Jesher Loi

PODCAST EP 02 📢 Coffee is one of the many commodities being adversely affected by climate change, leading to sharp price increases in recent years 📈 Prefer | bean-free coffee is a Singapore-based startup that is tackling this problem head-on by future-proofing coffee using a unique fermentation technology. This week, we caught up with the co-founder & CEO, Jake Berber, to discuss: 1. Jake's journey from neuroscience -> venture capital investing in Israel -> moving to Singapore and starting Prefer ✈️☕ 2. How Prefer found product-market-fit in the packaged coffee space 🎯 3. The company's plans to disrupt other billion $ markets at risk due to climate change 🌏💸 Watch the full episode here - https://lnkd.in/gFagFkES #fmcg #consumergoods #coffee #business #podcast #entrepreneur #Singapore Aamod Mehrish

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Shopee's parent Sea will publish its results for the second quarter of 2024 tomorrow. It's always an interesting time because Shopee in many ways acts as a bellwether of Southeast Asia's wider e-commerce industry. We spent most of 2023 wondering whether Shopee could find a way to grow its GMV while also being profitable. Then, the company posted two great quarters in a row with solid GMV growth and improving unit economics for Q4-2023 and Q1-2024. Tomorrow's Q2-2024 announcement will be very exciting too, because: 1) Our data indicates that Shopee has continued to grow its GMV robustly, both in Southeast Asia but also with standout performance in Brazil 2) Shopee started increasing its commissions aggressively in several markets in the beginning of Q2, and we might start to see the results of that tomorrow. Market consensus is cautiously optimistic, but there are some indicators that tomorrow's quarterly announcement could be one for the books... We shall see. I shared some thoughts about Shopee's rising take rates today with the one and only Olivia Poh from Bloomberg below:

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Generational Clash: Millennials, Boomers, and Gen Z Walk into a Workplace... Who's Steering the Ship? I stumbled upon in a Thai online forum! It's all about the fascinating intersection of geopolitics in Thailand and the evolving landscape of global values. Picture this: amidst these shifts, there's a group of seasoned employees who are quite resistant to change. So, what exactly are "values," you ask? Well, think of them as the guiding principles that shape our behaviours and decisions. They can be a mixed bag – some good, some not so much. For instance, valuing hard work is great, but overdoing it might not be. And what about the value of loyalty to your peers? Is it always a positive? It's a complex puzzle, really. Now, where do these values come from? For many of us, they're deeply rooted in our upbringing, culture, and education. Take Thailand, for example. We've got these traditional values ingrained in us from a young age, e.g. respecting our elders and cherishing our cultural heritage. But here's the kicker: with the rise of Gen Z, there's a whole new set of values in town. They're all about equality, individualism, and freedom, marching to the beat of a different drum than us millennials and baby boomers. Now, imagine you're the bridge between these two worlds – managing a team where generations collide. How do you keep the peace and ensure productivity doesn't take a nosedive? It's all about finding that sweet spot. You've to be a master negotiator, navigating the waters between the old guard and the new wave. And , don't worry – your human touch is something AI can't replicate (at least not yet!). So, what's the secret sauce 🤔 ? In my opinion me, the practical and do-able approach can be "crafting a shared vision" that speaks to everyone's values while keeping the company's goals in mind. One of the useful tools "design thinking" – a creative approach to problem-solving that brings people together to brainstorm, collaborate, and find common ground. By fostering open dialogue and understanding, you can pave the way for a harmonious workplace where both seasoned pros and fresh-faced rookies thrive. In the end, it's not just about hitting those KPIs – it's about building a culture where everyone feels heard, valued, and empowered to bring their best to the table. And hey, if we can crack this code, who knows? Maybe we'll be the ones leading the charge into a brighter, more inclusive future. Cheers to that!

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"30 by 30 needs to be part of a larger whole-of-system strategy that takes into account other ways to assure food resilience". Transformation is not only breakthrough technologies like cell cultured meat etc... Innovating food manufacturing and food value chains and developing strategic partnerships with our agri-food exporting neighbours is transformative too. All go hand in hand

