has also been active in leveraging on international partnerships to further the growth of Singapore’s companies. I am thus delighted to witness the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Singapore Polytechnic and ICMG Pte Ltd this morning. ICMG provides intellectual capital management services to companies in Japan and internationally.  Under the MoU, both parties will promote collaborations between Singapore and Japanese companies in the area of food science and technology, and develop mutually beneficial programmes to facilitate the exchange of technical expertise and knowledge. They will also establish a Food Innovation Platform for companies from the two countries to ideate, create new business models, conduct proof of concept and strive towards business acceleration and commercialisation in food innovation, packaging and automation for the local food industry. To mark the start of this collaboration, Nippon Closure Company Limited (NCC), through ICMG, will be housing Japanese capping machines in the FIRC to support the needs of the local food industry and will offer a wider range of packaging choices for their products.

Transferring knowledge to the food industry

9          At the same time, it is critical to level up the knowledge and competitiveness of the food industry. Digitalisation is expected to drive the next wave of productivity gains in manufacturing sectors, including food manufacturing. To support the manufacturing sector in their digital transformation and prepare our workforce with the emerging skills, SP has been working in partnership with SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) to roll out industry-relevant CET courses in digitalisation, automation and connectivity. SP has also been rolling out Earn-and-Learn Programmes (ELPs) to attract young polytechnic and ITE graduates to new job roles such as food technologists. This is a work-learn programme that gives graduates more opportunities to progress in their careers by deepening their skills and knowledge. To date, two Earn and Learn programmes have been developed for the food manufacturing sector with 54 graduates placed in 27 food manufacturing companies.

10        FIRC has also been working on Lean Enterprise Development (LED) initiatives with Workforce Singapore (WSG), to impart knowledge and skills in food science, food processing safety and system operations to SMEs. To date, 70 companies have benefitted from the LED projects such as Food Safety Management System (FSMS), Cold Chain Management courses and HPP masterclasses to become more manpower-lean, develop a stronger Singaporean core and build a higher quality workforce.

11        As an outcome of today’s MoU signing with ICMG, I am happy to announce that the FIRC and ICMG have designed a masterclass programme called the Japan Food Innovation Series. The 4-session course is designed to help participating companies better understand Japanese food culture and manufactured food products, develop high quality healthier foods and achieve chemical-free shelf life extension. Our local companies will also benefit from the perspectives and expert advice during the 1-on-1 site visit and consultancy by Japanese companies such as Marukome, Ezaki Glico, Toyo Seikan and Kuraray, which are market leaders in food, packaging materials and technology.

Conclusion

12        In conclusion, I would like to acknowledge FIRC’s pivotal role in helping our local food manufacturers and partners innovate, up-skill and improve their productivity so as to achieve stronger growth and global competitiveness. I hope to see more companies leveraging on the FIRC’s resources and wide networks to transform.

13        To FIRC, keep up the good work and continue to help our SMEs and local food industry grow stronger and prepare for the future. Once again, I would like to congratulate FIRC on its 10th year anniversary. I wish you continued success.