Great food, strong innovation, skilled talent: Why Singapore is ADM’s base for serving customers across Asia

Global nutrition leader ADM is on a mission to create new, innovative foods that can help solve some of the most pressing sustainability and food security issues today.

In 2022, the company entered into a joint venture with Temasek’s sustainable food accelerator, Nurasa, to launch ScaleUp Bio. ScaleUp Bio is Singapore’s first precision fermentation facility that can support food tech startups to scale up for success. 

When the company needed an innovation centre in Southeast Asia to expand its research and development in human nutrition, Singapore came up as the ideal location.

“Singapore is very well-geographically located. For ADM, as a food company, 60% of the world’s population lives here in Asia, so it’s a very important location for us,” says Joseph Taets, Senior Vice President and President APAC of ADM.
 

But beyond location, Singapore’s highly-skilled workforce and policies to attract complementary talent are key to ADM’s presence here. From September 1, Singapore will roll out the Complementarity Assessment (COMPASS) framework for its Employment Pass scheme, giving businesses more clarity around manpower planning.

Individuals with in-demand skills in key industries – including in agritech – can score bonus points to help them secure an EP. Refer to the COMPASS Skills Bonus – Shortage Occupation List.