Singapore Expats

Hi everyone,
My husband has just received his EP and we are planning to arrive in Singapore 1st week in August. (We have 3 kids all under 5). I have been running a home based business here in England for the past year doing beautiful cupcakes and American style muffins for corporate events, weddings, etc....{Self promotion removed by moderator} I wanted to continue to do this when I arrive in Singapore from home.
1. Will this be allowed? ie do I need any sort of permits from the gov't
2. Will there be a market there for me to be successful?
3. Are there alot of competition there already
4. Is there anything else I need to consider....

I appreciate any help advise anyone can give me....

Hi JoannF,

There is always a market here for nice looking, sweet smelling muffins and cupcakes! But Singapore is quite regulated when it comes to business and food. The National Environment Agency (NEA) is the govt agency which issues the licenses for cooked food.

A food shop license is required and it is an offence to sell home cooked food to the public. As for baking muffins and selling them to public, I would consider it as home cooked food, so your best option would be to set up a small kitchen/bakery in a commercial/light industrial area. There are some Japanese cake shops that I know of who start with just the kitchen, first by doing home deliveries and later moved out to becoming cafes.

But no harm in calling or emailing NEA to check for advise first
NEA Call Centre Hotline: 1800-CALL NEA (1800-2255 632)
Enquiry Email: [email protected]

More information can be found here
http://app2.nea.gov.sg/topics_food_hygiene.aspx

Do let me know if u need more info on this or need help to find contacts.

btw, your thread should placed in Business in Singapore instead.
http://forum.singaporeexpats.com/forum22.html

Cheers
Li

PLEASE open up a cupcake shop here, there are no good ones in Singapore. They all seem to use either straight butter or cream cheese as their cupcake frosting and it tastes like shite.

Hi Li,
Thank you sooo much for your advise. Sounds like its similar to the UK. I had to pass a food hygiene course and had my kitchen inspected before I was allowed to sell to the public. It's a shame that I may not be able to sell home cooked foods ie muffins and cupcakes without opening a shop. That may be a bit difficult as my kids are quite young and I won't be able to open up a full time kitchen at this time. I love what I do and like to keep busy. I will definitly give the number a call and find out more info.

Joann

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Please note that you need the proper visa/pass to run a business in Singapore.

Thank you, I will definitely be looking into all the paperwork, etc once we get settled into permanent apartment. I will probably have withdrawal syndrome from not being able to bake for so long.

JoannF wrote:Thank you, I will definitely be looking into all the paperwork, etc once we get settled into permanent apartment. I will probably have withdrawal syndrome from not being able to bake for so long.

The government has nothing against you from baking and giving away cupcakes to, oh let's just say, the members of this forum.

nakatago wrote:
The government has nothing against you from baking and giving away cupcakes to, oh let's just say, the members of this forum.

I totally agree. Yippee ... I am going to queue in line for this. yummy... I want some.

Good food moves really fast around here by word of mouth..esp forums and blogs. Suggestion: You can bake during house warming and invite us over.

Ha ha I will defo be looking for tasters and 'marketing managers' lol

Tasters????

Put me in coach, I'm ready!

richie303 wrote:Tasters????

Put me in coach, I'm ready!

Sorry; too late. If you'd notice, it's been a while since the post. We got first dibs.

I'm here now...just need to work on the details and for my boxes to arrive...

Hi Joann,

Why not create a website or a blog of yours for online marketing while baking at home to start with ? If you get good response you can get a small space for rental..

I saw your post while searching for muffin business in Singapore

deleted

Having a look at the blog now