Refreshed guide for local food manufacturing firms to measure progress towards sustainability goals

SINGAPORE – A refreshed guide will set out progress indicators for food manufacturing companies here to track how sustainable their operations are, such as how much food and packaging waste they generate.

Enterprise Singapore published an online playbook with these metrics on April 21 as part of its efforts to keep local companies competitive globally.

Global security challenges have reshaped how food is produced and traded, said Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling.

Stricter environmental standards and new sourcing requirements have made green practices necessary for export competitiveness, she added.

Ms Low was speaking at the launch of the refreshed Sustainability Playbook for Food Manufacturers at the international food and beverage trade show, Food & Hospitality Asia, at Singapore Expo.

It builds on a playbook first introduced in 2023 that outlines ways for food manufacturers to begin their sustainability journey.

She noted that the evolving situation in the Middle East – which has upended global trade flows – has also added to these challenges, increasing costs and disrupting access to some goods.

“Companies that act early will be better positioned to maintain and secure market access, manage risks, and build resilience,” she said.

The playbook, which provides companies with milestones they can hit, focuses on three key areas – the first of which is to help companies access markets more easily and build their credibility.

This comes amid a trade environment where sustainability-related export requirements, such as emissions reporting and indicating the percentage of packaging made from recyclable and renewable materials, are key in certain markets like the US and Europe.

The second focus area offers businesses practical suggestions to reduce energy, water and material costs.

Lastly, the playbook focuses on helping companies explore the circular economy, where they can recycle or upcycle by-products of the food manufacturing process, such as offcuts.

For example, local noodle manufacturer Tan Seng Kee Foods used to discard hundreds of kilograms of raw dough trimmings left over from stamping dumpling skins.

The company now upcycles the trimmings into furikake (a dried seasoning sprinkled on rice) called Krunch-Up!, which comes in local flavours such as mee soto, salted egg and chicken rice.

Mr Raymond Tan, managing director of Tan Seng Kee Foods and president of the Singapore Food Manufacturers’ Association, added that as water and energy inputs are an important part of business operations and fuel costs remain high, resource optimisation solutions outlined in the playbook could help reduce operating costs.

Cost concerns have made sustainability efforts an added challenge for home-grown brand SMH Food, which manufactures halal and non-halal frozen and chilled dim sum for local and overseas consumers. Its largest export market is the Middle East.

Shipments to the Middle East have stopped completely for now, and the price of raw materials has gone up, said SMH’s director of strategic planning, Mr Johnson Tay. Locally, rising diesel prices have also meant the company had to streamline its delivery operations by cutting down on ad hoc deliveries, such as last-minute orders.

“Sustainability comes with a price – such as packaging materials, of which prices have gone up – but is the consumer willing to pay more for it?” said SMH’s director of business development, Ms Evan Tay.

“Instead of increasing the price, we have been trying to absorb the loss, but it has got to the point where it’s very difficult not to,” said Mr Tay.

As at 2023, Singapore’s food manufacturing sector comprised over 1,500 food manufacturing companies employing more than 60,000 workers. Sales in the sector reached $11.2 billion, with 65 per cent of exports going to international markets including Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand and the US.