Chinese international restaurant brand Element Fresh plans to grant development rights to franchisees across Asia, with an initial focus on Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand and Singapore.
Founded in 2002, the group has nearly 40 restaurants in China, mainly in Beijing and Shanghai.
It forecasts 80 outlets across China by 2020 while it moves to franchise in key countries across Asia.
“We seek retail-focussed companies that view our cosmopolitan brand as complementing their existing portfolio and aligned with their business strategy,” says Element Fresh international franchising director Paul Barbone. “Our systems and operations have been fine-tuned and engineered to ease the start-up process through to multi-unit management.”
Most of the brand’s dishes incorporate superfoods, with the seasonal menu innovation cycle giving diners the chance to try innovative ingredients.
“We are passionate about fresh food, great taste and quality ingredients, making ‘eating right’ easy for our guests,” says CEO Frank Rasche. “People from dozens of countries come to us every day for our diverse menu and seasonal touches.”
Recent examples include Salmon & Warm Buckwheat Salad, plus the Spicy BBQ Chicken Cobb salad that includes avocado chunks and chimichurri ranch dressing.
Element Fresh has also just launched www.elementfresh.org, which details the advantages and benefits for franchise partners while showcasing its latest restaurant prototype.
Barbone says the website offers information and videos for potential franchise partners. He plans to visit key markets in the coming months to meet with qualified groups, with the goal of having outlets open in select key cities by the second half of next year.
Founded in Shanghai in 2002, Element Fresh is known for its gourmet salads and made-to-order fruit juices and smoothies, its diverse international menu including American-style breakfasts, and its casual dining ambience and service.
One year after a “garage” pop-up store in Paragon Singapore, British men’s luxury brand Alfred Dunhill has opened its first-ever concept store.
Its fourth outlet in Singapore brings to life the brand’s heritage of motoring, saddlery and gentlemanly inventions and adventures, says president Francois Carrere.
“Inspired by the Alfred Dunhill home Bourdon House, the store’s decor features rich textures, contemporary and vintage furnishings, and traditional English architectural accents,” he writes on LinkedIn.
Dunhill’s roots in Singapore date back to its first store opening in 1971.
Specialising in ready-to-wear, custom and bespoke menswear, leather goods, and accessories, the brand was founded by English tobacconist and inventor Alfred Dunhill in 1907.
Dunhill was just 21 years old when he took over his father’s saddlery business in 1893. With the automobile becoming popular, he transformed the saddlery into an automobile accessories store, offering such non-standard (at the time) accoutrements as horns, lamps and dashboard clocks. Dunhill also made leather overcoats, goggles and other accessories for drivers.
In 1907, Dunhill opened a tobacco shop, followed in 1910 by his own pipe factory. Tobacco proved so successful the company expanded with shops in Paris and New York. Dunhill was the first company to develop a lighter that could be used with one hand.
The brand is now owned by Switzerland-based luxury goods holding company Richemont.
2 in 3 Singaporeans prefer retailers with e-commerce and mobile app.
There are only a few days before Christmas and Singaporeans are surely busy shopping around, finding the perfect gift. But what do retailers need to do to keep up with the shopping hype this festive season?
According to the latest survey by SAP Hybris, Singapore shoppers want cross-channel options more than new-age services like digital wallets and augmented reality store experiences. Over 2 in 3 shoppers (68%) prefer retailers with a physical store coupled with both e-commerce and mobile app while more than half of consumers want retailers which offer self-pickup services as physical stores.
“With high Internet and mobile penetration rates, it is of little wonder that Christmas online shopping is picking up among Singaporeans. The e-commerce market in Singapore is expected to be worth US$5.4 billion (S$7.46 billion) by 2025, according to a report by Temasek and Google released earlier in May this year, and is expected to make up 6.7% of all retail sales by 2025,” SAP Hybris global vice president of fast growth markets Nicholas Kontopoulos explained.
More so, 65% of the shoppers stated that retailers can improve their Christmas shopping experience by offering free shipping. Around 48% see on-time delivery as a benefit while 41% noted that gift customization would signal yet another improvement.
“Singaporeans are amongst the most tech-savvy spenders in Asia, and no strangers to e-commerce. Despite that and reports of Singapore’s continuously challenging retail landscape, the brick and mortar stores are definitely not dead,” Kontopoulos noted.
He furthered, “In fact, the SAP Hybris survey found that 39 per cent of Singaporeans still enjoy browsing through stores. This reinforces what we have been telling retailers for some time: Singapore is a truly multi-channel market, where most consumers are using a combination of devices in their online and offline shopping. The findings also point us to a future where offline and online shopping are no longer two separate business models. Singaporeans are demanding a seamless omnichannel shopping experience.”
Singapore has appointed Tan Kiat How as chief executive of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) from January 1, 2017.
Tan, currently deputy secretary (cyber and technology) at the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), succeeds Gabriel Lim, who will continue to serve as second permanent secretary (communications and information), said MCI in a media release.
Prior to his stint at MCI, Tan served at the former Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the Ministry of Finance and the Pioneer Generation Office (PGO).
Tan’s previous contributions include helping to develop the Intelligent Nation 2015 plan and implement the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network at the then-IDA. He was also involved in refining the national cybersecurity strategy with the Cyber Security Agency (CSA) in his time at MCI.
Lim was appointed co-managing director of IDA in May, in preparation for the formation of IMDA on October 1. He oversaw the establishment of the TechSkills Accelerator, a new hub for skills development and job placement, and preparations for Singapore’s fourth mobile network operator.
Prior to that, Lim was appointed CEO of the former Media Development Authority of Singapore on December 8, 2014.
Singapore’s BHG department store group has opened its seventh outlet as it trumpets sold sales growth across its network.
Apparently defying the city state’s widely publicised retail downturn, BHG is achieving solid growth through a focus on refreshing its merchandise mix every six months, running regular in-store promotions and other activities designed to stay “fresh and relevant”, MD Katsuharu Inamoto told the Straits Times in an interview.
“If we maintain the same merchandise for three years, we will die. Shoppers here are concerned about quality and price. They have the eye to judge and they know what’s in trend.”
He says BHG has maintained a “low single-digit” sales growth since last year.
In line with its merchandise focus, the retailer has just introduced two new brands to its line-up: Korea’s Ladykin beauty products and US backpack maker Mi-Pac.
The new Jurong East store which opened at the weekend, comprises 49,000 sqft over three levels. Two of those floors were previously occupied by rival department store John Little, which had traded in Jurong for 20 years, the third by electronics and furniture retailer Harvey Norman.
Inamoto said his company had been seeking a suitable space in the city’s west for a long time and was quick to take the opportunity provided by John Little’s departure.
“The mall has a unique tenant mix and lots of families go there.”
BHG’s history dates back to 1995 when it opened as Seiyu Wing On, a joint venture between Hong Kong’s Wing On and Japan’s Seiyu department store group. Seiyu later bought out its partner and the business was sold to China’s Beijing Hualian Group in 1995 and renamed.
Singapore Airlines is ramping up flights to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in 2017, a year which marks the airline’s 50th anniversary in Australian skies.
Melbourne will see a fifth flight appear on the schedule from 17 July 2017, with the new SQ247/248 operating on Monday, Friday and Saturday.
The SQ247 Airbus A330 service will depart Singapore at 2am and arrive in Melbourne at 11.25am; SQ248 leaves Melbourne at 12.40pm to reach Singapore at 6.30pm.
In addition, from January Melbourne’s SQ227/228 will step up to a four-class Boeing 777-300ER with the Star Alliance member’s new premium economy class.
Brisbane will see SQ265/266 tick over to a daily frequency from 22 August 2017, up from the current four flights a week; it’ll stay on a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft with a fully-flat business class bed for the overnight flight between Brisbane and Singapore.
Sydney is also gaining extra flights. Beginning 4 June 2017, SQ251/252 will be bumped up from three times weekly to five times weekly, while SQ231/222 will continue as a four-class Airbus A380 from 18 June to 30 September 2017.
2017 will also see Singapore Airlines boost flights to popular cities in Europe and Asia – including Rome, Moscow and Bangkok – with a new via Moscow route to Stockholm.
Chinese eCommerce giant Alibaba Group has been given the go-ahead by Singapore’s stock exchange (SGX) to raise its stake in Singapore Post (SingPost).
Alibaba Investment, a subsidiary of Alibaba Group Holding, has received in-principle approval from the bourse for the listing and quotation of about 107.6 million new shares in SingPost, says the postal group said in a filing.
This is subject to compliance with SGX listing requirements, and SingPost shareholder approval.
Shareholders will be sent a circular with details of the proposed share issuance, and notice of a related extraordinary general meeting.
The deal aims to be completed by the end of February.
As Alibaba’s second SingPost investment, it will raise its stake from 10.2 to 14.4 per cent.
Lazada Group’s Online Revolution, also known as 12.12, has again proven to be the biggest online shopping event in Southeast Asia, ringing up US$40.5 million in sales.
About 60 per cent of the gross merchandise value (GMV) of the December 12 event came from mobile, with shoppers spending an average of 12 minutes on Lazada apps browsing deals from international and local brands and sellers.
With the theme “Brands for All”, the 12.12 event featured more than 500,000 offers and flash sales from more than 1000 brands and 55,000 sellers. Best-sellers included shower gels and mascaras, tote bags and bracelets, vacuum cleaners and tableware, and virtual-reality headsets and speakers.
Lazada Group CEO Maximilian Bittner says the sale has become highly anticipated among more consumers in Southeast Asia, who are no longer just from large cities, but also from small cities and rural areas.
“This year, the difference was consumers clearly shopping for everyday products such diapers and groceries, as well as higher-value items from trusted brands.”
Lazada has a presence in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Real Singapore retail sales rose in October month-on-month – but slipped year-on-year.
According to official Statistics Singapore data released Thursday, seasonally adjusted retail sales rose 1.5 per cent (excluding motor vehicles) on September’s figures. But while the headline figure showed a 2.2 per cent increase on October 2015, after removing motor vehicles, the real result was a drop of 0.3 per cent.
Month-on-month, the performing categories were watches & jewellery, medical goods & toiletries, by department stores, food & beverages, apparel, footwear, supermarkets and recreational goods which increased between 0.3 per cent and 7.1 per cent. But sales of furniture & household equipment, and through mini-marts & convenience stores, optical goods and books decreased between 0.1 per cent and 4.6 per cent.
Compared to October 2015, retail sales of recreational goods, watches & jewellery, food & beverages, by department stores, supermarkets and medical goods & toiletries rose between 0.3 per cent and 5.6 per cent.
In contrast, retail sales of computer & telecommunications equipment, apparel & footwear, furniture & household equipment and optical goods & books decreased between 1.8 per cent and 8.1 per cent..
Food & beverage sales
In the food and beverage sector, (for consumption outside home), sales of fast food outlets, restaurants and other eating places, such as cafes, decreased by between 3.5 per cent and 5.6 per cent in October 2016 over September. Turnover of food caterers, other eating places and fast food outlets increased between 2.6 per cent and 5.8 per cent year-on-year, while restaurant sales declined 4.9 per cent.
Apple fans who have been looking forward to the tech giant’s first brick-and-mortar store in Singapore may have to wait a while longer, with the completion date of construction work at its expected location along Orchard Road apparently pushed back.
According to an information board put up outside the construction site at Knightsbridge mall, the latest expected completion date of Jan 30, 2017 – already a three-month postponement from the previous date of Oct 31, 2016 – was covered up, with no new date provided.
The information board with details on the expected completion date seen outside the construction site at Knightsbridge mall on Dec 9, 2016.
A check with workers and security guards at the site noted that the ongoing construction work is unlikely to wrap up by next month. One construction worker said that delays were unavoidable after the site was issued with a three-week stop-work order in late October.
In response, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) confirmed that it did issue a full stop-work order to the work site’s contractor on Oct 24, citing “unsafe conditions relating to work at height, traffic management, scaffolding, electrical installation and lifting operations that were observed during an inspection at the worksite”. A separate check on MOM’s website showed that the stop-work order was issued against Legend (Singapore) Interiors Pte Ltd.
MOM said the order has since been lifted, and when this reporter visited the site on Dec 9 and Dec 13, workers could be seen working on the sides of a three-storey-high facade covered up by grey-coloured boards.
Apple declined to comment. It also declined to reveal an official opening date for the store or provide an update for the number of employees it is hiring locally.
Its senior vice president of retail and online stores, Angela Ahrendts, confirmed last November that the tech giant had begun hiring staff for its retail store in Singapore.
The store, which is expected to take up four levels at Knightsbridge mall, will be Apple’s first physical retail presence in Singapore, as well as Southeast Asia. Apart from an online store, Apple currently sells its products via authorised premium resellers such as EpiCentre and Nubox in Singapore.
Speculation about the Singapore’s first Apple store emerged in October last year, when fitness club Pure Fitness informed its members that it would be shuttering its four-storey gym facility at Knightsbridge mall to make way for a “future Apple store”.
So far, there have been few details about the retail outlet apart from a statement released last November noting that the Apple Store will be powered by solar energy from developer Sunseap Group.
As for the exterior, a previous post by local blog My Apple Singapore wrote that wooden crates bearing the logo of German glassmaker Seele were placed outside the construction site in July. Given that Seele has been providing Apple with the glass panels for its overseas stores, the upcoming store in Singapore could be fitted with a similar glass facade, according to the blog, which began tracking developments at the construction site since last November.
Ongoing construction work seen at the site of Apple’s first retail store in Singapore at Knightsbridge mall on Dec 9, 2016
Construction work for the store commenced in May this year, according to the information board, and was initially expected to be completed by Oct 31.
SUCH DELAYS “NOT UNCOMMON”
However, industry observers said that such delays are not uncommon given the work required to fit out a huge space and Apple’s emphasis on customer experience in its flagship stores.
“For a huge flagship store occupying 30,000 sqft of prime space along Orchard Road, some degree of fit-out delay is not uncommon given the complexity of the design and layout,” said Cushman & Wakefield’s research director Christine Li.
“Plus, we are talking about the world’s most valuable brand – a brand that pays a lot of attention to detail and strives to be perfect. So, I think they want to make sure they don’t rush into things and that everything is in order,” she added.
Industry observers say retailers who are staying put at Knightsbridge mall, such as Abercrombie & Fitch, may get a boost from the extra shoppers that the Apple Store will bring in.
While it remains unclear when the Apple Store will officially open its doors, Ms Li said that it will be a boost for Singapore’s prime shopping belt, as well as neighbouring stores such as casual wear chain Abercrombie & Fitch, when it does.
“It will be good news given that so far we’ve been hearing so much negative news such as store closures at Orchard Road. Crowds attracted to the Apple Store will also benefit surrounding stores,” she explained.
Ms Li cited the example of Japanese retail brand Uniqlo, which launched a sprawling flagship store at Orchard Central in September. “Definitely, we saw more shoppers at the new flagship store that helped auxiliary stores like the F&B outlets nearby as there will usually be some spillover effect from the high traffic.”
Mancunians will be able to sample Singapore Airlines (SIA) latest A350 from January 17. SIA’s new three-class (business, premium economy and economy) twin-jet enters enters service on the Singapore-Manchester-Houston route. It will replace the larger B777-300ER which currently plies the route.
But the B777-300ER had the advantage of providing first class which will be unavailable with the A350.
I cannot talk about Houston, but in the case of the UK regions there is not the same demand for a top premium cabin as there would be from London.
Mancunians now have non-stop access both to Singapore and Houston. (Previously the Manchester-Singapore service was one-stop service via Munich. Singapore-Houston previously operated via Moscow).
Both are hub airports so the canny traveller can fly onwards to Asia/Australasia (in the case of the former) and Texas and the Southern US in the case of the latter.
Interestingly, for Mancunians seeking fast flights to Perth/Australia, what SIA is offering out of Manchester takes away the advantage of Qantas’ non-stop London-Perth service which launches in 2018.
