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Swee Choon plans Philippines expansion in push to be dimsum’s quick-service king

Having built a strong base of Filipino customers in Singapore, the family business is looking into franchise partnerships

Tessa Oh
Published Wed, Nov 26, 2025 · 09:00 AM
    • Ernest Ting, the third-generation owner of traditional dimsum restaurant Swee Choon, hopes to formalise franchise plans by next year.
    • Ernest Ting, the third-generation owner of traditional dimsum restaurant Swee Choon, hopes to formalise franchise plans by next year. PHOTO: YEN MENG JIIN, BT

    [SINGAPORE] Sixty-year-old family business Swee Choon wants to take its dimsum to the Philippines, after having built a strong base of Filipino customers in Singapore.

    Third-generation owner Ernest Ting hopes to formalise franchise plans by next year, betting on regional expansion as he steers through challenging conditions in Singapore’s food and beverage (F&B) sector.

    In October, he went on an exploratory trip to the Philippines with Enterprise Singapore, where he pitched to potential franchisees. “The Philippines is a big franchise market, so we went to see and learn,” he said.

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