As Gardenia, Yeo’s and APB exit, is Singapore climbing the food chain or hurting its brand?

“If too much production shifts out, we risk weakening that identity over time,” said Mr Saktiandi, who is also a Member of Parliament in Bishan–Toa Payoh GRC. 

Rising labour, land and energy costs are pushing companies to move large-scale production to lower-cost markets in the region. 

In the past two months, Yeo Hiap Seng, Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore (APBS) and Gardenia Foods announced plans to downsize parts of their operations in Singapore and shift some production activities to Malaysia.

Yeo Hiap Seng, also known as Yeo’s, said it would consolidate its can manufacturing operations in Malaysia, while APBS announced that production would be reallocated to its established regional breweries in Malaysia and Vietnam. 

On May 20, Gardenia said it would move its bread production from Singapore to Malaysia.

Instead of viewing these moves as a sign of Singapore’s diminishing status in food manufacturing, experts said the trend is a signal of an evolving industry.

“Firms are adopting hybrid operating models — where large-scale production may be regionalised, while higher-value functions such as product development, process engineering, quality systems and regional management remain anchored in Singapore,” said Ms Chong Ri Jia, CEO of food production firm FoodPlant.

She noted that for many companies today, the question is no longer whether to remain in Singapore, but which activities should stay local and which are better suited for regional operations.

“In this environment, agility, innovation capability and speed-to-market are becoming just as important as manufacturing scale alone,” Ms Chong said.