Creating new food products to stand out

FOOD manufacturer Fong Yit Kaya has been producing its trademark coconut jam for generations but changing consumer tastes left the firm facing leaner times.

The company decided that it had to create a new product that would strongly resonate with buyers in Singapore's small market.

"In a market that is only that big, and when people can only eat so much, there are more challenges," says marketing and research manager Goh May San, who is the granddaughter of the company's founder.

"For us, the main challenge is how to continue capturing the younger market in Singapore, and how we can bring our products overseas to increase our customer base."

While she was certain that a new product had to be created, coming up with a variation of her family's traditional kaya recipe was tricky.

It had to be of the same quality, yet meet the demands of consumers who are increasingly picky about taste, says Ms Goh.

That prompted the company to take part in a food product concept competition initiated in 2011 by the Singapore Food Manufacturers' Association (SFMA).

Working with students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, the firm worked towards coming up with a new product using its original kaya recipe.

They settled on Pumato kaya - a vegan kaya made with sweet potato and without the cholesterol from egg yolks - so it would appeal to consumers with dietary concerns. Such a product could also enlarge the markets for Fong Yit.

"If you want to expand to India and reach out to the vegan community, a product like that is useful," notes Ms Goh.

Taking part in the competition also gave the firm an idea of how much potential a new product would have on the market.

The SFMA's immediate past president Wong Mong Hong believes that products like Pumato kaya - known as functional food as it allows consumers to reap health benefits - is what the industry should work towards producing.

"We need high value-added products to have a competitive edge against regional competitors," says Mr Wong.

"In the past, food standards were very important, so that a fishball was a fishball. Now, to produce a proper fishball is of no advantage, because everyone is doing the same. Now you need to produce fishballs with collagen."

Competitors from overseas such as Taiwan, South Korea and Japan are ahead of Singapore when it comes to producing functional food.

The SFMA started promoting the concept to its members about three years ago, Mr Wong says. Last year, an SFMA functional food conference attracted 500 participants.

There will be similar conferences in July and August, that will focus on how to produce functional food with a few ingredients. Participants will also have the chance to create new products in laboratories.

Mr Wong points out that Singapore's experience in food manufacturing and its reputation as a technologically advanced nation place industry players in a good position to be innovative.

"All our universities and polytechnics here have food courses; because of that, we are well- placed to produce such technically advanced food," he says.

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