Tee Yih Jia Food Manufacturing Pte Ltd (

simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one that is simpler (usually shorter), according to a well-founded ordering. Examples include: ...

: 第一家), is a food manufacturing company headquartered in Singapore. Tee Yih Jia is the world leading manufacturer of

spring roll Spring rolls are rolled appetizers or dim sum commonly found in Chinese, Vietnamese and Southeast Asian cuisines. The kind of wrapper, fillings, and cooking technique used, as well as the name, vary considerably depending on the region's cu ...

pastry (also known as "

popiah Popiah (, Peng'im, Teochew Peng'im: boh⁸ bian²) is a Fujianese cuisine, Fujianese/Teochew cuisine, Teochew-style fresh spring roll filled with an assortment of fresh, dried, and cooked ingredients, eaten during the Qingming Festival and othe ...

" in local context) that also manufactures a wide range of ready-to-eat Asian

convenience foods Convenience food (also called tertiary processed food) is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) for ease of consumption, and is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have a ...

such as

roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...

paratha Paratha (, also parantha/parontah) is a flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent, with earliest reference mentioned in early medieval Sanskrit, India. It is one of the most popular flatbreads in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. ...

, crepes, cocktail prawn rolls,

glutinous rice Domestication syndrome refers to two sets of phenotypic traits that are common to either domesticated plants or domesticated animals. Domesticated animals tend to be smaller and less aggressive than their wild counterparts; they may also hav ...

balls, spring rolls and

samosas A samosa () () (Hindi: समोसा) ( Persian: سمبوسه) is a fried South Asian and West Asian snack. It is a pastry with a savory filling that mostly consists of vegetables like spiced potatoes, onions, and peas, but can also include ...

. Apart from pastry-based food, Tee Yih Jia manufactures other frozen convenience food products such as

Dim Sum Dim sum () is a large range of small Chinese dishes that are traditionally enjoyed in restaurants for brunch. Most modern dim sum dishes are commonly associated with Cantonese cuisine, although dim sum dishes also exist in other Chinese cu ...

Ramen is a Chinese noodle dish popularized in Japan. It includes served in several flavors of broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen h ...

, Oriental Buns (or

mantou ''Mantou'' ( zh, t=饅頭, s=馒头, first=t), often referred to as a Chinese steamed bun, is a white and soft type of steamed bread or bun popular in northern China. Folk etymology connects the name ''mantou'' to a tale about Zhuge Lian ...

), and Asian Pizzas with flavours like

Peking duck Peking duck is a dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by ...

and

satay Satay ( , in the US also ), or sate in Indonesia, is a Javanese cuisine, Javanese dish of seasoned, skewered and grilled meat, served with a sauce. Satay originated in Java, but has spread throughout Indonesia, into Southeast Asia, Europe, ...

chicken. Tee Yih Jia's " Spring Home" brand products are manufactured in Singapore as well as in several regional facilities. Tee Yih Jia has a factory in Senoko (Singapore) and a Johor (Malaysia) factory of , as well as manufacturing plants in the US and China. The company distribute their products all over the world, from the UK to South Africa and all the way to Australia.

Company history

Early years

Tee Yih Jia started off as Tee Yih Jia Po Piah Dried Pastry Factory (Pte) Ltd in 1969. It was a small, labour-intensive spring roll pastry producer, using semi-mechanized machinery in its production and serving the local Singapore market. Its current Executive chairman, Sam Goi Seng Hui, acquired the company from its founders for $450,000 in 1977 as part of his business diversification plan. Recognizing the increasing potential of the growing ready-to-eat food industry, Sam took over active management in 1980 to explore and initiate greater growth opportunities for the company.

The 1980s

Investing heavily in technology in 1984, Tee Yih Jia commenced on the automation of its manufacturing and quality control processes to reinvent itself into a company that is equipped and capable of serving beyond the local markets. As a result, Tee Yih Jia became the first in the industry to introduce full automation into the production of spring roll pastry in the 1980s. In recognition of its continuous investments and effort in the development and enhancement of its processes to compete on a global scale, the National Productivity Board awarded Tee Yih Jia the National Productivity Award (currently under

SPRING Singapore The Standards, Productivity and Innovation Board (abbreviation: SPRING Singapore) was a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore), Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Si ...

