POKKA Pte Ltd today announced plans for the establishment of its new fivestorey state-of-the-art building designed to house an innovation and incubation hub and bring in best-inclass technology, sustainable features and other innovation facilities that will take the company into the next decade and beyond. This marks a significant milestone in the history of POKKA in Singapore, set up in 1977 as a subsidiary of POKKA Sapporo Food and beverages.
The ground-breaking ceremony was graced by the Minister of State, Ms Low Yen Ling. It is a collaboration with ESR, APAC’s largest real asset manager, and PGIM, the global asset management business of Prudential Financial, INC.
The project is a redevelopment of POKKA’s existing single storey warehouse located at 4 Benoi Crescent which has been in operation for over 30 years. Construction of the facility commenced in April 2022 and is scheduled for completion in Q1 of 2024.
POKKA’s vision and mission is to be a brand known for its vitality and wellness in creating healthy and quality beverages. Aligned with the evolving and increasing consumer demands for healthier options, POKKA’s roadmap into the future will focus on health and wellness products, evolving from ready-to-drink options to nutraceutical (health) beverages, and potentially growing its food product range. “We are excited and look forward to the new facility with cutting-edge R&D and office which will provide us with the expanded scale, modern specifications and sustainability features to support our growth and expansion into the future,” Rex Macaskill, Group CEO of POKKA Pte Ltd.
R & D innovation and New Product Development
The facility will support POKKA’s strategy to significantly grow its product mandate in Singapore by augmenting the scope and depth of its R&D activities, including research, new product development and market testing. This will synergise with Sapporo Holding’s vision to focus on food innovation and the use of healthy, natural ingredients to cater to the increasingly sophisticated consumer taste, as well as health awareness. It is also in line with POKKA’s focus on local talent and skills development, providing collaboration opportunities with food-science entrepreneurs in product development and testing. All these will strengthen Singapore’s position as a key test market outside of Japan for new product launches before roll-out to the rest of the region. POKKA Pte Ltd will also bring in POKKA Sapporo’s food range, currently available only in the Japan market.
Ensuring sustainability
In addition to R & D innovation and new product range, a key focus of this project is to adopt cutting-edge technology in all areas, including building features, manufacturing facilities and equipment, distribution and logistics, the adoption of new processes and bottling materials, all with the objective of ensuring sustainability. The building itself is designed to eventually achieve a zero carbon footprint, with its solar power rooftop and solar power plant that will provide sufficient clean power to fully support the businesses’ logistics needs. It is targeted to be a model for sustainable logistics in Singapore.
On the manufacturing front, new technologies will enable the use of up to 30% less plastic in bottles, adding to the sustainability objective. To-date, the new aseptic line has improved productivity and production capacity by 20%, at the same time saving energy and water usage by 13%. Sustainability is clearly a key goal and is very much aligned with Singapore’s efforts to move in this direction.
POKKA Pte Ltd also wishes to express appreciation for the long-standing partnership with the EDB. This partnership, together with Singapore’s strategic geographic location and its importance as a business and logistics hub, has played a part in the growth and success of POKKA Singapore today, a key player in the beverage industry with a presence in over 50 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
