[BT] Expanding Dough Culture - Emerging Enterprise Award 2014

8 SINGAPORE NEWS
The Business Times, Wednesday, August 13, 2014
NATIONAL REAL ESTATE CONGRESS
Time to review cooling
steps, say property players
Participants urge
caution while buying
overseas assets
Reports by LYNETTE KHOO
[email protected]
@LynetteKhooBT
EVEN though the government
has reiterated that it is not yet
time to lift the property cooling
measures, some real estate consultants are calling for a review of
the earlier taxes imposed to rein
in speculators, which they claim
have an inflationary effect.
Consultants felt that with the
implementation of total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) to cap total borrowings at 60 per cent of gross
monthly income, the additional
buyer’s stamp duty (ABSD) and
the seller’s stamp duty (SSD) have
become less relevant.
Speaking at the National Real
Estate Congress yesterday, Colliers International managing director Dennis Yeo advocated that
the ABSD be lifted for Singapore
citizens and the SSD to be
scrapped.
“Nobody would question the
reason behind the TDSR. But now
with TDSR being in place for
slightly over a year now, we then
have to look at all the other earlier measures that were put in
place to see whether they were
conflicting or inflationary,” he
said. “We do not want prices to
go out of control, but transaction
costs add on to the price of the
property.”
ERA Realty key executive officer Eugene Lim, another speaker,
felt that it was “safe to remove
SSD now” given that sub-sales,
which serve as an indication of
speculative activity, are low
across all property types. Currently, the SSD kicks in if a residential
property is sold within four years
of acquisition.
“Perhaps, it is an opportune
time to review the measures that
were implemented to tackle speculative buying and selling and
whether the holding period under
SSD is necessary at this point
now,” he added.
While acknowledging that
economists have flagged ample
Asian liquidity waiting to enter
the market, Mr Lim felt that the
ABSD, while imposing a higher
tax on foreigners, still penalises
Singaporeans who wish to own a
property for owner-occupation
and another for investment.
Sing Tien Foo, deputy head of
the department of real estate at
the National University of Singapore, also touched on the government’s supply-side policy. He noted that the impact of the ramp-up
in residential supply – be it on
prices or buyers’ behaviour – is
“yet to be fully understood at this
moment”.
Given that it has become more
costly to buy properties in Singapore, consultants said that there
is greater interest than before in
overseas properties among Singaporeans.
Office, retail
segments to lure
investors
OrangeTee head of international projects Johnny Chng noted
that the Philippines is popular
among emerging markets, given
the capital appreciation of some
10-20 per cent each year on the
back of strong economic recovery. But he cautioned that investors looking to emerging markets
should bear in mind the political
risks, the taxation costs and the legal framework.
Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) executive director
Seah Seng Choon said that he had
once come across an advertisement on the Internet touting returns of 100 per cent for an overseas property. He urged real estate agents not to “over-sell” or
confuse buyers where overseas
properties are concerned.
NTU start-up
launches 3D
printer-cum-scanner
By CAI YONG
[email protected]
A NANYANG Technological
University (NTU) start-up
called Blacksmith Group
has forged a new tech toy –
a 3D printer-cum-scanner
half the size of anything
now in the market.
The inspiration for its design? A record player.
In a record player, the
stylus moves only in a
straight line, progressing
from the rim of the disc to
its centre. Despite this economy of movement, it covers
the entire area of the disc,
which is spinning at the
same time.
Blacksmith’s Genesis 3D
printer-cum-scanner operates on precisely this principle. As its platform rotates,
its print head economises
on movement, thus reducing the need for cumbersome support structures.
Blacksmith describes
Genesis as the first commercial 3D printer to use such a
rotary platform. This design enables it to print objects exceeding 6.5 litres in
volume, which would normally require printers twice
the size.
Blacksmith has also built
a scanner into the device,
creating Singapore’s first
3D all-in-one machine.
The company, which receives support from NTUitive, NTU’s business incubator, developed this product
with the average consumer
in mind.
Fang Kok Boon, the chief
executive officer of Blacksmith, said: “3D printing
will be much easier with
Blacksmith Genesis, because our users won’t need
to design an original work
from scratch using 3D software.”
Instead, they will be able
to work with virtual models
of scanned items using
Blacksmith’s software, customising them to create
unique objects.
To test the market for
Genesis, Blacksmith has
launched it through crowdfunding site Indiegogo. It
has aimed to raise
US$75,000 in a campaign
to run until Sept 10.
Several levels of pledges
are available; supporters
will be able to buy a Genesis
unit for as low as US$1,200.
If the machine proves
popular, Blacksmith will begin mass production. Retail
units are expected to be
priced at US$2,200.
