Mining value from bauxite to pineapples

FROM bauxite mining to farming, Top International Holding Pte Ltd has taken a big step forward in diversifying its business ventures. (see amendment note)

The company, whose main business is in bauxite mining and trading, made a bold decision to cross over into agriculture when chief executive officer Victor Tan saw an opportunity in Guinea that no one else had.

Located in West Africa, Guinea's climate is much like Singapore's with its fair share of wet and dry seasons. However, unlike land-scarce Singapore, Guinea has an abundance of it - land that is fertile but unused, at that.

Explaining his decision to move into agriculture, Mr Tan said: "I feel that agriculture is something that is not subjected to economic fluctuations; it's something that would be there forever."

Beginning in 2017, the team spent three years doing market sensing in Guinea, where the company extracts its bauxite, to decide on the ideal crop to grow. They settled on pineapples for the fruit's versatility - it can be consumed raw as a fruit, or be made into several different products with a longer shelf life, such as pineapple paste, dried pineapple chips, for example.

In 2020, the company took a big step forward. It acquired a 35-hectare piece of land, and began planting its very first batch of pineapples.

Though the project has only just begun, Mr Tan believes they are on the right track. The group will soon be expecting its very first harvest, where it will then decide to move on to the next phase of expansion, or not.

To this, the company said it had spent just less than a million US dollars to set up the infrastructure needed for growing pineapples. This was all thanks to the group's prudence when it came to starting a new project on foreign land.

"We are very mindful that there is a very high chance that we might fail, do it phase by phase," said Mr Tan.

Subsequently, he and his team will be looking at ways to process the pineapples and explore options to market the pineapple products to European countries near Guinea.

DIVERSIFICATION TO MITIGATE RISKS

Fiscal 2020 was the year the group saw its revenue fall 7.7 per cent, as a result of a lower demand for resources, as many companies and factories shut down or reduced production during the Covid-19 pandemic.

While the situation was unfortunate, Mr Tan believes that the only way for businesses to remain resilient against such economic downturns is through diversification.

Since 2017, the firm has been actively diversifying its business, most notably into other commodities such as iron ore, copper cathode, sand and coal.

"As a company, we don't just want to push for volume; we also want quality trade - not just top line growth, but also bottom line profitability, and to make sure risks are properly managed," said Mr Tan, who added that Top had been actively hiring even during the pandemic, as it sought to explore more opportunities elsewhere in the world.

Its new additions include a business and investment director, who is tasked to uncover fresh venture potentials for the company, as well as a new chief financial officer.

"We want to look beyond what we have, and see what we can grow," said Mr Tan, who is a third time recipient of the Enterprise 50 Awards.

More recently, the firm is also moving to explore decarbonisation.

However, Mr Tan said his team is still working on developing a plan and will likely "come out with the sweet spot to play better" by the end of the first quarter this year.

PEOPLE AS KEY ASSET

Top came in second place for this year's Enterprise 50 Awards, and Mr Tan attributed its success to the more than 200 employees in the company.

"We want to build something not just for the short-term profit and loss, but for the long-term benefit," he said.

"With this mentality, we were able to attract like-minded people to join us - and most of them stay with us for many years."

Starting his business with just one other partner in 2014, Mr Tan has weathered several storms along the way. But the father of two has never thought of giving up.

Like a captain leading his crew, Mr Tan said he felt most accomplished watching his employees grow from unfamiliarity, to "developing that strong bond/relationship with the company and believe that we want to do something together".

"It's not just about profit . . . We want to make sure that our business is not just about one business line, but keeping up with the trend and making sure that we are well prepared for the next phase of growth."

Amendment note: An earlier version of this article stated that Top International has divested its business. It has diversified its business, not divested.