Shubham S.

Brand Manager at Dole Singapore-Malaysia | Consumer Goods Marketing | Helping new marketers grow in their careers

A believer in the power of brands to influence sustainable lifestyle choices, I love scaling brands from 1 to 10 rapidly. 

-------- Current Role:----------

At Grab, to grow key QSR brands’ reach and revenue in SEA. I am handling end to end enterprise services on Grab for them. 

-------- Past Roles:----------


I was building Kind Kones, a plant based ice cream brand with no palm oil or negative additives. 

Whether it's door to door selling to presenting in board rooms, I donned every hat with humility. 

I helped a team of 40+ people to expand the business in SG/MY/Middle East. 

Before that,  I expanded Dole's business through in India, Singapore, Malaysia, Mongolia and Brunei. 

I also led Dole juices launch in Jollibee, Fairprice and 2600 7-Eleven stores, apart from regular retail listings and marketing.

Previously, I was leading marketing and BD for India business where I helped Dole reach $1M + revenue in Year 1, including co-branded partnership with McDonald’s in 150 stores.
 
I also love to distill interesting marketing and startup concepts to help young folks grow.  

Hence, I write on LinkedIn. 

-------- Japan experience:----------

Previously, I was the youngest Project Lead in Japan in Energy sector but soon realised my heart was in marketing. 

To confirm that my heart's voice isn't a quarter life crisis, I conducted food tours in Tokyo, dabbled in own sandwich business and consulted in food industry. 

The love for marketing was confirmed!  

The issue of sustainability is also close to my heart. 

-------- Student life:----------

So, prior to FMCG life, I published research papers in the field of Sustainable resources and technologies like Bio-fuels, Bio-Lubricants, Gas Emission control and also filed a patent related to Fuel Oil Storage. 

I have also developed a sub-$100 Solar Dryer for rural community which can work beyond sunset.

My outdoor interests range from Copy Writing, Geo-politics, Snowboarding, Mountain Trekking.  Food-trotting in groups and other times I can be found writing and creating food recipes.

Chief Operating Officer

Lecturing at NUS this week, I noticed a fascinating shift.

Back in my MBA days, the end of a guest lecture was a high-contact sport. 

We’d practically sprint to the front of the hall, hoping to grab 30 seconds of the speaker’s time.


A few for internships, others simply to get some advice. 

But not with undergrads these days. 

Their playground seems to be the DMs here. 

I see the hustle...

In fact, their DMs/ questions are more nuanced than mine during MBA. 

🍍 However, being old school, I still feel those who make an effort to meet in person pace further and faster than their peers. 

Especially when we are inundated on whatsapp with work/personal texts, 

🍍Face-to-face hustlers get remembered for longer. 

#shubhamspeaks

Shubham Sharma 🍍

Grab | ex-COO Kind Kones | Bain Advisory | P&L Management | QSR

After Prive’s exit, Providore is also gone. 

As per their social media release, they will cease operations this week. 

People in the CBD associate the brand for bringing great cafe, deli experience and it is sad to see it leave. 

My heart goes out to the staff who were affected and were not informed in advance as per reports. 

🍍Singapore remains a volatile place for F&B and we can see the tide turning towards online deliveries. 

🍍Consumers are rejecting $20 avocado toasts and mundane menus. They can pay premium but only for novelty. 

I still see queues for $100 omakase. 

Opening a cafe is no more a viable retirement plan folks. 

Watch out. 


#shubhamspeaks

20-30% of food complaints are because of packaging. 

-soggy bread 
-spilled sauce
-chewy texture 

The worse rating you have, the lower your visibility is. 

Yet most of the casual dining restaurants treat delivery menu as a copy cat of dining. 

This is what needs to be done: 

🍍Create bundles like QSRs do: 

Your job is to remove decision friction. Create family meal, lunch, single serve bundles at the top. 

🍍Put Chef’s recommendations/crowd fav at the top. 

These are delicious and delivery friendly items. Don’t forget high gross margins on these. 

🍍Add disclaimers on the items that will get affected during delivery. 

Dosa, Breads, Ramen, ice creams etc. 

Easy, no? 

#shubhamspeaks

Mascots are back in vogue. 

They faded out in the last 50-60 years but are back with a bang. 

Whether it is Duolingo's mascot marrying Luckin's 

or going to Japan for Sumo contest

or cleaning sponge brand Scrub Daddy’s growing following on TikTok, 

Thanks to AI, the mascots are flourishing. 

🍍 The production and animation costs are down

🍍 They have a personality through social media and chatbot

🍍 In a world of "cancel culture," a mascot is a permanent, scalable asset that doesn't age or go off-script.

Campaigns using a mascot are 37% more likely to gain market share. 

I have always been a big fan of unhinged mascots and tried my fair bit to create a MOMster during my Dole days with great success. 

I want the boring AI/B2B tech companies to have mascots now; 

why should FMCG have all the fun?

#shubhamspeaks

Casual dining is growing at 5.5% a year vs 10% in QSR in APAC. 

The gap comes from how Casual dining thinks about delivery channels (Grab, Ubereats etc). 


🍍 QSR was built for speed and portability. 


Everything on the menu travels. 


The packaging is engineered. 


Meal deals, combo sets, family buckets provided customized options.


When someone opens a delivery app, QSR is already optimised for that moment.

Unfortunately, Casual dining isn't. 


You don't need to change the kitchen, only the menu. 

🍍 20 mins rule: 


Go dish by dish and ask what survives 20 minutes in a bag. Delicate plating, crispy textures, and anything that relies on just-off-the-grill timing doesn't. 

The delivery menu should be a tighter, more honest edit of the full menu. 


🍍 Create occasion-based bundles. 


A solo lunch, a family Friday dinner, an office group order — these are completely different needs. 

Your goal is to reduce decision fatigue. 

🍍Make packaging part of the product. 


Separate gravies from breads. Sauces in sealed side cups. Vented containers for anything that steams. 

The bag that arrives at someone's door IS the last metre of the kitchen. 


Delivery is where casual dining is losing ground to QSR. 


It's also where the gap is easiest to close.


#shubhamspeaks

I am someone who has always been curious about how things work, and more importantly, how they can work better. With a background in software engineering and product management, I have spent the last few years learning how to bring structure to chaos, ask the right questions, and keep users at the center of every decision.

Right now, I am pursuing my MBA at University of Notre Dame to build on that foundation. I want to get better at connecting the dots between product decisions and business strategy, and to grow as a leader who is thoughtful, grounded, and impact-driven.

I care about doing work that is meaningful; whether that’s improving a process that makes someone’s day easier or helping a team move forward with more clarity. I am drawn to spaces where tech meets real-world problems and where collaboration, empathy, and clear thinking matter.

Always happy to chat about product, tech, or anything in between.

taplio

The Battle

Shubham S.

Shubharika Sharma

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taplio

The Battle

Shubham S.

Shubharika Sharma

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Shubham S.'s LinkedIn Performance

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