National Awards programme) in 1986 for the company's emphasis on R&D, stringent quality control, aggressive marketing strategies and expansion plans, making it the first medium-sized company in Singapore to receive such an award. Since 1988, Tee Yih Jia started the expansion of its business activities beyond its initial markets into countries like China, Taiwan and the USA. It established two facilities in California, USA to produce Japanese noodles, cookies and cultured milk drinks. Tee Yih Jia also formed a joint venture with the China Pacific group to build a plant in Fuqing (Fujian Province) to manufacture spring rolls, samosas and biscuits. Tee Yee Jia was the first food processing company in Fujian to attain

HACCP Hazard analysis and critical control points, or HACCP (), is a systematic preventive approach to food safety from biological hazard, biological, chemical hazard, chemical, and physical hazards in production processes that can cause the finished ...

certification and

ISO 9002 The ISO 9000 family is a set of international standards for quality management systems. It was developed in March 1987 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ensure that they meet ...

, as well as the first to receive EU clearance for the export of fishery products to Europe. In 1987, Tee Yih Jia's "Spring Home" brand Indian Samosas won the SIFST (Singapore Institute of Food Science and Technology) Best Product Award. In 1989, Spring Home won the

Monde Selection Monde Selection is an annual non-competitive award open to food, drinks, and cosmetics products, created in 1961. It is run by the commercial company, International Institute for Quality Selections, Brussels Brussels, officially the Brusse ...

's Gold Medal for its spring roll pasty. The company continued to build on the initial success of its flagship products and extended its product range to include other Asian ready-to-eat products.

The 1990s

For six consecutive years since the mid-1990s, Tee Yih Jia has been featured in the Singapore Enterprise 50 lists. In 1996, a special award was conferred onto Tee Yih Jia by the E50 committee for successfully marketing a traditional product overseas. Tee Yih Jia was also awarded the HACCP Certificate from the Singapore Productivity Board in 1998. In 1999, with the support of the

Economic Development Board The Economic Development Board (EDB) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the government of Singapore that plans and executes strategies to sustain Singapore as a leading global hub for business and investment. H ...

's (EDB) Innovation Development Scheme, Tee Yih Jia launched the frozen Roti Paratha – a unique product manufactured using a specially designed and fully automated production process. Traditionally roti paratha, an Indian flat bread, is laboriously made by hand. Through R&D, Tee Yih Jia adapted its method of preparation for large-scale, automated production. Tee Yih Jia also made its roti paratha a cholesterol free variant to distinguish its product as a healthier alternative to the traditional paratha that are usually made with

ghee Ghee is a type of clarified butter, originating from South Asia. It is commonly used for cooking, as a Traditional medicine of India, traditional medicine, and for Hinduism, Hindu religious rituals. Description Ghee is typically prepared by ...

(clarified butter). Tee Yih Jia's Roti Paratha also made inroads into the mainstream European markets through a major supermarket chain that contracted Tee Yih Jia to specially produce roti paratha packaged with curry sauce. As Europe is a major market for the company, Tee Yih Jia's first overseas marketing office was set up in the United Kingdom in 1999 to serve as a marketing hub to increase its presence and accessibility to customers.

2000 and beyond

In March 2000, Tee Yih Jia shifted its operations to a Senoko facility worth more than US$150 million . It continues to invest in the use of state-of-the-art technology and integrated, fully automated manufacturing processes to ensure consistent product quality as well as compliance with international HACCP standards for food safety. On 22 November 2000, Tee Yih Jia achieved the top spot among Singapore's best 50 companies, after having been part of the local prestigious award, Enterprise 50 fraternity consecutively for the prior 5 years—the company was ranked 26th in 1995, 17th in 1996, 12th in 1997, 3rd in 1998, and 2nd in 1999 before making it to Number 1 position in 2000. Tee Yih Jia continues to grow its global distribution channels through established supermarkets and foodservice companies, and plans to target mainstream consumers in foreign non-Asian markets by promoting the versatility in the applications of its products, such as serving its roti paratha as pita bread, a pizza base or as a wrap.

In the news

*Aug 2001 – Current

Senior Minister Senior Minister is a political title. It may refer to: * Senior Minister of Bangsamoro, a political office in the Cabinet of Bangsamoro * Senior Minister of Canada, a political office in the Cabinet of Canada **Senior Minister, a ceremonial positio ...

of Singapore, Mr.

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011. He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...

, highlighted Tee Yih Jia (and its Executive chairman Sam Goi) as an example of Singapore enterprises with potential for development into International Singapore Companies (ISC), and how Singaporean can be enterprising during his 2001 National Day Rally speech as Prime Minister. *Dec 2006 – Tee Yih Jia's and Super Coffee Mix joined Jiangsu Hengshun Vinegar Industry to build 500 million yuan (S$98.5 million) vinegar plant in Zhenjiang City, China. *Feb 2007 – Sam Goi, Tee Yih Jia's Executive chairman's investments of more than S$100 million in various Singapore companies, his overseas opportunities, and his connections and business networks. *Oct 2007 – Tee Yih Jia's partnership with an established Zhejiang firm was brought up as an example of how SMEs from Singapore and China can benefit from more exchanges and co-operation with the signing of the Singapore-China Memorandum of understanding to exchange information on SMEs. *Jan 2008 – Tee Yih Jia successfully lobbied for the grant of

Harmonized System The Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, also known as the Harmonized System (HS) of tariff nomenclature is an internationally standardized system of names and numbers to classify traded products. It came into effect in 1988 and ha ...

