Timo & Farmers delivers farm-fresh fruit from Korea in 72 hours

When Martine Shin moved from South Korea to Singapore 4 years in the past, she was struck by how underwhelming grocery store fruits typically have been—typically overripe, typically unripe, and at all times a bet when it got here to style.

That was when she found that round 90% of the nation’s meals is imported. Lengthy and rare journeys, a number of middlemen, and little transparency round the place produce got here from all compromised freshness and high quality.

Decided to carry greater high quality fruits to Singapore, Martine launched Timo & Farmers in Jul 2022, a enterprise that sources straight from small-scale farms throughout South Korea.

She now brings recent natural blueberries from Cheolwon, tangerines from Jeju, peaches, shine muscat grapes, and extra straight to Singapore tables inside 48 to 72 hours. 

We spoke with Martine to learn the way she turned a private frustration right into a enterprise rooted in delivering recent Korean produce to Singaporeans each week.

From boardrooms to blueberries

Martine’s skilled life began within the company world, the place she spent near twenty years in administration consulting and advertising and marketing. However after years of climbing the company ladder, she felt a way of stagnation. The work turned repetitive, and he or she started to marvel if it was time to pursue a long-buried ambition: working her personal enterprise.

“I realised I wasn’t rising anymore. Perhaps it was time to give attention to that concept in the back of my thoughts all alongside.”

That concept crystallised throughout her common visits to her father-in-law’s natural blueberry farm in Cheolwon, a South Korean province famend for its pristine surroundings free from industrial air pollution, as a result of its proximity to the Demilitarised Zone between South and North Korea. Martine was struck by the farmers’ painstaking care and the distinctive style of their fruit—candy, plump, and in contrast to something she had ever purchased in a grocery store.

She remembered pondering, “Why can’t individuals in Singapore style this?”

But, regardless of their talent, these farmers hardly ever reached markets past their hometowns. Many lacked the instruments or data to advertise themselves past Korea’s borders. Martine started to see that Singaporeans’ rising curiosity in Korean tradition and fruits abroad could possibly be paired with the pleasure and experience of those farmers—an ideal intersection.

On the similar time, Korean fruits have been showing extra typically in Singapore’s supermarkets, buoyed by the broader Korean Wave. Nonetheless, what she tasted domestically by no means fairly matched what she savoured again in Korea. The hole was apparent: there was demand, however the high quality didn’t translate.

On her frequent journeys again to South Korea, a lot of the farmers she visited have been additionally licensed beneath Korea’s Good Agricultural Follow (GAP) scheme, which ensures that farmers use protected quantities of accepted chemical substances of their crops, provided that vital. Drawing from this community, Martine started sourcing from farms that not solely have numerous security certifications, but in addition have reputations for excellence —like Jeju for its famed tangerines and Sanju for its Kyoho grapes. Over time, she added seasonal peaches, muskmelons and different fruits prized in Korea however typically unavailable or poorly represented in Singapore.

“I wished to carry one thing genuine, not simply one other fruit field. I would like individuals to expertise the care and love these farmers put into their work”

A clear provide chain

From the beginning, Martine wished Timo & Farmers to function otherwise from mass-market provide chains. Grocery store fruits are usually harvested, in Martine’s phrases, “lengthy earlier than ripening” to face up to lengthy delivery journeys, then left in transit—typically in less-than-ideal circumstances. By the point they attain cabinets, they’re typically small, bland, or worse, overripe. To Martine, this was on the coronary heart of Singapore’s fruit downside.

Her answer was a 48-72-hour “golden window.”

For instance, strawberries are picked at 85-90% ripeness, so that they arrive at peak situation and sweetness by the point they attain prospects. Orders are open on her web site each Wednesday by Sunday. After consolidating them, Martine alerts her farmers throughout Korea, who pack the fruits on Wednesday morning. Two to 3 chilled vans then make rounds throughout the nation to gather produce earlier than delivering them to Incheon Airport.

From there, the fruit flies in a single day to Singapore.

By Thursday, Martine is again on the bottom, checking each bit of fruit one after the other. She hand-packs them, typically with assist from two part-time workers from Secure Place, a Singapore charity supporting households by unsupported pregnancies.

This partnership grew out of Martine’s early struggles: in her first months, she typically acquired fruit that wasn’t fairly sufficient to promote however was nonetheless completely edible. Trying to find a significant option to donate them, she discovered Secure Place, which finally turned additionally a supply of part-time assist and fellowship.

“The fruits arrive in Singapore inside 48-72 hours of farm pick-up. That’s our golden window.”

On Friday, deliveries exit, every chilled throughout storage and last-mile transport to protect optimum freshness. To handle expectations, Martine lists the BRIX rating—a measure of sugar content material and ripeness—subsequent to each fruit on her web site. This stage of transparency, hardly ever seen in supermarkets, permits prospects to know not solely what they’re shopping for, however how candy it’s more likely to be.

