Retail Asia 2018 RA AUG2018_Online | Page 37

SPECIAL REVIEW chips, the brand is currently retailing Hainanese Chicken Rice and Laksa potato chips in Singapore and plans to spread them to other Asian countries. “I grew up loving chips and over the years, we realised that there are many different brands but a lot of them are focusing on the same flavours. We noticed that the Asian flavours are missing from our shelves and the most represented flavours from Asia are wasabi or seaweed. We have a lot of good food and flavours here so we wanted to bring them out with our products,” Kee added. Indeed, Asia is a market that many of the exhibitors at SFFA hope to enter. I-coop Italiana Cooperative offers convenient meal kits, The Farmer’s Basket, that consumers can prepare and cook on their own with all the organic ingredients and handmade pasta provided in the package. The company hoped to discover if Asia is interested in the kit and Italian cuisine. Its representative, Maria Serena Pintore, said: “From what I see, Visitors had the chance to learn from industry experts through a series of engaging panel discussions, cooking demos by star chefs, and beverage masterclasses by sommeliers, bartenders, sake and tea masters. From left: Damion Angus, managing director, Montgomery; Ng Chee Meng, secretary-general, NTUC and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office; Gilbert Tan, CEO, e2i; and Christopher McCuin, managing director, Montgomery Asia, celebrating at the opening ceremony of Speciality & Fine Food Asia and Restaurant, Pub & Bar Asia 2018. Potato chips brand Flavours of the East (F.EAST) wanted to gain more exposure and branch out. Another highlight of the trade show was the inaugural Investor Pitching Series launched to provide a practical springboard for companies with exciting, innovative ideas to pitch their concepts and products to a panel of industry judges for real-time feedback. Over 10 companies live-pitched their ideas inclduding representatives from Mastercard, Golden Equator Consulting, The Lo & Behold Group, UOB, Enterprise Singapore and more. Retail Asia August 2018 35