Blacksmith sees a market in hobbyists who often
require specialised parts for
their toy models. Schools
are also a potential target,
since the process of designing and printing objects is
highly educational.
Singapore is making its
mark bringing 3D printing
to the masses.
A year ago, Pirate3D
rocked the world by raising
more than US$1.4 million
for 3D printers starting at
as low as US$397.
Of the more than 2,500
orders received from crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, it has fulfilled about 200.
Pirate3D hopes meet all
these orders by the end of
the year.
Moments of Love Charity Concert: Mr Koh (right)
presenting a S$200,000 cheque donation to Dr Tan
S$200k raised for
President’s Challenge
A CONCERT last night
raised S$200,000 for the
President’s Challenge – an
annual campaign started in
2000 to raise funds for charity in the President’s
name.
The concert is part of
the My Singapore Project –
started in 2011 by local
singer-songwriter Lorraine
Tan, who performed at this
year’s concert as well.
It was backed by presenting charity sponsor
CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF) – the philanthropic branch of real estate giant CapitaLand.
Called My Singapore
2014: Moments of Love
Charity Concert for Presi-
dent’s Challenge 2014, the
concert raised S$100,000
that was matched dollar-for-dollar by CHF.
The donation, which
goes to children’s charities
under the President’s Challenge, was presented by
CHF director James Koh to
President Tony Tan Keng
Yam. CHF has been supporting the President’s
Challenge since 2008.
Lim Ming Yan, president
and group CEO of CapitaLand, said: “This concert,
in celebration of Singapore’s 49th National Day,
serves as a timely affirmation of our commitment to
contribute towards young
Singaporeans in need.”
The Blacksmith
Genesis: (from
left) Ajie Nikicio,
21, chief
technology
engineer; Fang
Kok Boon, 29,
CEO; Pui Tze
Sian, 34,
director; and
Joyce Ngiam, 26,
chief operating
officer; holding
items created
using the 3D
printer.
PHOTO: DIOS VINCOY
JR/THE STRAITS TIMES
Affordable capital
values among many
pull factors for
commercial property
LED by rising rents and limited supply in the
near-term, investment activities are expected to hold
up for office and retail
space. The absence of additional buyer’s stamp duty
(ABSD) and seller’s stamp
duty (SSD) in the commercial space is also making
this segment more appealing to investors.
Knight Frank executive
director Mary Sai noted
that the Singapore retail
and office markets are
among top picks in Asia for
foreign investors, who face
heftier ABSD than locals in
the residential market.
“Robust
economic
growth, stable government,
low
unemployment,
strength of Singapore dollars, are some compelling
pull factors for foreign investors in our commercial
properties,” she said at the
National Real Estate Congress yesterday.
“Another reason why
people move over to commercial property is because
the absolute sum of capital
to be paid is affordable,”
Ms Sai added, citing the example of Alexandra Central, which had 43 per cent
of transactions below S$1
million. The project that
was launched in January
last year had 98.3 per cent
of strata-titled retail space
sold out within one day.
Developers are also increasingly moving into
mixed-developments and
making strata-titled units
small enough to be affordable to retail investors, Ms
Sai said.
Strata-titled office transactions have started recovering in the first half of this
year, with transactions rising to 248 from 204 in the
second half of 2013, according to data from Knight
Frank. But new sales saw
average pricing slip further
to S$2,331 psf from
S$2,957 psf.
Meanwhile, strata-titled
retail transactions fell to
196 in the first half from
416 transactions in H2
2013, with average price
for new sales dipping to
S$4,248 per sq ft from
S$4,345 psf.
Also speaking at yesterday’s event, JLL regional director for investments Tan
Hong Boon noted that limited supply will continue to
drive investment activities
of more than S$5 million in
the retail and office segments in the near-term. But
the rise in capital values
will be limited due to price
resistance from buyers.
Last year, funds/Reits
made up 80 per cent of investment sales in the retail
space, while private investors accounted for 16 per
cent. As for the office segment, developers made up
45 per cent of investment
sales while funds/Reits
made up 33 per cent.
The annual real estate forum was co-organised by
SAEA, The Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers (SISV), and FIABCI Singapore, and, this time, in
collaboration with STProperty.sg.
Expanding Dough Culture
A husband and wife duo keeps alive a food tradition in line with modern tastes. LIVIA YAP reports
‘W
HAT do you take your youtiao with – soymilk or coffee?’
Alex Ong tells this reporter that he asks this
question to nearly everyone he meets; younger customers tend to prefer the sweetness of
the milk to offset the savoury Chinese fried
breadsticks, he says, while the older generation is used to downing theirs with a hot cup
of coffee or tea.
