Earlier this year, sugar company Cheng Yew Heng announced that it will be returning to its beginnings as a candy factory, completing a complete circle. However, under the cautious supervision of John Cheng, a third-generation company owner and director, the firm’s circle has unquestionably expanded beyond the bounds of sugar and candy manufacturing. It has been able to explore several packaging options for its sweets as a result of its strategic collaborations.
Furthermore, Mr Cheng has established a food accelerator, the Innovate 360 Innovation Hub, with the goal of assisting food-tech entrepreneurs and catalyzing innovation in the industry. Companies that have entered the ecosystem, such as those founded by Cheng Yew Heng, may choose to invest in and partner with them. Foodfab at Mandai is a new freehold food factory at 7 Mandai Estate that has been developed to fulfill the demand for food factory.
In addition to the accelerator, Mr Cheng has launched Feed 9 Billion, an open platform to assist in the discovery of solutions for global hunger, and foodculture.sg, which aims to assist SMEs in the food industry in the sale and marketing of their goods online. The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year 2021 award has been nominated to him for the first time this year.
The concept for Innovate 360 was conceived some years ago by Mr Cheng, who was looking for methods to develop Cheng Yew Heng’s fledgling retail firm at the time.
The purpose of my work was to build retail channels. We reasoned, why not connect to the startup network? I had accompanied Enterprise Singapore on a tour to Europe, where we were seeking examples of innovation. I reasoned that startups may be able to develop things for us… It’s a win-win situation. It is possible that we may become their distributors as a result of their having access to our facilities and network.” Innovate 360, which opened its doors in 2018, according to him, was the first of its type in Singapore, with manufacturing facilities, test kitchens, labs, and work spaces.
“We distinguish ourselves from the competition by providing access to the market. In addition, we are paying it forward. During the first 12 years of my business career, I worked with a variety of partners, including polytechnics and universities, to help me determine the direction of my company… I was thinking about how we might assist additional companies in scaling and become a part of their company as well. Our company and our physical presence would be completely rebuilt as a result of this exercise.”
It was in 1947 that Cheng Yew Heng was established, first offering a variety of sweets such as sour plum candies and Hawthorne. Due to competition from China, the corporation shifted its attention to rock sugar, as well as red and black sugar, during the second generation. Rock sugar, red sugar, and black sugar are the company’s mainstays, and the third generation is now in control of the company’s manufacturing and distribution operations. Among the products available for purchase are Jewel Rock Sugar Sticks, which are sold individually or in a package with Hook Coffee or The 1872 Clipper Co Tea. Hook Coffee is a company that is part of the Innovate 360 program.
MR Cheng admits that he did not expect to get hired by the company. He studied Business Management at Singapore Management University, and after graduating in 2007, he was employed by a bank for a short period of time. Because his father was ill, he was coerced into working for the company.
The first couple of years were devoted to attempting to modernize and restructure the company via the use of automation. I have no prior knowledge of sugar or production. It was a difficult task, and I sought assistance from several partners and organizations to better understand and learn.”
Since then, the company has expanded to include operations in China, Hong Kong, and Japan. Its headquarters are located on Chin Bee Drive, where a plant that was reconstructed in the late 1990s to increase the amount of space available from 30,000 to roughly 90,000 square feet is in operation.
Eventually, a portion of the room was converted into the first Innovate 360 unit. The Innovate 360 unit at SMC Nutrition Hub is the second location. Two more are currently in the works.
As of right now, Innovate 360 is home to 40 firms, among them kombucha manufacturer Kombynation, Turtletree Labs, which is working on generating lab-based milk, and Asia Insect Farm Solutions, which is working on developing protein from unconventional sources like insects. Innovate 360 is home to entrepreneurs in four different “verticals,” including food sustainability, consumer packaged products, deep technology, and agri-tech.
“Not every one of the 40 companies needs office or manufacturing space. However, we assist them in a variety of ways, including access to marketplaces, connections, and free programs… Because it is a one-stop-shop, there is a high demand for this location.
Since we began operations, we have completely filled the available area without the need of advertising. It is hoped that we will have at least one to two million square feet of space during the next three to five years.
A mentoring network is part of the package of assistance. Michelle Cheo of the Mewah Group and Shuichi Sato of Phoon Huat are two of the mentors on the team.
Mr Cheng claims that entrepreneurs participating in Innovate 360 are often “ready to scale,” meaning they have a product and are searching for manufacturing space. Others, on the other hand, are looking for R&D support.
A COMMON thread runs across all of Mr Cheng’s endeavors: the importance of sustainability. “We firmly believe in giving back, but we are not particularly interested in CSR (corporate social responsibility) programs.” In the time of my father and grandparents, sustainability meant cutting expenses wherever possible. The plant generated a lot of garbage, and we recycled it all. Upcycling has become a more fashionable phrase in recent years. It was all about saving money when it came to sustainability.” The packaging used by Cheng Yew Heng, for example, is biodegradable.
We are able to expand our effect on sustainability because to Innovate 360. The majority of businesses have varying degrees of sustainability built into their operations.”
His company, Feed 9 Billion, was formed in 2018 to promote food sustainability and innovation by bringing together startups, corporations, academic institutions, and government agencies to work together. Its objective is to contribute to the United Nations’ goal of feeding the world’s 9.8 billion people by 2050 by providing resources and expertise. Despite the fact that the world’s resources could feed 1.5 times the world’s population, over 800 million people currently lack access to healthy and enough food.
In collaboration with the APAC branch of The Good Food Institute, the organization has developed a Good Food Startup Manual that outlines the procedures needed in establishing a plant-based or clean meat enterprise. Insights from clean meat specialists and entrepreneurs are included in the guidebook, which can be downloaded for free. Innovate 360 is proud to have Feed 9 Billion as a strategic partner.
The foodculture.sg portal, which was created this year to aid local firms in their e-commerce sales, is yet another example of a government effort. Initial inspiration for the concept came from Cheng Yew Heng himself, who was looking to develop his e-commerce business. Since then, the concept has evolved into a multi-brand initiative.
As a result of Covid’s influence on the travel retail business in Singapore, (Cheng Yew Heng) was unable to expand. Rather than just creating a website for our Jewel brand, we decided to do something to assist startups as well as our business partners, such as our suppliers and consumers. As a result, we created foodculture.sg. We must assist businesses in becoming more digital, and this assistance must extend beyond Singapore. For this project, we worked in close collaboration with Enterprise Singapore.”
The platform’s three-pronged aims are to assist food SMEs in selling their goods online, connecting with consumers via digital marketing, and, eventually, expanding globally by connecting them with distributors, among other things.
Meanwhile, Mr Cheng’s efforts have resulted in a significant increase in the company’s reputation in the sectors of innovation and sustainability, which should allow it to recruit a younger workforce in the future. The process of modernizing Cheng Yew Heng’s company, on the other hand, was a bit of an uphill battle at first. Some of the changes he implemented were a five-day workweek, which was decreased from the previous five-and-a-half-day work week, and a system of employee benefits, which included paid leave days.
“I quickly saw that the company was highly conventional. I came from a bank with a plethora of protocols and procedures, which I found overwhelming. I determined that the most beneficial thing I could accomplish was to assist the firm in becoming a more current organization. I spent several years attempting to understand the industry and enrolled in a slew of courses in order to further educate myself. There, I met individuals and built my network, which has been really beneficial in helping me establish the foundation for what we have today.”
Mr Cheng has said that he has started to think about succession and preparing for the fourth generation of his family. The next generation of entrepreneurs must be encouraged,’ says the author. You must strive to be an entrepreneur on a regular basis and to think in novel ways.
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