Aug 2011 28
Question 1
Posted In Quick Challenge 1
Suppose you could bring one service/product from Vietnam to Singapore, which one would it be and why?
*First-level replies are reserved for Quick Challenge answers only. Inappropriate comments may be removed without prior notice.
I think pastry-industry is good. There are many mom-pop shops as well as big businesses that sell cakes in Singapore. The fact that “Old chang kee” is a public-listed-company and many others proves this is a mufti-million dollars.
If we provide Vietnamese flavours to the market, this could be position as a niche product and potentially gain some market share. Products from Kinh Do, Banh Mi Sai Gon has high potential.
Many of my Singaporean friends love Banh My, Banh chung and Banh Trung Thu.
If I have enough resources or somehow, push these products to Singapore, I believe it can make a huge impact.
Dear imfino,
Well I love your idea in a sense that made-in-Vietnam pastry is really delicious. With the arising presence of Vietnamese in Singapore and the enhanced appreciation of Vietnamese food of the locals, products like Chung cake or Mooncake is sell-able in this market.
However, my concern is more about what type of market penetration you are looking at: normal business trading, joint-venture or subsidiary, or any other type? I got the same passion with you for the food industry, but I still don’t know how to deal with business barriers that the Sing. govt. placed onto foreigners doing business in Singapore and meeting the hygiene standard of the Food industry when the products are made in the Vietnam’s territory.
Thank you,
In my opinion, Vietnamese Art is wonderful and very unique. Although It’s absorbed many Chinese influences because of 1000 years Chinese domination, our ancestors are always very creative, they turned and twisted them to retained our distinctive features and had them become something as beautiful as today. Some infamous Vietnamese art products that I could name are Bat Trang ceramics, Dong Ho folk woodblock print, or Water puppetry theatre.
So why should we bring Vietnamese Art-related products to Singapore ? I give 3 reasons. Firstly, Singapore culture is mixed of many but still very closed to Chinese so we share some common concepts of beauty and art. Secondly, based on pure observation and personal survey, Singaporean are usually bored and have tendency to look for entertainment. Vietnamese Art such as Water puppetry threatre can easily become very interesting to them. Our ceramics product has beautiful design and could easily be more attracting than many product available in Singapore. Lastly, Arts can bring more happiness to life, by promoting Arts, we promote a better life and at the same time promote culture and welcome people to Vietnam.
In conclusion, I believe there are possibly a market for Vietnamese Art product in Singapore. However to increase the odd, we have to invest our time to find more common interest between ours and theirs in order to create products that Singaporean and international friends loves most.
Dear Dang,
I’m really interested in your essay since you want to market Vietnamese traditional art-related products in Singapore market. I agree with you that our culture is very rich as we have more than 4000 years of history and this rich culture is well reflected in Vietnamese artistic products as mentioned by you. However, you should also consider potential competitors in Singapore market, which is dependant on how you consider your product. For example, if we consider Vietnam waterpuppy theatre an entertainment choice, the possible competitors are movie theatre (with current Imax technology), opera theatre and other similar entertainment types. For Bat Trang ceramic, if we consider it as a gift, the possible competitors can vary from teddy bear producer to flower shops. Secondly, we should also determine which are our target markets for these Vietnamese artistic products. Is it likely that an Indian family buy Bat Trang ceramic or Dong Ho drawings to decorate their house? What about young Singaporean? How much do they concern with traditional art of other contries?
Moreover, Chinese toys and other artistic products are dominating many markets, including Singapore. Their products may not be as ingenious as those made by Vietnamese artists but much cheaper than ours. What’s more, a small market like Singapore can soon become saturated since many players co-exist. How can we still compete and grow in such market?
I would like to promote Star Apple fruit (Quả vú sữa) with a below analysis
Strength:
– The fruit is tasty, exotic and unique which is a strong fit to the local’s crave for something special.
(for ex: the success of buble tea and pork floss bun in the past is attributed to this fact. Plus, I have let some Singaporeans try and they all give a thump up for the fruit)
Weakness:
– It is perishable in a relatively shorter duration than other types of fruit, plus it is a seasonal fruit.
The transportation of the fruit may be a challenge given its softness
Opportunities
– The rising number locals having high purchase power and a popular lifestyle of dine-out opens a possibility to offer the fruit in high-end restaurant
Risk
– In the short term, the threats comes from Phillipines as it is one of the rare Asian country has this fruit.
– In the long run, Thailand may jump in to invest in this farming.
Taken into consideration these points, I would help Star Apple fruit enter the market by
Stage 1: Selling the fruit through mid to high-end restaurants for them to serve customers in their buffet or set menu. By doing so, the market self-educates about the product and creates viral effects.
Stage 2: Collaborate with a few restaurants to sell this fruit to customers who love it and want to bring home for more
Stage 3: Enter supermarkets as a premium products by offering good packaging and strategic high price
To ensure the fruit’s freshness, I would suggest to package it carefully with foam into a box, on a weekly basic from Vietnam. Although, it comes as a high cost, its quality should not be compromised.
Hi nguoidemsao,
I particularly love the fruit as well and it’s a specialty from my hometown as well… However, I have some doubts regarding your implementation plan as I don’t see why we should enter the F&B sector before entering the retailing sector. In my opinion, Cold Storage and Carefour are very well suited to market such “exotic” fruits.
To add on, perhaps we can do some little research on nutritious facts of this lovely fruit… I think Singaporean is not that health-conscious but they are getting there… so these pieces of info may help…
In terms of packaging, I’ve seen very nice packaging of this fruits from some sellers in my hometown for the US market… it can be done