- Jul 22, 2024
- 2 min read
Sats, a provider of gateway services and food solutions in Asia, has announced a strategic partnership with Mitsui aimed at enhancing their food and retail solutions businesses across the region.
This collaboration follows a memorandum of understanding signed last year to explore joint opportunities in the food sector.
Under the terms of the partnership, Mitsui will acquire a 15% stake in Sats, investing approximately S$36.4 million to support the growth of Sats Food Solutions entities in India, Thailand, Tianjin and Country Foods.
This investment aims to drive targeted demand generation and leverage Mitsui's extensive distribution network to unlock new business opportunities.
The partnership is already showing positive outcomes, particularly in Japan. Sats TFK, a subsidiary of Sats, is collaborating with a Mitsui Group subsidiary specialising in food services to supply food components to major retail channels such as St Coursair, Kinokuniya and JR East.
Additionally, plans are underway to supply frozen meals to Muji Japan, with a launch targeted for the first quarter of 2025.
Stanley Goh, CEO of Sats Food Solutions, commented: "By collaborating with Mitsui, we can leverage our partner's network to generate demand for a wide array of food products and expand our presence in key markets".
Naoharu Asaumi, managing officer and COO of Mitsui's retail business unit, added, “Combining Sats’ culinary expertise and innovative capabilities with Mitsui’s global procurement and logistics network, we can scale our ambitions to provide food solutions that enrich the quality of life in Asia.”
Mitsui, a major global trading and investment company, has been investing in various segments of the food supply chain to enhance its capabilities in the food and retail business.
