Affordability and accessibility are just as important as product innovation if food firms are going to help meets Asia’s nutritional needs, in a region that is still beset by childhood stunting and rising rates of obesity and diabetes.
Food firms need to be increasingly savvy when it comes to meeting growing consumer demands for fortified and reformulated products, in order to remain cost competitive in the current economic environment.
The dual rise of consumer demands for the somewhat paradoxical combination of premiumisation and affordability in foods and beverages has spurred firms to find various forms of a ‘middle path’ when it comes to innovation.
Hybrid innovation with meat and plant-based ingredients, affordability and a focus on the needs of flexitarians is needed to boost the protein sector in APAC over the long-term.
Consumer concerns over the rising price of seafood needs to be addressed by the industry before sustainability as a purchase driver play a bigger role.
Food and beverage brands looking to make inroads into Asia need to tread the line between growing health consciousness and increasing consumer concerns over costs.
An expert panel with food industry heavyweights Nestle and Fresh Del Monte have highlighted the impact that nutritional education and product affordability have on encouraging ‘informed’ consumer purchasing decisions.
New data from the FY2022 version of Japan’s annual Dietary Habits and Lifestyle Survey has revealed that affordability and local production are the factors holding the most sway over local consumer purchasing decisions.
Nestle’s strategy to focus on product affordability and accessibility appears to have paid off in 2022, with the firm seeing more significant growth from its business in emerging markets even amid inflationary and economic turbulence.
The juice industry in the Middle East is being driven by demands for no added sugar products in the wake of rising health consciousness and government ‘sin taxes’, along with major brand efforts to make them affordable to the mass market.
