Singapore, a hub for European dairy in SE Asia

The European Union is strengthening its engagement with Singapore as a regional hub for advanced food manufacturing and nutrition innovation. This comes as demand for functional dairy ingredients accelerates across South-East Asia.

Led by Bord Bia – The Irish Food Board, the initiative is part of the ‘European Dairy: Ireland, Where Nature Meets Science’ campaign, a €3.2 million investment co-funded by the European Union to strengthen Asia’s nutrition pipeline and foster long-term trade partnerships. The campaign is designed to showcase sustainable farming and scientific research behind European dairy production.

Lorna Allen, South East Market Manager of Bord Bia, said, “Singapore is a key gateway for European dairy engagement in South-East Asia, particularly as demand for functional and science-backed nutrition continues to grow. Ireland has exported €276 million value of dairy products to South-East Asia in 2025, a YoY increase of 16.4%. Through the EU-funded campaign, Bord Bia is supporting closer collaboration between European dairy producers from Ireland and regional food and nutrition innovators.”

The campaign reflects ongoing collaboration between European dairy stakeholders and regional partners, including organisations such as Temasek and Teagasc, to support innovation and knowledge exchange in functional nutrition.

Dr Kalpana Bhaskaran, Deputy Director, industry partnerships and Head, Glycemic Index Research Unit at Temasek Polytechnic, said, “Dairy ingredients play a vital role across the life course. With protein‑fortified and functional dairy products gaining strong momentum, the opportunity to improve population health through evidence‑based dairy innovation has never been greater.”

Dr André Brodkorb, Senior Researcher, Teagasc Food Research Centre Moorepark, said, “Irish grass‑fed milk is scientifically proven to deliver superior nutritional benefits, with Teagasc research showing dairy cows who operate on an Irish grass-fed system, produced milk with higher percentages of omega-3 and conjugated linoleic (CLA) fatty acids compared to cows fed medium and low proportions of grass.”

For more details, visit: european-dairy.eu.

Image credit: iStock.com/esilzengin