SIT bolsters food tech offerings to support agri-food sector in Singapore

The Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) has announced new measures that will bolster its offerings for professionals and companies looking to level up and create a bigger impact in the local Food Technology sector. From a new small-batch food production facility that will enable food players to trial new products on a smaller and more cost-effective scale, to the introduction of a new Continuing Education Training (CET) course in High Moisture Extrusion Technology (HMET), these initiatives will help equip the country's workforce and companies with added capabilities to leverage the global momentum in sustainable food production, and develop new innovative food products to meet evolving consumer demand.

Open for founding members: small batch production facility to boost food innovation

Designed to help food companies reduce capital and operating costs through shared facilities and services, the new FoodPlant will fill a gap in the market for small batch production and is now open for pioneer membership. Run by SIT in partnership with Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and JTC, the facility is targeted to be launched in early 2022 at JTC Food Hub @ Senoko, providing a space for a range of food companies, from startups, SMEs to MNCs to test the viability of their new products via small batch production. Given how food manufacturers often face challenges such as a lack of quality facilities, expensive equipment, large opportunity costs and high minimum order requirements from outsourced manufacturers, the new facility will provide a much-needed boost to food manufacturers looking to develop and scale the rollout of new products, post R&D.

Ahead of its opening next year, players in the Food Technology space can now start taking advantage  of FoodPlant’s facilities and consultancy services, through pioneer memberships that offer significantly reduced annual membership fees. As founding FoodPlant members, companies will also enjoy priority bookings of the facility and additional discounts on top of early registrations. FoodPlant, which is part of the ESG-led multi-agency FoodInnovate1, is open for its first-year membership. For more information on its membership plans, interested parties can email hello@foodplant.com.sg or visit www.foodplant.com.sg.

High moisture extrusion technology (HMET) offers great potential for food manufacturers to produce a wide range of meat analogue products from various plant protein sources, such as wheat gluten, soy and pea proteins. 

Bernice Tay, Director of Food Manufacturing, Enterprise Singapore, said, “We are pleased to work with SIT and JTC to jointly set up FoodPlant as part of the FoodInnovate’s network of shared infrastructure. The changing environment and consumer preferences make it even more critical now to have differentiated products that address market needs. The new facility can help food manufacturing companies kickstart their innovation efforts, while mitigating some of the cost and equipment challenges they may face, especially in the current climate. We encourage companies to tap the facility’s services to test-bed new technologies such as high-moisture extrusion technology and accelerate their new product commercialisation.”

Eugene Lim, Director of Food and Lifestyle Cluster, JTC, said, “FoodPlant is a strategic addition to JTC Food Hub @ Senoko. As the first shared facility for small batch production, FoodPlant will plug into the large ecosystem of food companies and food start-ups in Singapore, and help them to accelerate the development, adoption and commercialisation of new food technologies. We will connect food companies in our estates island-wide to tap on this new facility.”

First in Singapore CET course to provide in-demand hands-on skills for food tech professionals

Additionally, SIT is launching a new hands-on Food Technology CET course, ‘High Moisture Extrusion Technology (HMET) for Meat Analogues’ on 24-25 June. Through the course, food technology professionals will be trained on high moisture extrusion technology (HMET) – a process that texturises plant-based protein into viable meat alternatives – which has also become increasingly popular due to the global meat-free movement gaining pace. HMET is key to kickstarting the production of meat analogue products from plant protein sources, such as wheat gluten, soy and pea proteins. An extruder machine similar to the one used for this CET training course will be available at the FoodPlant, as part of the facility’s wide range of affordable pilot scale equipment.

Led by Associate Professor Lim Bee Gim, Chemical Engineering and Food Technology cluster, SIT, and CEO, FoodPlant, participants will learn how to yield product textures that resemble muscle meat via extrusion technology upon completion of this training course. These products can then be further processed to produce plant-based meat alternatives or ready-to-eat products that involve other conventional meat processing operations such as slicing, mincing or marinating.

Shared A/P Lim: “With the increased availability and consumption of novel plant-based foods gaining ground in recent years, this first-of-its-kind course offered by SIT and the opening of our new FoodPlant will no doubt benefit local companies keen to learn more about this unique food production process and include it as part of their manufacturing repertoire. Aligned with Singapore’s renewed focus on seizing growth opportunities in sustainability, as outlined in the recently-released Emerging Stronger Taskforce2 report, we hope that our suite of new offerings will provide a boost for the Food Technology sector in Singapore, alongside our ongoing industry partnerships and existing academic programmes.”

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¹FoodInnovate was launched by ESG in 2018, together with Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Economic Development Board, Innovation Partner for Impact, JTC and Singapore Food Agency to grow Singapore’s food manufacturing industry through innovation. It provides resources to Singapore-based food companies to drive food technology and innovations through access to shared infrastructure and industry knowledge. For more information, visit: https://www.enterprisesg.gov.sg/industries/type/food[1]manufacturing/foodinnovate.

²The ‘Emerging Taskforce Report’ was released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry on 17 May 2021, and can be downloaded at https://emergingstronger.sg/

Annex A: About ‘High Moisture Extrusion Technology (HMET) for Meat Analogues’ High moisture extrusion technology (HMET) offers great potential for food manufacturers to produce a wide range of meat analogue products from various plant protein sources, such as wheat gluten, soy and pea proteins. The extruded products can yield product textures that resemble muscle meat using a co-rotating twin-screw extruder with water contents similar to meat, i.e. between 50 - 80%, and with a cooled slit die attached to the end of the extruder.  These intermediate products produced via HMET can be further processed to produce meat analogues or ready-to-eat products using conventional meat processing operations such as slicing or mincing and marinating.

The two-day on-site training will start with an overview of the HMET process and provide a basic understanding of the extruder and its parts. Besides classroom training, participants will also have the opportunity to see the various screw elements and understand their functions in the extrusion process of high moisture meat analogue. On the second day, participants will have hands-on experience to produce high moisture meat analogue with a pilot plant twin screw extruder. They will be able to visualise the effect of extrusion parameters such as moisture content, raw materials, screw speed, etc, on the product properties.

Course dates: 24-25 June*, 26-27 July 2021 Total course contact hours: 16 hours A Standard Certificate will be issued by SITLEARN Professional Development (SITLEARN PD) upon successful completion. SITLEARN PD is the lifelong learning division of SIT, catering to working adults who are keen to upgrade and gain new skills that can be applied in the workplace.

*Kindly note that June registration is fully subscribed and is now closed.