Singapore airline meal purveyor spreads wings to store-bought food

In-flight catering giant SATS is setting the table for a transformation into a diversified food company that serves corporate clients and store customers, reducing its reliance on the aviation sector. SATS has invested 150m Singapore dollars ($109m) to build a food plant in the Jurong Innovation District, an industrial park in southern Singapore. Construction of the five-story plant on 20,000 sq. meters of land is slated to finish by 2024. The Singaporean company held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 7. Instead of producing airline food, the new hub will make ready-to-eat meals, soups, sauces for commercial use, baked sweets and other items. It will be the source of meals delivered to businesses, government agencies and health care centers, along with direct sales to restaurants and convenience stores. The plant will produce 80 tons of food a day, equivalent to 200,000 meals. "During the pandemic, we have invested a lot into our digital platform," President and CEO Kerry Mok told Nikkei in an interview. "The next thing we're going to go for is more analytics and a more data-driven way of driving business growth." SATS was established in 1972 as a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines. SATS went public on the Singapore Exchange in 2000, and the company dissolved its capital relationship with the city-state's flag carrier in 2009. Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings owns 40% of SATS and 55% of Singapore Airlines. The two companies are considered "brothers" under the same parent, but the airline is still seen as the older sibling because SATS depends heavily on the flag carrier. SATS not only supplies in-flight meals, but also provides cabin-cleaning services and handles boarding procedures and cargo.<br/>