Adaptation is key for Singapore brands entering the US

SINGAPORE brands are making inroads into the American consumer market, but supply-chain issues and the need to adapt to local tastes are significant hurdles that take improvisation and determination to overcome.

Take Irvins, for example. In July 2022, when the salted-egg chips brand decided to supply mainstream grocery chains in the United States, it secured Albertsons as a customer. But it struggled with getting its products to the grocery chain’s more than 1,400 stores.

Alex Uoo, senior vice-president for North America at Irvins, said: “That was a major issue. We were supposed to receive six to seven containers in the US in January, but we couldn’t supply that amount of salted-egg salmon skins in time, and Albertsons was really upset with us.”