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Lessons on managing joint ventures, investors, and co-founder gleaned from a shareholders dispute involving a Peranakan food doyenne (Part 1 of 2) One of my favourite foods is Ayam Buah Keluak. Essential is the buah keluak nut which is originally poisonous with hydrogen cyanide, and must be soaked for days and then boiled properly to neutralise the toxin. Working with #founders, #investors #shareholders or #jointventure partners can be similar. They may be potentially toxic if not handled properly. I’ve seen and handled many #disputes / #litigation where the toxicity spreads to threaten to destroy the venture. Early this year, the lawsuit involving Peranakan food doyenne Violet Oon was widely reported. Years back, she started an eponymous restaurant business and company with her two children (https://violetoon.com). At some point, they entered a partnership (in the loose sense) with businessman Murjani Manoj Mohan. (A quick internet search would show that Murjani has been involved in several lawsuits.) I shan’t discuss the legal intricacies of the High Court decision, which raised interesting questions in #singaporelaw about economic duress, minority oppression, and legitimate expectations arising in the context of written #shareholdersagreements. Instead, reflecting on the case, I suggest several pointers for company founders, legal counsel and decision makers of joint venture partners (in the loose sense). <1 Know your bedfellows.> Due diligence should be about more than financial capital, but also other kinds of capital: character, connections, competence, and social and brand capital. Public domain internet searches and litigation searches may highlight yellow or red flags. Conduct character reference checks. In one startup co-founders exploration exercise I did, we sat down and answered a lengthy questionnaire about values and ethically-shaped responses to scenarios. Founders even may get their spouses or close family members to provide an honest testimonial answering a questionnaire. Likewise, investors doing due diligence should assess founders beyond competence, but also character. Consider e.g. investors who have been burnt by SBF in the FTX saga. <2 Record expectations in writing?> The standard shareholders or joint venture agreements are highly legal terms. Lawyers are used to drafting according to precedents. Expectations which are less than hard core obligations but more than ideals are often omitted. Perhaps this needs to be rethought. Typically, the reserved matters clause specify what decisions are subject to veto or threshold shareholders/investors consent requirements. However, there may be expectations between shareholders or investors which may not fall neatly within specific and particular acts or decisions, but touch on certain kinds of behaviour over an extended period of time. Eg roles—should an investor get to dictate recipes or software UI/UX? (Part 2 of post continues tomorrow.)

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Private funding for food technology (foodtech) startups in Southeast Asia dropped to an at least four-year low of $21.6 million in 2023 as investors lost their appetite for the sector amid a broader slowdown, reveals DealStreetAsia – DATA VANTAGE’s State of Foodtech in SE Asia 2024.

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Yindii, a new mobile phone application launched in Singapore, enables diners to purchase unsold food from eateries at discounts of up to 80 per cent, in efforts to reduce food waste. Users can buy “surprise bags” containing any surplus food from the day, with partner restaurants such as Paul, Baker & Cook, and SaladStop Group offering these discounted options. Yindii Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Mahima Rajangam Natarajan, highlights, “We chose to launch in Singapore because it’s a forward-thinking city with a growing focus on sustainability and reducing food waste.” Free for both merchants and customers, the app has helped reduce daily food surplus for partners by up to 80%, and offset over 500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions through food sales. Some participating stores have already reported a 4 per cent to 5 per cent reduction in food waste. The steady increase in the uptake of surprise bags across locations reflects growing demand for sustainable food options, and Yindii plans to expand its merchant network in the near future. Read more about it: https://lnkd.in/gS_kY9n6 Together, let’s #PowerTheChange and inspire a collective journey towards a greener home, one that belongs to all of us. #Geneco #GenecoSG #Sustainability #SustainableBusiness #FoodWaste

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What does a surfer and entrepreneur have in common? Questions were fired and answers were candid during the a private discussion + a fireside chat at the The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmCham Singapore) with Mr Ho Kwon ping from banyan group a few weeks back. From why a multi millionaire decides to shop at Uniqlo and Muji to picking himself up after business failures. I went from nervously shaking his hand (I blame the aircon 😂) to an engaging and lively conversation with him in the room (and even letting him taste our brownie brittles!) I loved his raw honest personality. Here’s what I learnt: Surfing 🏄 and entrepreneurship have a lot in common- need skill, timing, luck(to catch the right wave) to bring you back to shore (or closing that deal)💰 🔍Find your why – what drives you to wake up each morning, fueled and focused. Don't sleepwalk through life. Live with intention. 🤔When faced with a tough business decision, I always ask myself: What are the pros and cons? And, honestly, is my ego getting in the way? ⚖️Take calculated risks: He Invest up to 25% in new ideas, never 100%. Only bet what you can afford to lose. I highly recommend his book that I’m currently devouring - Behind the Banyan So any surfers (or entrepreneurs) here identify with what he said? P.s. He nodded in approval after tasting and later mentioned (to the entire crowd) how he actually enjoyed them and said ‘her cookies are nice!’ - I was over the moon!

