Digital Transformation Exchange: Foodtech Solutions Providers

A Growing Appetite for Innovation

ACE’s Digital Transformation Exchange: Foodtech Solution Providers session serves up a buffet of innovation ideas to help F&B businesses feast on success.

The food industry is perhaps one of the oldest and most enduring in the world but in Singapore, four in 10 F&B businesses don’t make it to the five-year mark. Staying competitive through changing times, fickle palates and rising costs is a challenge that all companies face, but few are able to surmount.

As Singapore pushes ahead with its S$2.4-billion investment to become the world’s first Smart Nation, more F&B companies are realising that digital technology has the potential to transform their business for greater success. To help them embark on, and accelerate, their digital transformation journey, the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) organised a knowledge-sharing and networking session for the local F&B industry on 25 July.

Under the banner of the ACE Digital Transformation Exchange series, the FoodTech-focused session attracted a full-house attendance of over 100 industry representatives keen to connect with the startup community and learn more about their solutions. Among the attendees was Dean Koh, Operations Director of Royal T Group, which owns the Li Ho brand of bubble tea.

“We’re exploring upgrades to our back-end systems, such as supply chain management and are here to learn more about new solutions in the market. We also hope to engage potential partners,” shared Dean, who found the session to be very informative and insightful.

Speakers from five foodtech startups took turns to address the crowd, highlighting how technology-enabled solutions could enhance both front- and back-of-house operations.

Speaking from a business modelling perspective, Zwee Wee, founder of Eunoia, discussed how F&B companies could use design thinking principles to build a clear brand persona, identify the right target audience and develop the ideal customer experience.

Zeemart’s Keith Tan delved into supply chain management, noting that retail F&B companies face the unique challenge of daily procurement. He spoke about technology, in the form of an online B2B marketplace, for more efficient ordering and tracking of supplies. This approach, he suggested, also allows for data consolidation and analysis of expenses in relation to sales.

Chirag Tejuja, co-founder of TabSquare, also supported the use of data analytics in the F&B industry. With menu engineering as an example, Chirag demonstrated how analysing dish performance could reveal insights into customer behaviour and how this information could in turn be used to refine menu options.

On the other hand, Oddle’s Alan Goh and Fastbee’s KK Khoo shared ideas to help F&B companies unlock new business opportunities in the form of non-dine-in revenue. Alan focused on the benefits of a proprietary online ordering system while KK discussed how companies could leverage the growing trend of vending-machine-dispensed ready-to-eat meals.

From ideas and inspiration to innovation and impact, the DTE Foodtech Solution Providers session certainly provided attendees with plenty of food for thought.