What started as pushcart stall on campus to earn some pocket money, selling to students between lectures, has become one of Singapore’s top alternative snack manufacturers. The co-founder and CEO of Garden Picks, Francis Tan and his partner Eunice Ng, turned their side hustle into a business that now imports and distributes locally, setting trends for wholesome snacks in the industry.
'Garden Picks actually started about 12 years ago, when me and my partner were still in university. We rented a pushcart store from the school where we would sell healthy snacks to the students during their lecture breaks.'
For the business to thrive, Francis had to rely on hard work, constant innovation to stay ahead of the competition and a little luck. 'There's no shortcut for success.'
One of the highlights for him has been seeing Garden Picks grow, now supplying their products to thousands of offices in Singapore, and having many of their friends and relatives sending pictures of their products being enjoyed by the public. Another has been the development of staff, 'who have journeyed and grown with us over the last 12 years of our business.
'Many have come into our company as fresh graduates or in internship positions, and today are holding managerial or supervisory roles.'
The world of international payments made easy
With a World Account, you can pay overseas suppliers and staff as easily as if they were around the corner. Pay in 40+ currencies at speed, with real-time fraud monitoring, blocking and alerts.
Disclaimer: These comments are the views and opinions of the author and should not be construed as advice. You should act using your own information and judgement. Whilst information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions and estimates constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice. Please consider FX derivatives are high risk, provide volatile returns and do not guarantee profits.
With a career spanning over two decades, Paul Bennett has flown from the shipyard to the stratosphere, leading a conglomerate that covers everything from airshows to resin manufacturing and freight.
Launched from a garage in 2019, Connetix Tiles now boasts well over 500 retailers worldwide, with customers, suppliers and warehouses globally.
Founder Faith Lim created a sister brand to her family legacy business after discovering a gap in the market.
You might also like
Insights from WorldFirst cover the latest FX news, top accounting tips, strategies to mitigate risk and key industry trends. Choose a category below to find out more.
Businesses trust WorldFirst
Since 2004, more than 250K businesses have utilised WorldFirst to send more than $160B around the world.