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The 9th e-Conomy SEA report (brought to you by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company) reveals a shift towards profitability. After years of investing in growth, the region's digital players are seeing profits soar by 2.5x in just two years - hitting a cool $11 billion in 2024! And its Gross Merchandise Value is projected to reach $263 billion, a 15% year on year increase. But that's not all, here are a few things that REALLY got me excited: 🎮 Global Gaming Powerhouse: SEA is churning out hit games, grabbing a serious chunk of the global market. 🤳 Creators Taking Charge: Move over traditional e-commerce, video commerce and live streaming are where it's at! 💡 Startup Nation: SEA's startups are tackling everything from fintech to agritech with innovative solutions. 🤖 AI Revolution: With massive investments in AI and a young, tech-savvy population, the future is looking seriously bright. Read on here for the report’s key takeaways: https://lnkd.in/g22H35if Download the full report here: goo.gle/sea #eConomySEA #ProfitabilityOnTheRise #AdvanceSEAwithAI

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🌟Life is full of surprises🌟 And this was definitely a surprise. Wrapping up my second mentorship session with Chin Loon Seng , I would describe the whole experience as an accidental journey into self discovery ⛴️ ❓What career with my experiences should I apply to ? ❓Am I suited for my career path in the food industry ? ❓I'm only 21, should I seek security or explore when I'm young ? I came into mentorship expecting answers and guidance to further my journey, did I get the answers I seek ? A big red NO ⛔ ! But what I got was a map to find the answers on my own. With the rapidly changing industries, growing instability and segregation in the global community, the only question that serves as a guiding light is "Who am I really, after taking away all my roles and responsibilities ?" It is a very abstract question, and it's not one to be answered simply by research. It is an adventure, an ongoing life journey, with no destinations but checkpoints. I believe through my experiences, I have found clues for my first checkpoint, that is to influence, to make the people I value, a better version of themselves. Yay, a Eureka moment, what's next ? More exposure, and exploration, expanding my view on the core values I hold dear. That is, the driving force, to keep me going on my life journey. Thanks Youth Beyond Boundaries and for this opportunity, looking forward to the next challenge! But yea, I'm 21, what's settling down ? 🤣 Have fun and explore !

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After the cultivated meat industry soft launched here with a lot of fanfare in 2022, one could say that the growth of the industry has been underwhelming thus far. The slow growth of the industry can literally be attributed to slow growth - of meat cells, where cell multiplication is literally a slow process. It’s just biology. As such, the lab-grown meat industry faces challenges in scaling up production and at the same time meet consumer demand for low prices and higher volumes of production. But institutions and companies are doing what they can in the meantime to overcome these challenges. Alfredo Franco-Obregón and Viknish Krishnan-Kutty, PhD have been working together to develop a new technique that uses a magnetic field to stimulate growth in the meat. Eat Just, Inc. just has just this week launched a new hybrid meat that uses 3% cultivated chicken alongside plant proteins and are selling it at Huber's Butchery. Another challenge occurs far from the science labs, and that is in gaining mainstream acceptance. To that end, Shirley Ho has done some research on the acceptance of cultivated meat here, and found that while people support the research and development of it, they are less keen to actually actually consume the product. More education has to be done in the form of public messaging. All the technology in the world would be no use if people don’t even want to accept it. But ultimately, what drives the industry is a belief that the way food is being consumed now is unsustainable. As Assoc Prof Franco-Obregon put it: “The truth is that the livestock industry is not sustainable … we have to acknowledge this at one point, and so this science will go forward when (lab-grown meat) is globally accepted.”

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Interesting feedback—it aligns perfectly with Wine Adore’s growth strategy. It seems logical to us. Fortunately, we’ve positioned ourselves to wait for venture capital to pursue us, rather than the other way around! As the old saying goes, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. #WineAdore #GrowthStrategy #StartupJourney #VentureCapital #BusinessGrowth #Resilience #LongTermVision #InvestmentOpportunities #BuildingTheFuture #StrategicPositioning

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🚀 Southeast Asia's Tech M&A Landscape: A Decade of Growth Southeast Asia’s digital economy is booming, and the tech startup mergers and acquisitions (M&A) scene is a testament to this growth. From $72 billion in 2018, the region’s internet economy soared to $194 billion in 2022, with projections pointing to a staggering $1 trillion by 2030. Key deals from the last decade include: ✅ Tokopedia (Indonesia) – Acquired by TikTok for $1.5B (2023) ✅ BIGO(Singapore) – Acquired by YY for $1.45B (2019) ✅ PropertyGuru Group (Singapore) – Acquired by EQT for $1.1B (2024) ✅ Lazada (Singapore) – Acquired by Alibaba for $1B (2016) This surge in M&A activity underscores Southeast Asia’s rise as a hub for innovation and cross-border collaboration. Investors are drawn to its thriving startup ecosystem, while startups are leveraging these deals to scale globally. 💬 What’s your perspective on the region’s M&A trends? Which acquisition caught your attention the most? #SEAsiaStartups #DigitalEconomy #InnovationLeadership #e27Listicle

