Sats and Japan’s Mitsui tie up to expand global food catering presence

TOKYO, Japan – In time to come, pre-packaged Singaporean food favourites such as chicken rice, mee goreng and laksa could be sold in Japanese restaurants and supermarkets, bringing hawker fare to a wider audience. 

This could soon become a reality, as Singaporean in-flight caterer and ground handler Sats announced a strategic partnership with Mitsui on Aug 23 to expand its presence in Japan.  

The partnership will see Mitsui take a 15 per cent stake, with an investment of $36.4 million in Sats Food Solutions India, Sats Food Solutions Thailand, Sats Tianjin in China, and Sats subsidiary meat distributor and processor Country Foods. 

This comes a year after the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding to explore opportunities for collaboration in the food and retail sectors, and is the latest move in Sats’ efforts to diversify its food business from just supplying in-flight meals. The aviation sector was hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, when air travel was virtually shut down. 

Mr Stanley Goh, chief executive of Sats Food Solutions, said that teaming up with Mitsui would help spur demand for Sats’ products in Asia and also help Mitsui in its goal of providing value-added services to customers.

“We will work together to utilise the production capabilities that Sats has in these countries, particularly in China and India, to meet the demands of Mitsui’s customer network,” he said at the announcement of the partnership at its subsidiary Sats TFK’s in-flight kitchen facility in Tokyo’s Narita Airport.

Mr Naoharu Asaumi, the managing officer and chief operating officer of Mitsui’s retail business unit, said both companies are aiming to provide food solutions to a growing market. 

“Combining Sats’ culinary expertise, food technology innovation, unique product development and production capabilities to provide value-added services in Singapore with Mitsui’s global food and package procurement network, cold-chain logistics and distribution, and sales and marketing capability in each target market, we can scale this ambition,” he said. 

Sats said Mitsui’s investment will accelerate the growth and expansion of Sats’ food solutions business as it can lean on Mitsui’s extensive network of food retailers, manufacturers and food and beverage players across key markets in Asia, including Japan. 

It added that the partnership was already yielding tangible results with Sats TFK, which provides in-flight catering at Tokyo’s Narita and Haneda airports, and supplies food products to Japanese retailers, including St.Coursair, Kinokuniya and JR East.

At a recent food fair held at upmarket Japanese grocery chain Meidi-ya in Tokyo, pre-packaged, ready-to-eat meals by Sats marketed under the N’s Deli branding sold out quickly.

Sats president and CEO Kerry Mok said the sales were an encouraging sign that Japanese consumers were keen on Singaporean dishes.

He also told The Straits Times that Sats was looking at collaborating with Singapore hawker stalls such as Chew Kee and Rumah Makan Minang to bring their dishes beyond the Republic.

Sats TFK, which was acquired in 2010, currently employs 998 staff across its three sites in Tokyo. There are seven Singaporeans working at the company’s Narita site, which is equipped with hot and cold kitchens, including halal kitchens certified by Muis in 2014. 

As part of its global expansion, Sats acquired Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) in 2023, establishing itself as the world’s largest air cargo handler, with 215 locations in 27 countries in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. 

The company has also gone beyond in-flight catering services in Singapore, providing ready-to-eat meals in some schools.

At the inaugural SG Ready exercise to mark 40 years of total defence in Singapore, it partnered the Singapore Food Agency to provide ready-to-eat meals to exercise participants in simulated food shortages. 

The recovery in the aviation industry following the pandemic has also seen the company return to profitability, reporting earnings of $64.1 million for the six months to March 31. 

This was a jump of more than 10 times from the $6 million announced in the previous corresponding period, with revenue for the period more than doubling to $2.7 billion from $953.8 million the year before, due primarily to the consolidation of WFS.

The company also announced in July that it would be restructuring its largest division, Gateway Services, to form two new units: Gateway Services Asia-Pacific and the Singapore Hub.

The former will widen Sats’ ground-handling footprint overseas with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region, while the latter will continue to operate services in Changi Airport.