Hawkers Leveraging On Food Science & Technology To Grow And Expand
August 23, 2022
“How else can I grow my hawker business other than opening up more outlets?”
A question often asked by hawker entrepreneurs as they explore with FIRC on how to leverage on food science and technological solutions for productivity improvement and also penetrate into new markets. And one such avenue is to help the hawkers to develop their signature dishes into convenience ready-to-eat format or pre-packaged foods that can be commercially distributed and sold through third party channels such as retail markets and ecommerce, and not forgetting to mention of overseas exportation or targeting the tourist market with hopes that the borders will fully open up in no time. To develop, for example beef rendang or yam cake into a shelf stable (i.e. no need of refrigeration and able to be stored at room temperature) ready-to-eat retail pack with long product shelf life, FIRC does have such expertise and work closely with the hawkers on product and process development, possible of reformulation, packaging solution recommendation, food safety/shelf life study and/or consumer sensory. And it shall be with immense joy for FIRC to facilitate the success of such product commercialisation by the hawkers, bringing Singapore heritage foods far and wide, and hopefully beyond the shores of Singapore.
One of the many successful collaborations was mentioned in the article titled “Food from well-known hawkers selling at 7-Eleven” on The Straits Times dated on 6 Aug 2022. The article shared about convenience store chain 7-Eleven partnered with a group of new and old hawker brands to sell ready-to-eat dishes in 420 of its 460 outlets across Singapore. This is the first time the chain has partnered hawkers to sell food. Eric Ang, who is the third generation owner of Jian Bo Shui Kueh (a well-known local rice cake chain), is one of the hawkers in this new concept. He had been working with FIRC for two years when 7-Eleven approached him. Works began in the year 2019 when Eric was looking into re-branding and marketing to venture into overseas markets. FIRC helped the company Jian Bo Shui Kueh with food science and technological solutions to develop a range of long shelf life Ready-to-Eat (RTE) products for its signature offerings such as shui kueh and yam cake products. The development was not a walk in the park due to the delicate texture and mellow flavour of the products. Some of the challenges being overcome by FIRC were extending the shelf life of the RTE products to 12 months without the use of chemical preservatives yet minimal quality changes over time, eliminating the need for refrigeration by which the products are able to be stored under ambient storage condition. .Not forgetting the unforeseen challenges for FIRC and Jian Bo to carry out and complete the development works amidst Singapore circuit breaker measures when the pandemic hit. Moving forward with the developed solutions by FIRC, the company will be looking to commercialise the products so as to bring its signature offerings and heritage far and beyond Singapore shoreline.
Source: The Sunday Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction