Manhattan's average asking retail rents have dropped by 11 percent from six months ago to US$115 per square foot annually, making it an opportune time to cash in on attractive real estate deals.
The United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement came into force in 2004. Since then bilateral trade has increased by 40 percent, boosting Singapore's exports by 28 percent.
Case Study
See how this Singapore-based food manufacturer brought some local flavours to the US
With a global distribution network, a fully-automated manufacturing base in Senoko and other manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia and the USA, it is difficult to imagine that Tee Yih Jia began as a small, labour-intensive business in 1969, producing only spring roll pastry.
The success of Tee Yih Jia lies in their ability to build strategic alliances with global associates and establish partnerships with food and beverage companies. By expanding marketing channels, Tee Yih Jia is able to leverage collective economies of scale and constantly modernise product development and manufacturing quality. Today, this 30-year-old company boasts a string of awards and accolades and success in more than 50 countries.
"The USA has always been an important market for Tee Yih Jia as it has a sizeable ethnic Asian population base and an even larger domestic consumer market with high disposable incomes," Gary Lee, Vice President of Regional Sales and Marketing at Tee Yih Jia , said.
Through International Enterprise (IE) Singapore's facilitation, Tee Yih Jia met up with Panda Express, the largest Chinese fast food chain in the US, operating 1150 stores in 35 states with sales revenues reaching US$1.25 billion in 2007. Panda Express visited Singapore in June 2008 with the objective of looking for additional sources of sauces and other products to meet the chain's rapidly-growing demands.
With its Tasty Singapore-endorsed brands, Spring Home and Happy Belly, Tee Yih Jia has also begun supplying their Spring Roll Pastry to Heinz Foods Company.
Lee gave credit to IE Singapore for the part it has played in Tee Yih Jia's US expansion, describing the leads generated by its networking events as "highly focused and targeted".
He added that the high level of publicity generated by IE Singapore for Singapore products has also boosted the chances of Singapore-based companies like Tee Yih Jia to expand internationally.
With the active promotion of Singapore brands by IE Singapore and the company's existing Pan-American distribution network, Tee Yih Jia is continually striving to introduce more product lines into the US market and extend their distribution network to even more states in the US.
A complimentary service by www.iadvisory.com.sg
Name: Sunny Chia
Company: UPS
Expertise: Import/Export
Market: Asia Pacific, Europe
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