On 7 May 2026 at NFI Bangkok, SEA Bridge and the National Food Institute (NFI) signed a 3-year cooperation agreement, marking NFI's 30th anniversary year. The MoU was signed by Ms. Paiyada Hanchaisuksakul, Director of NFI, and Kasper-Tanakrit Sermsuksan, Founder of SEA Bridge, with senior witnesses from both institutions.

For three decades, NFI has been the institutional spine of Thailand's food industry — pilot plants, internationally accredited laboratories, the regulatory pathways for GMP, Halal, อย. (Thai FDA), Future Food, shelf-life and food safety testing, and the policy work that has shaped how Thai food competes globally. SEA Bridge has built the other half — networks, validated market entry routes, and buyer relationships across Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

The MoU brings the two together.

Food entrepreneurs, family business successors, and university students in either institution's network will move along a single pathway — prototype development at NFI, scale-up through its pilot plants, regulatory clearance, and then market entry through SEA Bridge's regional channels, including the Thai Select restaurant network, Halal partners, and importer relationships in each priority market. The pathway is supported by structured Market Validation, product adaptation (formulation, flavor, packaging, pricing) for each country, and Business Matching with importers, trade associations, and Halal networks.

Beyond the entrepreneur pathway, the two institutions will co-develop market intelligence reports, white papers, and export research, and jointly submit proposals to PMU-B, NIA, TED Fund, and other public agencies. The partnership also includes feasibility work on a "Thai Food Distribution Center via Thai Restaurants Overseas" model.

"Thai food is loved everywhere. NFI has the depth. SEA Bridge has the markets. The pathway from R&D to export now runs end to end," said Kasper-Tanakrit Sermsuksan, Founder of SEA Bridge.

The same afternoon, both institutions co-hosted the Bridge-to-Market Forum 2026 at NFI's Grand Ballroom, drawing 100+ food entrepreneurs and companies. NFI Director Ms. Paiyada Hanchaisuksakul opened the forum with "Food Next: Raising Standards, Empowering Entrepreneurs," followed by SEA Bridge Founder Kasper presenting the FISHE Capital™ framework for ASEAN market entry, market expansion sessions led by operators in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Brunei, a Longevity Economy in ASEAN session, and a grant pavilion with ฿2M+ in available funding from TED Fund, บพข., NSTDA, ITAP, สสว, NIA, and BDS.

The partnership with NFI extends SEA Bridge's institutional network across ASEAN and reinforces the thesis that has guided this work from the start: Thai capability is world-class — the gap has been in the pathway, not the product.