After the war, he was began working for Messageries Maritimes as a sailor. During his time as a sailor, he met writer Joseph Conrad, who recommended that he move to Singapore. He left the company and moved to Singapore in 1874, where he and his brother established a pineapple cannery. In 1880, he exhibited four of his products at the Melbourne International Exhibition. In 1882, he and his brother began selling imported products in their shops on High Street. They soon began branching out into confectionaries and cakes, as well as the import of construction materials. In 1892, Bastiani handed ownership of the business over to his brother-in-law Joseph Cardella and retired to Nice, where he established a canned fruit factory.
