The growth in Singapore’s food and beverage sector represents an exciting opportunity for New Zealand's F&B exporters, says INCITE's Cameron Gordon.

The Four Asian Tigers - Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan - are resilient, free markets with a thriving consumer base and an insatiable thirst for imported food and beverage (F&B) products. They sit apart from their Asian neighbours as examples of economic growth and prosperity.

The rapidly expanding F&B sector in Asia is an exciting growth opportunity for New Zealand's exporters. The natural entry point to this prosperous region is Singapore. With it’s sophisticated retail channels and straight forward regulatory environment, exporting to the city state is relatively straight forward.

However, exporting to Singapore is not without its risks. Like it’s mythical mascot the Merlion, the Singapore F&B sector presents some unique challenges.

Singapore is a very expensive market to enter. Fees charged by the retailers are among the highest in the region. It’s also a mature market, with very strong competition from global brands.

Incite’s Director Cameron Gordon has extensive experience negotiating retail listings for clients into the major Singapore supermarket groups. “There are some fundamental questions that need to be answered before exporters invest in Singapore," he says.

For example, understanding the budget required for listing fees and the number of stores to list into is essential during the business planning phase. Analysing the competition is also crucial. “It’s not enough to just have a good product. You need to know how your products will compete in the category,” Gordon cautions.

Incite has developed an F&B Exporters Tool Kit for the Singapore Retail Channel which contains everything exporters need to know about the market before they decide to invest. Visit www.exportincite.com/market-intelligence or email getincite@exportincite.com for details.