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Vietnamese monk Giac Minh Luat—who has a growing following of 3.1 million on TikTok—says “if you put too much milk into coffee, it will become Bạc Xỉu” in reference to a popular local beverage that uses condensed milk. The key difference between Bạc Xỉu and its more robust counterpart, cà phê sữa đá (Vietnamese iced coffee), lies in the proportions of these ingredients. Coffee brand manufacturers and cafes perhaps can take notes. And put that extra effort into sensory considerations in innovation and exploring new market potential. But what Luat is communicating is that “in love, if one side gives too much, it’s no longer love.” This is the type of content connecting with younger Vietnamese concerned with family and relationship issues in a time of fast-moving change (and the associated conditions of loneliness and anxiety). TikTok is often slated for low-attention-spanning, superficial content. But perhaps that's the System 1 thinking used to generalize younger generations' engagement with social media. As the Rest of World points out (see comments for link), from Turkey to Argentina to the Philippines, religious and spiritual influencers are growing a devoted following on TikTok alongside the hyper-focus on brand engagement. Consider it evolution. And back to Luat: "“Don’t worry what other people think about you. They’re too busy worrying about what you think about them.”

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Whenever I have Singaporean visitors, I always request kueh and pandan chiffon cake from Bengawan Solo. This got me thinking about how our consumption experiences of food and beverages go beyond sensory elements. In this piece I explore three cultural codes that underpin how Asian consumers experience food and the implications for innovation. 1. Heirloom recipes such as kueh and putu piring as a tool for cultural preservation.  2. Role of food and beverages in moments of gesture. This sums it up well - https://lnkd.in/gSmECFgW 3. Connecting people and communities with communal consumption rituals. Think of how hotpot is only great when shared! https://lnkd.in/grD7Vfws #futurism #innovation

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I recently attended a Leadership and Diplomacy Masterclass led by Professor Chan Heng Chee, Singapore's first female and longest serving ambassador to the US. Her insights, stemming from a remarkable 16-year tenure, were truly inspiring and thought-provoking. Here are some key takeaways: - A diplomat operates like a political entrepreneur, driving progress where it seems impossible, focusing on goals and finding innovative pathways to attain them. - Effective communication is fundamental—constantly advocating, persuading, and presenting your ideas. - Prioritize preparation when presenting ideas—customize your message to suit the audience's needs, even if the essence remains the same. - Intelligence is crucial, but so is seizing opportunities and occasionally creating your own luck. - Cultivate authentic relationships and steer clear of purely transactional interactions; these connections may unexpectedly prove beneficial in the future. - Be proactive and engaged in your field; ideas flow more freely when you're actively involved rather than confined to an office setting. As a business leader, I found these insights profoundly relevant. Professor Chan’s focus on adaptability, communication, and relationship-building strongly resonated with me and mirrored my own professional journey. #Leadership #Diplomacy #BusinessLeadership #Communication #RelationshipBuilding #Entrepreneurship #LessonsLearned

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I remember being very intrigued when I found out that Nature's Fynd creates its dairy-free yogurt by fermentating a fungi-based microbe from Yellowstone National Park 🤯 The company has regulatory approval to sell in Singapore, and had earlier made plans to build a manufacturing facility here, but decided to focus on the US market instead. More notably, fermentation giant Perfect Day had stopped selling its dairy-free milk and ice-cream at Fairprice supermarkets from January 2024. This is a trend amomg a number of fermentation-based startups which have gotten regulatory approval here, but are choosing to prioritise the far larger EU and US markets. The investment boom is reflected in figures by The Good Food Institute which showed that funding for fermentation startups in the first half of 2024, had outpaced that of cultivated meat and plant-based protein for the first time. But research institutes in Singapore are picking up pace — the National Research Foundation Singapore had invested US$14.8 in precision fermentation tech, and developing local capability, while the new Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein at the National University of Singapore will look into biomass-fermented proteins & how this can create hybrid protein products. More in my story here: https://lnkd.in/gbJCueeA What kind of nutritional benefits could fermentation-based tech, bring? https://lnkd.in/ggrjKNj6

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War of coffee chains in Malaysia. Luckin Coffee to come in 2025. More choices for Malaysians, more competition for coffee operators. Interestingly the Malaysia food and beverage industry have seen more China brands coming to expand their businesses, from teas, mee tarik, mala hotpot and now coffees. #coffee #foodandbeverage #luckincoffee

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I love collaborations with customers. In this case, Dr Vivien Ng challenged us to this batik tiffin order. If you search online for batik tiffin, it's always slightly costly and I was about to tell Vivien that we will not be able to fulfil her order. However, customers as our community always have a way to share their ideas to us and we are always open to experimenting them to make sure that PichaEats as a brand and its cause is widespread to more people. After a few discussions and tweaks, we managed to work out a product that would satisfy the people at Ernst & Young. What's most amazing is how we could take this idea, incorporate into our product line and open up more opportunities to people who would work on the product in the long term. This is one of the few successful cases that happened and definitely looking out for more in the future. P/S : Do note that we don't necessarily execute all the ideas but those that we know we have the capacity and operational ability to fulfil.

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