She additionally makes some extent of training prospects on the origins of the fruits. Every itemizing consists of the farm, the area, and particulars about farming practices in order that consumers can join the style with its supply.

“Transparency isn’t nearly freshness—it’s about belief. I would like individuals to know precisely the place their fruit comes from.”

Constructing belief with prospects

Even with meticulous planning, farming is on the mercy of the climate. Local weather shifts can have an effect on texture or sweetness, even when fruits are harvested on the proper stage. Martine is upfront about this.

Typically, farmers warn her {that a} week’s batch could also be much less candy or barely firmer than typical. In that case, she personally reaches out to prospects by way of WhatsApp to allow them to know prematurely, typically providing reductions or various choices.

High quality points are uncommon, however once they come up, Martine responds shortly. She at all times orders further fruit to exchange any that doesn’t meet her requirements earlier than packing. In different circumstances, if prospects ship suggestions with photographs displaying real high quality lapses, she provides refunds or credit towards future purchases.

 “Communication is essential. I’d reasonably be clear, even when the fruit isn’t good that week.”

She acknowledges that her merchandise aren’t low cost, however argues that they’re priced pretty—corresponding to, and typically even cheaper than, high-end Japanese supermarkets in Singapore. At Timo & Farmers, a bunch of 700g giant Kohyo grapes retails for S$29.50, whereas a 1.25kg pack of 5 Hessare yellow peaches prices $49.50. For the speedy supply and high quality that Martine ensures, the fruits converse for themselves.

To maintain prices from ballooning, she runs her retailer online-only, avoiding warehouses by delivering fruit instantly after checks, and passes financial savings again to prospects wherever doable.

To broaden her choices, Martine has additionally added fastidiously chosen processed merchandise, like Tomato Atelier’s tomato gochujang and Bok Cho’s fruit balsamic vinegar, each chosen for his or her high quality and alignment together with her ethos of transparency and authenticity.

“Individuals are changing into extra health-conscious and inquisitive about the place their meals comes from. They admire understanding the story behind it.”

Rising fastidiously, not massively

Three years in, Timo & Farmers stays a bootstrapped, family-run operation. Martine juggles logistics, customer support, and sourcing whereas elevating her kids. She selected to not tackle traders, preferring to develop at her personal tempo reasonably than chase scale on the expense of high quality.

The expansion has been important nonetheless. From struggling to hit the minimal 100kg freight requirement firstly, she now strikes 200–300kg in off-peak weeks and as much as a tonne throughout peak seasons. Her fruits are additionally featured within the menus of cafés and eating places right here, comparable to Home of Chungdam and Café Usagi.

Her buyer base has shifted, too. Within the early days, 70% have been Koreans in Singapore. As we speak, that determine has flipped: 70% are Southeast Asian—Singaporeans, Malaysians, and Indonesians—reflecting broader regional curiosity in premium Korean fruit. This shift has inspired her to develop her roster to varieties that enchantment to totally different cultural preferences, past the Korean expatriate group.

“I don’t wish to develop so large that farmers are compelled into mass manufacturing. High quality at all times comes first.”

Working with small-scale farmers means respecting their limits; pushing them into mass manufacturing might erode the very high quality that units her produce aside. Her shut ties with these farmers additionally give her entry to rarer fruit varieties, just like the pink tangerine, which is often offered solely inside Korea as a result of restricted provide.

She additionally consistently experiments with seasonal rotations, bringing in fruits solely when at peak harvest in Korea. This ensures selection and high quality however requires fixed planning.

Trying forward

Trying ahead, Martine sees alternatives to develop with out dropping the intimacy of her mannequin. She plans to develop onto XiaoHongShu, a platform well-liked amongst Chinese language-speaking communities, after seeing potential by conversations with Chinese language mates. She can be exploring the company gifting house, the place premium fruit bins might provide an alternative choice to wine or hampers.

However for now, Martine is concentrated on her core mission: telling the story of small-scale Korean farmers and bringing their exhausting work on to Singaporean tables.

Martine highlighted: “Being clear and telling the story of the place these fruits come from is what units us aside.”

From Oct 1 2025, you’ll be able to catch her at Takashimaya’s Meals Corridor for a two-week showcase, the place she’ll be sharing extra about Korea’s native produce and the way she’s assembly Singapore’s rising urge for food for airflown fruits.

Operating Timo & Farmers isn’t at all times simple. The cash isn’t at all times constant, and the hours may be lengthy. However Martine reminds herself of why she began: a need to bridge the hole between farmers and customers, and to show that fruit doesn’t must be bland or disappointing, whereas sharing the tradition and exhausting work behind generations of conventional farming. Week by week, harvest by harvest, she continues to construct a enterprise rooted in belief, transparency, and style.

• Discover out extra about Timo & Farmers right here.
• Learn extra tales we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.