Why fly Manchester-London-Perth with British Airways/Qantas (with a Heathrow terminal change) when SIA can take you Manchester-Singapore-Perth ?
Schedules are daily except Monday and Thursday.
Flight SQ052 will depart Singapore at 0215 arriving into Manchester the same morning at 0840. Its flight continues to Houston at 1010 arriving in the Texas city at 1430.
Return flight SQ051 departs Houston at 1850 to arrive into Manchester the following morning at 0840. It then departs at 1110 and, after another overnight aloft, it arrives into Singapore at 0755.
Australian fixed line operator TPG Telecom has won the new entrant spectrum auction to become Singapore’s fourth mobile network operator.
TPG submitted the winning bid of S$105 million ($72.8 million) for a provisional allocation of 60 MHz of spectrum in the 900-MHz and 2.3-GHz spectrum bands.
TPG outbid MyRepublic to secure the new license and spectrum.
Final allocation of the spectrum will require payment of the relevant spectrum fees, and the commencement date of spectrum rights will be scheduled after the planned general spectrum auction to be held in the first quarter.
Regulator IMDA said the new spectrum rights are expected to commence on April 1 at the earliest. TPG will also be eligible to compete in the general spectrum auction if the operator so chooses.
As a condition of its bid, TPG will need to provide nationwide street level 4G coverage within 18 months of the new spectrum rights commencing, road tunnels and in-building coverage within 30 months and coverage of MRT underground stations and lines within 54 months.
Singapore MVNO Circles.Life, which launched earlier this year as the market’s fourth postpaid mobile service provider, has welcomed the move.
“Circles.Life welcomes IMDA’s on-going efforts to support competition and look forward to TPG Telecom’s entry into the telco space in Singapore… We hope TPG Telecom will continue to support our ambition to bring more innovation and choice to the market,” the company’s co-founder and director Rameez Ansar said.
“In the short-term, the impact may be limited until TPG Telecom enters the market in about two years from now after building the required infrastructure. Meanwhile, we are focusing on targeting the data savvy segment.”
Singapore Post subsidiary SP eCommerce has worked with lingerie brand Triumph to launch two optimised online stores, for Singapore and Malaysia.
The online stores have been redesigned and enhanced in areas such as product categorisation and recommendation to improve the shopping experience.
Triumph launched online shops two years ago, with the latest updates integrating the online stores with Instagram so buyers can share photos via on-site social feeds.
With custom extensions designed by SP eCommerce – including zip-code validation, redesigned navigation and SingPost PopStation deliveries – the revamped web stores make browsing of more than 5000 styles easier and faster.
Further improvements are about to be rolled out for the online stores’ product recommendation engine, including a wish list.
“Customer experience is our top priority,” says Triumph International Singapore/Malaysia commercial director Sheryl Wong. “Serving up a great brand experience has always been at the core of what we do, and that is only possible with a holistic focus on our shoppers’ experience.
“With SP eCommerce, we are pleased we are able to stay abreast with the latest digital trends, enabling us to provide our customers with an ever-enhancing online shopping experience.”
SP eCommerce offers end-to-end services covering enterprise-grade eCommerce technology, warehousing, delivery and returns management, web-store operations, and customer-care and performance marketing.
Thailand’s Greyhound Cafe has opened its 13th international outlet, marking its debut in Singapore.
It has 14 cafes in Bangkok plus outlets in Beijing, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai.
For Greyhound, the cafe was actually an afterthought to complement to brand’s fashion line. In 1997, founder Bhanu Inkawat was offered an empty unit next to Greyhound’s store at Emporium shopping complex in Bangkok to sell coffee and food.
“We had no knowledge about food, but we thought, ‘Let’s just do it’,” says Inkawat, who is also Greyhound’s executive creative director. “We served a full food menu from the beginning. Yes, we were ambitious.”
Now the cafe chain is more successful and recognisable than the brand’s fashion business.
Inkawat and his Thai team attended the opening of the 100-seat Greyhound Cafe at Paragon in Orchard Road, introduced by Singapore F&B company JC Global Concepts.
