Food & Hospitality Asia is one of the most important trade events in the region. Last week’s edition of FHA Singapore was the best in recent memory.
If you exhibited last week hoping to find distribution, you’ve likely had a high volume of conversations, collected a stack of business cards, and generated a number of potential distributor and retailer leads.
Now comes the part that actually determines whether FHA Singapore delivers a return for your business.
For most food and beverage brands, the biggest decision coming out of FHA is how to approach the Singapore market — and more broadly, how to structure your longer term market entry strategy for the Asia Pacific region.
1) Direct-to-retail vs distributor: be clear on your route to market
A common question we heard on the floor at FHA Singapore is whether to go direct to retailers or work through a local distributor as part of your distributor market entry Asia approach.
On paper, direct-to-retail can look attractive. Many retailers are increasingly exploring direct sourcing due to rising costs. Brands see an opportunity to remove the distributor margin and deal directly with buyers. In practice, this approach rarely works at scale.
Retailers can list products. But generally speaking they are not set up to drive longer term ongoing performance with:
- merchandising
- in-store execution
- promotional planning
- day-to-day account management
And they certainly don’t build your brand across the wider market. A capable distributor can deliver:
- coverage across relevant retail and foodservice channels
- stock management and local logistics
- sales teams driving rotation
- trade marketing execution
- a coordinated, whole-of-market strategy
Without this, you end up with fragmented performance — one retailer at a time — rather than building a scalable business. If your objective is long-term growth, not just initial listings, a distributor-led market entry strategy is the more effective approach.
2) Be disciplined on pricing and commercial structure
One of the biggest risks for brands coming out of FHA is inconsistent pricing. Many brands speak to both retailers and distributors during the show. That is fine—, but you must be extremely careful.
If a retailer has already seen direct pricing from you that does not allow for a viable distributor margin, it becomes very difficult for a distributor to win that account later.
This is where many opportunities stall.
Your pricing must work across the full value chain:
- export price
- freight and duties
- distributor margin
- retailer margin
- promotion and listing fee support
Professional distributors expect commercial viability. They also expect support.
Listing fees and marketing investment are standard in Singapore food distribution. These are not optional extras — they are part of the cost of entry.
After FHA, distributors will be reviewing opportunities quickly. They are effectively screening follow-up emails like job applications. If your follow-up is unclear on pricing, support, or commitment, it will not progress.
3) Focus on follow-up, breadth, and long-term execution
The volume of follow-up activity after FHA is significant — for both distributors and retailers. This is where your post trade show strategy becomes critical.
Distributors will return to hundreds of inbound opportunities. Retailers will be assessing a large number of new product submissions.
At the same time due to extremely limited shelf space, Singapore retail operates on a “one brand in, one brand out” model. You are not just competing for shelf space. You are competing to replace an existing brand — and to outperform every other new brand entering the category within the Singapore grocery market.
That means your pitch must answer one question: Why you will be commercially stronger than what is already on shelf.
You also need to manage your pipeline properly. Do not rely on one distributor progressing. The most capable distributors will have hundreds of business cards in their pockets coming out of FHA. Go wide — but stay relevant. Ensure you have multiple aligned partners in discussion as part of your broader APAC FMCG distribution strategy.
Finally, be realistic about timing. Everyone goes back to their day jobs after FHA. There is a backlog. It can take weeks for things to settle. Be patient, but structured in your follow-up. One of the most effective approaches is to plan a market visit to Singapore or your target ASEAN markets a few weeks after the show. Conversations in a normal working environment are far more productive than those held on a busy trade floor.
If you exhibited at FHA and are now working through next steps, this is the point where your Asia Pacific market entry strategy either starts to take shape — or loses momentum. At Incite, we work with food and beverage brands to structure distributor selection, pricing, and go-to-market plans that convert FHA Singapore conversations into sustainable growth across Singapore and the wider region.