Mr Ong is the managing director and
founder of Dough Culture, a chain of food
outlets that takes traditional oriental snacks
usually sold at hawker centres in Singapore
to shopping malls.
With six outlets around the island, and
three in the works, Mr Ong says that he is
driven by a passion to ensure that traditional snacks such as youtiao, red bean buns,
and banana fritters remain relevant and
even trendy in today’s modernising food industry.
“Youtiao is usually patronised by the old,
and we don’t want (this culture) to discontinue, so, we’re trying to (encourage) the young
to enjoy this product. That’s why we have
outlets in the shopping malls because we
want to attract these youngsters,” he says.
In fact, Mr Ong’s wife, Irene Lee, who is
the company’s director, adds that Dough Culture currently has outlets exclusively in shopping malls to attract this age group.
The Ongs feel that for the younger generation, oriental snacks are not as popular as
Western food.
“That’s why to attract this group of youngsters, we will also periodically introduce
some innovative products. We also use social media, like Facebook to post pictures of
our new launches,” says Mr Ong.
In addition to modernising the youtiao to
attract younger consumers, the husband-wife duo has also sought to revolutionise the production process, by incorporating
the use of technology.
Mr Ong feels it’s necessary to cut down
the time taken to make a single batch of youtiao, after noticing that his brother-in-law,
who sells the traditional handmade version,
takes almost nine hours for food preparation
before the product can be sold.
In his opinion, the process is too tedious
for the amount produced. “I’m an engineer,
so whenever I see (youtiao makers) working
in a very traditional way, I feel that there is
always room for improvement. I see that
there is this niche that I can go into,” says Mr
Ong.
Dough Culture uses frozen dough to reduce the food preparation time to only an
hour before the youtiao can be sold. It also
uses a central kitchen to provide for all the
branches, and these two modifications have
helped to reduce wastage to only 3 per cent,
compared to an estimated 35 per cent under
the conventional operating model.
“When I saw Old Chang Kee and Delifrance using frozen dough, I thought, this is
Made for each other: With six outlets around the island, and three in the works, Mr Ong and wife want to ensure that
traditional snacks such as youtiao, red bean buns, and banana fritters remain relevant and even trendy in today’s
modernising food industry. PHOTO: ARTHUR LEE
the new way of doing things whereby I can
scale up my entire operations,” Mr Ong says.
“To me, I’m always focused on productivity, efficiency and how to make things in the
shortest time possible and create more variety.”
Today, the production line for Dough Culture is 80 per cent automated and it uses conveyor belts in its operations.
Mr Ong says it is his dream, as an engineer, to fully automate his line one day.
Therefore, Dough Culture spends 8 per cent
of its total cost every year on research and
development, to try out new machinery.
In pursuit of new concepts
“Sometimes I can even buy a machine and it
doesn’t work and becomes a white elephant,
sometimes there are just risks you have to
take, but what keeps me going is the vision
that this business is viable,” Mr Ong says.
Dough Culture is also outsourcing part of
its operations to Malaysia due to space constraints in Singapore. Mr Ong explains that
sufficient space is needed to fully automate
the line.
One might think that taking away the traditional making process would affect the
taste of the youtiao produced, but Ms Lee insists that this does not reduce the quality of
the product and in fact customers surveyed
cannot tell the difference between traditional youtiao and theirs.
“We have a lot of good feedback from our
customers that our youtiao last longer than
than traditional ones and in fact, the ammonia smell that you tend to have with the conventional way of making things is gone with
our frozen dough,” she says.
Dough Culture explores how consumers
in various countries like to eat youtiao and
offers products such as Thailand’s mini youtiao drizzled in condensed milk or Vietnam’s
youtiao in chicken soup, and of course plain
youtiao or in porridge, among others, for Singapore.
Since its start in 2009, Dough Culture has
seen a 15 per cent growth in revenue from
last year and it plans to expand with five or
six new outlets each year.
In November, it will open its first “café
concept” outlet in Eastpoint, a move away
from its current “kiosk concept”.
“We actually started the company with
the intention of taking it overseas. We want
to share the Asian dough food culture with
the world,” says Mr Ong.
The company’s products are halal certified and its expansion plans include outlets
in countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and
the Philippines.
This profile is the sixth of a series of
features on the 16 finalists of the
Emerging Enterprise Award 2014.
Jointly presented by The Business Times
and OCBC Bank, the Emerging Enterprise
Award 2014 recognises promising
enterprises and startups which are up to
10 years old and have an annual turnover
of S$15 million or less. It is supported by
RSM Chio Lim, MasterCard, SingTel,
ACORN Marketing & Research
Consultants, INSEAD and SPRING
Singapore. The winners will be unveiled
at a gala dinner on August 29.

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