Soup Restaurant Group has launched a new retail business for its popular Samsui ginger sauce, with plans for exports to overseas markets.

The specialty sauce is used in Soup Restaurant's signature dish, Samsui Ginger Chicken, since 1995.

By selling the bottled sauce, Soup Restaurant hopes to diversify its earnings base at a time when rising costs and manpower shortage are limiting growth in Singapore's food and beverage industry, the company said in a statement.

The sauce, which is now mostly sold in its 14 restaurants in Singapore, will be made available in supermarkets.

Soup Restaurant is kicking off the retail business with a one-for-one promotion for the sauce in NTUC FairPrice supermarkets islandwide in November.

It also hopes the retail business will diversify its earnings base at a time when rising costs and manpower shortage are limiting growth in Singapore's food and beverage industry.

Soup Restaurant manufactures its ginger sauce in its central kitchen at Kampong Ampat.