(HS) Code under Singapore-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) in December 2007 in a bid to reduce import tariffs on its products to India.

Brands and products

Spring Home

Spring Home is the flagship brand of Tee Yih Jia and is used to market frozen ready-to-eat Asian

convenience food Convenience food (also called tertiary processed food) is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) for ease of consumption, and is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily portable, have ...

s such as: * Spring roll pastry (Plain) – sizes: 10" (250mm) sq, 8.5" (215mm) sq, 8" (200mm)sq, 7.5" (190mm)sq, 6" (150mm) sq, & 5" (125mm)sq. * Spring roll pastry (Egg) – sizes: 8.5" (215mm) sq & 5" (125mm)sq. *

Samosa A samosa () () (Hindi: समोसा) ( Persian: سمبوسه) is a fried South Asian and West Asian snack. It is a pastry with a savory filling that mostly consists of vegetables like spiced potatoes, onions, and peas, but can also include ...

pastry – size: 3”x10" *

Roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...

Paratha Paratha (, also parantha/parontah) is a flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent, with earliest reference mentioned in early medieval Sanskrit, India. It is one of the most popular flatbreads in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. ...

(Plain, Onion, & Wholemeal) * Spring rolls (Vegetable, Chicken, Prawn, & Jumbo) * Samosa *

(

Dumpling Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

, Hargow, Shaomai, Pastry,

Wonton A wonton ( zh, t=, s=馄饨, p=húntun, j=wan4 tan4, first=t) is a type of Chinese dumpling commonly found across regional styles of Chinese cuisine. It is also spelled wantan or wuntun, a transliteration from Cantonese zh, j=wan4 tan1, ...

Tart A tart is a baked dish consisting of a filling over a pastry base with an open top not covered with pastry. The pastry is usually shortcrust pastry; the filling may be sweet or savoury, though modern tarts are usually fruit-based, sometimes with ...

) * Glutinous Rice Ball (Peanut, Red Bean, Sesame) * Cocktail prawn roll Spring Home products are accredited with the

and

Halal ''Halal'' (; ) is an Arabic word that translates to in English. Although the term ''halal'' is often associated with Islamic dietary laws, particularly meat that is slaughtered according to Islamic guidelines, it also governs ethical practices ...

certifications.

Happy Belly

Happy Belly ( zh, s=家乐宝, p=Jiālèbǎo) is a brand used by Tee Yih Jia to market its oriental range of frozen food products such as

gyoza ''Jiaozi'' or Gyoza (; ) are a type of Chinese dumpling. ''Jiaozi'' typically consist of a ground meat or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together. ''Jiaozi'' can be ...

skins,

wonton A wonton ( zh, t=, s=馄饨, p=húntun, j=wan4 tan4, first=t) is a type of Chinese dumpling commonly found across regional styles of Chinese cuisine. It is also spelled wantan or wuntun, a transliteration from Cantonese zh, j=wan4 tan1, ...

skins,

Peking Duck Peking duck is a dish from Beijing that has been prepared since the Imperial era. The meat is characterized by its thin, crispy skin, with authentic versions of the dish serving mostly the skin and little meat, sliced in front of the diners by ...

wrappers and oriental bread (i.e. ''

'', which comes in plain, chocolate and pandan flavours).

Other brands

Tee Yih Jia also has other brands for specific types of food. For example, Master Chef is the brand for its crepe pastry, while Ryushobo is the brand for its Japanese

ramen is a Chinese noodle dish popularized in Japan. It includes served in several flavors of broth. Common flavors are soy sauce and miso, with typical toppings including , nori (dried seaweed), menma (bamboo shoots), and scallions. Ramen h ...

Origin of brand identity

Due to the export-oriented nature of its business, and with many of its customers from overseas non-Chinese background having difficulty in pronouncing or spelling the company's name "Tee Yih Jia", Tee Yih Jia created a product brand identity and came up with the name "Spring Home". "Spring" because of spring rolls, its flagship product, as well as the feelings of freshness and new beginnings that it evokes. "Home" is a translation of the last word in the company's name "Jia" (家) – the place where most of Spring Home's products are used.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Tee Yih Jia corporate homepage
1969 establishments in Singapore Food manufacturers of Singapore Frozen food brands Singaporean brands