Ep. 259 - [Singapore] First Point of Contact to Understand the APAC Ecosystem with Valerie Pang, Innovation Associate at Good Food Institute, APAC

This episode is with Valerie Pang, the Innovation Associate for the Good Food Institute Asian Pacific, shorten to GFI APAC, and is generally the first point of contact for anyone who wants to know about the Asian Pacific Region in alternative proteins.

If you’ve been a long-time fan of this podcast and listen to the alternative protein stuff, you hear their name often as the go-to source for getting into this field.

During the short time, GFI has existed, they have been a center point of supporting the food industry in adapting to the alternative protein space. Whether big companies are anxious to dip their toes, to ex-business consultants looking for a technical cofounder, GFI has always been at the forefront in developing this ecosystem.

And GFI has grown tremendously. What was once a budding organization in the United States has gone global and of course, they have an APAC section, where I was introduced to Valerie Pang, a bright, engaging, and knowledgeable employee who shared with me some of the vegan food Singapore has to offer. It’s pretty good.

Everyone I know at the Good Food Institute is a rockstar who put their whole self to work. I was fortunate to collaborate on a series like, 4 years ago with some amazing young people. Some who are still at GFI today.

I’d say this interview is split into two parts. Part one is Valerie’s work experience, in which she actually spent a few years in America working for tech startup categories such as AI and block chain, and switched to food. She then worked at Ryan Bettencourt’s company, Wild Earth. In here, we compare and contrast working in tech versus food, and also the differences between America’s and Singapore’s work culture

I did this interview right before visiting like 7 other countries and I ask about work culture to each person I visit.  I will say, I feel a bit ignorant in this interview and I think I glamourize American work culture a bit too much here. I think my findings after all of it is that every company truly is a bit different in their management style and the expectation of work but I digress.

The second part of this interview introduces a ton of interesting events and resources that help startups flourish in Singapore. Valerie and GFI APAC do a fantastic job sharing and compiling the useful accelerators, agencies, and other niceties to help support startups and businesses in Singapore.

Shownotes: http://myfoodjobrocks.com/259Valerie