Technology is transforming industries like never before, and the dessert space is no exception. NUS BBA alumnus Jeremy Tan (Class of 2015) is riding this wave into the future of food. This is the story of how Advantir Innovations’ pioneering capsule-based soft serve machine Swirl.Go came to be.
Finding his true flavour
Jeremy entered the workforce with ExxonMobil, coordinating marine bunkering operations, and later took on a Management Associate position with local telecommunications company SingTel. However, it was the food industry, in particular food technology solutions, that truly piqued his interest. Driven by his interest in food and beverage, he began noticing that not many food operators offer soft serve despite its popularity, and discovered that it was due to the bulky machinery. Recognising the industry gap, and drawing from his experiences interning with a materials engineering company during his NUS Overseas College (NOC) days, Jeremy began to delve into creating a niftier product to dispense soft serve from a capsule at the touch of a button. After six months of exploration and trials, Jeremy took a leap of faith and went full-swing into founding Advantir Innovations.
Jeremy and his proud creation, the Swirl.Go soft serve machine
Coming back to classroom concepts
Although the prospect of having to build a business from scratch with a brand-new technology was daunting, Jeremy fell back on the solid foundation of his NUS Business School education.
His greatest challenge was convincing potential team members and suppliers of the potential of a product that was not fully developed. Jeremy navigated this challenge by patiently and persistently building trust with his stakeholders through frequent and open conversation.
An internship with market research firm Nielsen armed Jeremy with experience in consumer psychology from a data perspective. He especially benefitted from the marketing analytics module taught by Associate Professor Ashok Charan, acquiring important concepts and theoretical frameworks on how to acquire customers, and measure marketing success.
Upward swirl toward success
Since its launch, Swirl.Go has been on an upward swirl of success, including securing a contract with real estate giant City Developments Limited (CDL) to deploy a unit for its staff. Looking ahead at SwirlGo’s future, Jeremy hopes to work towards bringing the product to the masses, for all to enjoy this cool treat.
