SATS Ltd announces proposed partnership with Mitsui
SATS Ltd partners with Mitsui
SATS Ltd. (SATS) has announced its proposed entry into a partnership with Mitsui Co., Ltd (Mitsui) to develop to grow their respective food and retail solutions businesses.
This partnership comes a year after the two companies signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to explore opportunities for collaboration in the food and retail sectors, the July 18 press release said.
When completed, Mitsui will hold a 15 percent stake in a partnership with interests in SATS Food Solutions India, SATS Food Solutions Thailand, SATS Tianjin, and Country Foods. The investment is approximately S$36.4 million (US$27.1 million) and aims to support the growth and expansion of the four food entities.
Mitsui’s investment is set to accelerate the growth and expansion of SATS’ food solutions business through targeted demand generation. Leveraging Mitsui's extensive network of prominent food retailers, manufacturers and F&B players across key markets in Asia, the partnership aims to unlock new business opportunities and expand SATS’ market reach.
SATS said the partnership is already yielding tangible results, particularly in Japan, Mitsui's home market. Several joint initiatives are currently in progress that harness the partners' synergies. SATS TFK, a subsidiary of SATS, is in discussion with a subsidiary of the Mitsui Group, which specializes in food services, to supply food components. Leveraging Mitsui's extensive network in Japan, SATS TFK has begun supplying food components to prominent retail channels, including St. Coursair, Kinokuniya, and JR East.
Plans are in progress to supply frozen meals to Muji Japan, with a targeted launch in the first quarter of 2025. These early successes span various segments of the food industry, from institutional catering to retail.
“SATS has developed the capacity and expertise to ideate, innovate and manufacture a wide range of high-quality, nutritious, and authentic tasting Ready-To-Eat food products through our network of kitchens in Asia. By collaborating with Mitsui, we can leverage our partner's network and distribution channels to generate demand for a wide array of food products from our food entities and to expand our presence in key markets,” said Stanley Goh, CEO of SATS Food Solutions.
“We believe that our partnership will not only help spur demand for SATS' products in Asia but will also support Mitsui’s goal of providing and scaling value-added services to their customers. We are pleased to welcome Mitsui as a strategic partner and look forward to the exciting opportunities our partnership will bring,” Goh continued.
Naoharu Asaumi, Managing Officer, Chief Operating Officer of Retail Business Unit, Mitsui, also commented: “Mitsui and SATS aim to provide food solutions to a growing market and contribute to enriching the quality of life for the communities in Asia. Combining SATS’ culinary expertise, food technology, innovation, unique product development and production capabilities to provide value-added services in Singapore with Mitsui’s global food and package procurement network, cold-chain logistics and distribution, and sales and marketing capability in each target market, we can scale this ambition.”
