Panel: Moderated by Georgette Tan, President, United Women Singapore

• Ann Low, Deputy Director, Healthy Food & Dining, Health Promotion Board
• Nichol Ng, Founder and CEO, FoodXervices, Co-Founder, Food Bank Singapore

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA), 85% of Singapore residents eat out every week with roughly 1 in 10 Singapore residents eating out every day – most frequently at hawker centres, coffee shops and food courts. According to the latest Household Expenditure Survey 2017-18 released in June 2019, the average Singapore household spent S$4,900 monthly with food having the largest share accounting for 24.4% (S$1,199).

This is even higher than what average households spend on housing or transport categories. Households continue to spend the most amount of money ($437) on meals at hawker centres and food courts. And $296 on restaurants/cafes/pubs.

There is no doubt Singaporeans take their food seriously, spending serious money on their food choices. But now we are faced with diabetes and obesity issues too.

So even as households incomes rise and more money is spent on food – are Singaporeans making wise food choices? Is it realistic to want to be a foodie city and still remain healthy one too? Is it possible to preserve our hawker heritage and yet want to introduce healthy ingredients? Can hawker or restaurant favorites still be delicious even as we introduce new healthier food ingredients?

This panel will discuss food consumer choices and trends in the next 10 years as strategies to balance seemingly opposing objectives.

Panel: Moderated by Debra Soon, Head, Group Corporate Management, Tan Chong International

• Ms Ka Yi Ling, Co-Founder, Shiok Meats
• Chef Ivan Brehm, Chef-Owner, Nouri Restaurant
• Mr Farhan Shah, Managing Editor, PEAK Magazine

Singapore emerged tops for the second year running in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Food Security Index. Even as climate change is a key factor that will seriously challenge Singapore’s food supply strategy eg. erratic weather, decrease in crop yields and water shortages, natural and man made disasters will increase stress on demand of food globally.

This panel will explore the various ways that Singapore aims to “gamechange” to get to its target goal of growing enough food to meet 30% of Singapore’s nutritional needs by 2030.

What will help is the exponential growth of tech innovation in the food and wellness sectors, particularly in the last 10 years. From plant and soil science to lighting solutions and farm robotics, waves of new farm technology are emerging almost every day.

How is a foodie city like Singapore to leverage on these innovations? What are the greatest opportunities for technology to create a paradigm shift towards a healthy country? What are the exciting new initiatives that have emerged to date in Singapore/Asia that would incorporate Asian tastes?

What is required to foster and drive this growing “delicious” ecosystem? How are consumers changing tastes redefining what restaurants offer on the menu? How is food sustainability practiced by chefs? How can we ensure a fully safe and traceable food system from farm to fork – and make sure it’s tasty too?

The role of media is critical to food security. During the recent coronavirus epidemic, the media’s role was vital to calm mass hoarding of essential food items. What is media’s evolving role in this unchartered path towards global food security and food sustainability?

Panel: Moderated by Haslinda Amin, Chief International Correspondent, SE Asia, Bloomberg

• Anuj Maheshwari, Managing Director, Agribusiness, Temasek
• Dennis Shen, Deputy CEO, Health Promotion Board
• Deepak Shahdadpuri, Founder and Managing Director, DSG Consumer Partner

The Food Visionaries Fireside chat features leading lights in the food space.

These visionaries are typically C-suite or MD level executives who are thought leaders of great influence in Singapore and around the world.