Leong Guan: An Innovative and Client-Centric Path to Steady Growth
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- Sep 12
- 5 min read
If you have ever enjoyed a bowl of noodles at a hawker centre, chances are you have tried Leong Guan’s products.
Founded in 1996, Leong Guan Food Manufacturer has become one of Singapore’s prominent food manufacturers and suppliers. Over nearly 30 years, the company has grown from a small trading business into a manufacturer with its own production facilities, successfully weathered the challenges of COVID-19, and carved a reputation as a resilient and innovative player in the industry.
At Cadence HR Consulting, we are privileged to support Leong Guan as a client, and are honoured to have had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Kevin Lim, Head of Strategy and Business Development at Leong Guan, who shared on the company's success strategy and tips for competitive and sustainable growth in the dynamic F&B space.
How was Leong Guan able to expand and diversify its business sustainably? What enabled the company to withstand the brutal challenges of COVID-19? And how does it plan to build on its strong foundation to unlock the next phase of growth?
Read on to learn more.
Origins: A Customer-Driven Beginning
Leong Guan began as a trading company, distributing noodles and other food products across Singapore. A decade later, in 2006, the company took a decisive step forward by investing in its own manufacturing facilities. This vertical integration allowed Leong Guan to move beyond distribution, gain direct control over product quality and R&D, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.
As Kevin recounted, this fundamental shift was motivated by a pure dedication to better serve their clients:
“As a trading company, we often received feedback from customers about the product, but we couldn’t actually solve their problems. We could only pass the feedback on to manufacturers, but it stopped there. That’s what spurred us to build our own plant — so at least if customers had concerns, we could try to make improvements ourselves.”
Upon entering the food manufacturing space, competing with long-established legacy noodle makers was no easy task. But Leong Guan quickly found its own positioning.
“A lot of incumbent manufacturers in the market are long standing, passed down many generations, with top masters (shifu) advising on the recipe. We did not have that kind of heritage-based foundation, we were a very young company. So a lot of our growth had to come from solid food science R&D. I think it allowed us to innovate better. It allowed us to be more experimental, to try new things out in the market.”
With this innovative spirit, in 2012, the company launched its first whole-grain noodles — pioneering healthier alternatives in the market.
“Whole grain noodles are just one iteration that we’ve came up with. Over the years, we have come up with other diverse noodle products as well. We now have functional noodles: low GI, gluten free, ramen with only half the carbohydrate content, beta-glucan noodles, and so on.”
The company’s commitment to innovation was driven by a market gap observation:
“With staples like rice, consumers have a lot of healthy choices, brown rice, red rice, and the like. But when it comes to noodles, there hasn’t been a healthier alternative. So that’s why we started to manufacture our own whole grain noodles in hopes of bringing a healthier option to the market.”
What Leong Guan was not aware of at the time, was that this dedicated focus on innovation and diversity would one day help the company weather tough storms.
COVID-19: Surviving the Winter of F&B
In spring of 2020, the F&B space faced severe challenges as the COVID-19 outbreak left many restaurants struggling to stay open. This period also marked a gruelling journey for Leong Guan, whose core business operated heavily in supplying F&B establishments.
“During the Circuit Breaker, there was a period time where dining out was strictly prohibited. And a lot of these food stalls were not on delivery platforms either, so a lot of stores were forced to close, meaning our customers were not buying our ingredients anymore. For that period, our sales dropped very sharply.”
Yet this crisis also created opportunities. As more consumers cooked at home, supermarket demand surged. Fortunately, Leong Guan had already begun expanding its retail presence, securing supermarket shelf space for more of its products. This allowed the company to pivot quickly during the pandemic and offset the steep demand decline from food stalls.
“We did have some products in supermarkets previously, but not very many. We had always wanted to expand our retail presence, especially after developing a wider range of products. Then by an event of chance, we managed to have Fair Price to carry more of our products. We managed to expand this retail segment right before COVID hit.”
From hawker centres to supermarket shelves, Leong Guan’s noodles found their way into more Singaporean households. Despite significant challenges, the company remains committed to innovation and to delivering high-quality noodles that meet the evolving needs of its consumers.
Looking Ahead: The Next Chapter of Growth
Today, Leong Guan is a strong market player producing around 30 tons of noodles every day, and looking to grow even more.
On future plans, Kevin shared:
“We are exploring the capital market. But the capital market is also not our end goal. It’s a process we are exploring to grow more steadily as a company, have a chance to increase our production capacity, and potentially diversify further. We are still just dedicated to providing good products to our customers and serving them well.”
When asked about the secret sauce behind Leong Guan’s enduring success, Kevin shared:
“To be very transparent, I don’t believe there’s anything inherently special about what we have done. We have two main anchors that we are very dedicated to, which are serving our customers well, and delivering consistently high-quality products. We also try to provide the best experience to our customers by being a one-stop supplier.”
It is precisely this quiet dedication—to customers, to quality, and to steady innovation—that has anchored Leong Guan’s growth.
Leong Guan’s journey reminds us that sustainable success isn’t always about chasing the extraordinary—it’s about mastering the fundamentals, staying true to your purpose, and growing with quiet confidence;
One bowl of noodles at a time.
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At Cadence HR Consulting, we are proud to support Leong Guan as a client along their growth journey. As Leong Guan continues to expand and innovate, we are honoured to partner with them in strengthening workforce planning, refining critical job roles, and enhancing workforce efficiency.
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Author: Juliet Mao
Special Thanks: Mr. Kevin Lim, Head of Strategy and Business Development at Leong Guan
Image Credits: Leong Guan, Yahoo Finance Singapore
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