More Singapore firms in the food business are getting onto the shelves in top supermarket chains in Indonesia.
The charge is being directed by the Singapore Food Manufacturers' Association (SFMA) and IE Singapore, which have devised the Tasty Singapore Food Aisle campaign.
This allows different food manufacturers to sell their products in supermarkets as a group through a common Singapore branding.
The campaign will run in AEON, Diamond, FoodHall, and Farmers Market, a new partner, this year. There are more than 100 products from 12 companies in this latest campaign, which started on Dec 23 and runs until December this year.
Some of the participating brands include Chye Choon, which produces rice vermicelli and rice noodles under the Peacock label, instant coffee maker and supplier Gold Kili, and Ha Li Fa, which supplies BoBo fishballs and fishcakes.
The initiative, which started in 2015, has already paid off for 19 Singapore companies, which have secured permanent listings in Indonesian supermarket chains.
Indonesia's domestic market of 250 million people and rising middle class have created opportunities as demand for quality and greater variety of products grows. Spending on beverages and packaged food increased across all income levels from 2013 to 2015.
As the supermarket segment has high entry costs and is very competitive, clustering Singapore companies and working with leading supermarkets to create shelf space is a more efficient approach.
Chee Seng Oil Factory's director of sales and marketing, Mr Lim Kay Kheng, said: "We have seen a growing demand for quality products in Indonesia, including Chee Seng's sesame oil.
"The Tasty Singapore Food Aisle allows us to leverage the Singapore branding to raise awareness of our product brand. On our own, it would have taken much longer to get into such top-tier supermarkets.
"Our distribution has improved since the first run and we project a healthy growth of 2 to 5 per cent for the next three to five years."
IE Singapore assistant chief executive Tan Soon Kim said the agency has been working with trade associations and chambers to boost in-market partnerships to help firms expand overseas more effectively.
SFMA president Thomas Pek said: "Singapore's food manufacturing industry has been seeking out opportunities in growing regional markets such as Indonesia."
IE Singapore and SFMA are also expanding the food aisle concept to growing markets such as India.
