SINGAPORE: GroGrace, an urban farm that cultivates 14 varieties of vegetables, has yet to break even after three years in operation.
The farm has boosted its business by some 40 per cent from direct sales to customers as compared to last year, and it is looking to increase its sales even further.
Its CEO Grace Lim told CNA that the farm aims to collaborate with other farms and market a wider variety of vegetables to hotel groups.
This arrangement will allow the farms to achieve a minimum order quantity from their customers, she said.
“(If) local farms can also sell to these hotel groups collectively, I believe it will be able to help us increase our sales by up to 30 per cent to 40 per cent.”
Singapore has been actively working to increase its agricultural production and create a safety net for the nation in the event of a food supply chain disruption.
However, as local produce often costs more for the consumer than imported products, farmers are looking at new ways to appeal to buyers, including diversifying their products to get a bigger slice of the market.
INNOVATIONS IN FARMING
Over at fish farm Blue Ocean Aquaculture Technology, sales have dipped by 20 per cent this year.
“This year, at the beginning, it was pretty good … until about one month ago, since after the trade war (started),” said its managing director and founder Ng Yiak Say.
“(We) are seeing that the market sentiment doesn’t seem to be good and (people are) spending less and worry (about) job security.”
His factory-based indoor fish farm features multiple tanks that can hold up to 3,000 small fishes each.
The farm has received support from the Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) Agriculture Productivity Fund to implement culture tanks for raising fish, with an indoor recirculating aquaculture system that has self-cleaning capabilities. This allows them to farm fishes at higher densities.
As the company seeks to increase its profitability, Mr Ng is also looking beyond farming as a business activity, turning to food manufacturing as well as designing and building aquaculture systems.
He said that instead of cutting prices below market rate due to excess fish production, creating ready-to-eat products means the firm could extend the shelf life of its fish offerings and helping it to plan fish production.
He added that the farm is creating fish products like fillets, soup and noodles.They will hit the shelves later this year.
He said that the farm’s production has a lower carbon footprint as the entire process from harvesting to cooking is all done at the same location.
On expansion plans, Mr Ng noted the challenges faced by the aquaculture sector such as rent, labour, and cost of constructing farming facilities.
Mr Ng added that improving staff productivity is one way to address labour costs, and expressed hopes for more land sites with lower rent and longer tenure so that businesses can recoup their investments.
DEFRAYING COSTS
During a Committee of Supply speech in parliament two months ago, then-Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Koh Poh Koon said the government is looking to help farms improve productivity and lower costs.
Farms that require help to expand can seek government funding for farming equipment and trials to raise productivity while staying sustainable.
In his speech, Dr Koh introduced enhancements to the existing S$60 million (US$47 million) Agri-Food Cluster Transformation (ACT) Fund that was unveiled by the SFA in 2021.
The fund is aimed at helping local food producers increase their production capacities and capabilities.
Dr Koh also said that the enhanced ACT Fund will provide comprehensive coverage including marketing and branding expenses. It will also expand funding to cover standalone pre- and…