Greyhound’s menu is a collection of the childhood memories and travel experiences of the founders, based on old Thai recipes and ingredients. For example, Inkawat grew up eating the cafe’s Complicated Noodle, which involves diners wrapping minced pork and chilli sauce with noodle sheets and lettuce. The other signature item, Greyhound Famous Fried Chicken Wings, is based on a recipe from the grandmother of Greyhound Cafe’s MD Pornsiri Rojmeta.
Street food twist
“We know that no matter how beautiful your restaurant is, the food is important,” says Inkawat.
“In Bangkok we are known as a trendy cafe, so it doesn’t really matter what we serve as long as it is trendy. But when you open outside of Thailand and people know we are from Bangkok, they think we are a typical Thai restaurant. So we present Thai street food in a hip way, but it’s not your traditional Thai food.”
An exclusive dish to Singapore is the Crispy Pork Leg with Surprisingly Curry Paste, a German- style crispy pork leg marinated with Thai herbs and served with tamarind chilli paste, Jaew sauce (dipping sauce from northeast Thailand) and sticky rice.
Another four or five Greyhound Cafes will be opened in Singapore within the next five years, including a stand-alone. Hong Kong will gain a seventh outlet, and the company is considering new markets – Indonesia, Taiwan and London.
For now, there are no plans to expand Greyhound’s sister brands – Sweet Hound, Another Hound, and EverythingHound – beyond Bangkok.
Having established Datacloud as Europe’s foremost networking and deal-making forum for data center and cloud players, the widely acclaimed event is now scheduled to take place in the growth markets of Asia on February 23, 2017. BroadGroup, the consulting, publishing and professional events firm has announced the early programme for Datacloud Asia 2017, which includes experts from Asia, the US and Europe.
Set to be the first deal-making forum in the region, the event offers a valuable return on investment for attendees, uniquely bringing together data center operators with IT infrastructure leaders looking to deploy assets across the Asian region; colocation, hosting, cloud services, data center and vendor solution sales are all transacted at the event. Datacloud provides powerful content with an impressive line-up of guest speakers – and is the only event in Asia that attracts top leadership from operating companies.
The forum concludes with a celebration of the nominees for Asia’s inaugural Data Center & Cloud Awards. Seeking genuine innovation as well as on-going evolution and transformation already underway in Asia, the Datacloud Asia 2017 Awards* will be presented in a refreshing format with all-new award categories at a combined reception hosted by Digital Realty and awards dinner at the prestigious Capella Hotel & Conference Center on Sentosa Island, minutes from Singapore’s business district.
“Datacloud is unique,” commented Philip Low, chairman of BroadGroup. “You will not find a trade show, but you will find a highly structured networking forum for senior executives complemented by a far reaching programme covering hot topics such as China, blockchain, enterprise cloud strategies, agile infrastructure, finance and investment, location for data centers and more. With the addition of the Awards it makes for an exceptional event.”
“Asia hubs will be a central theme of this new event with a strong focus on investors, enterprises and doing deals. It also aims to offer inspiring insights for companies seeking a better way of hosting and colocating in the new reality of a data-driven and cloud-connected world,” says Low. “The forum promises to highlight the value of outsourcing data centre, cloud and IT infrastructure across the fast growing Asia region, and is designed to appeal to both users and outsourcers.”
Sponsors for the event include Schneider Electric, Digital Realty, Telin Singapore, Kingsland Data Center, Datwyler, Lamda Hellix Data Centers, and has a range of industry and media partners including Globeron, Asia Cloud Computing Association, iMiller Public Relations, techUK, European Data Centre Association (EUDCA), BICSI and WiredRE. Lead Media Partner is Data Economy (www.data-economy.com) and Intelligence Partner is Colocation Markets Quarterly (CMQ).
In the food and beverage sector, (for consumption outside home), sales of fast food outlets, restaurants and other eating places, such as cafes, decreased by between 3.5 per cent and 5.6 per cent in October 2016 over September. Turnover of food caterers, other eating places and fast food outlets increased between 2.6 per cent and 5.8 per cent year-on-year, while restaurant sales declined 4.9 per cent.
