Beverages

Cool move: Plant-based milk brand OATSIDE expands into ice cream to fuel regional growth

20-Dec-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

Singapore-based OATSIDE has recently expanded its product line-up to include a range of ice creams as part of its growth strategy, on the back of burgeoning popularity of its oat milk products across Asia.

Refreshing boost: Tea bases and botanicals enjoying rising popularity in various formats amongst APAC consumers

20-Dec-2023 By Pearly Neo

Food and beverage products with tea bases and botanical-infused flavours or aromas are seeing a surge in popularity amongst consumers in APAC, with more and more people seeking out ‘refreshing’ sensations.

Must all food innovation be high-tech? More ‘immediate’ changes needed beyond alternative proteins – expert panel

19-Dec-2023 By Pearly Neo

The food and beverage sector will need to focus on making more ‘immediate’ changes beyond just creating a novel protein supply in order to address sustainability and overall supply chain challenges, according to industry experts.

Indian anti-hangover first mover Morning Fresh eyes growth opportunities for RTD functional beverages

19-Dec-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

India-based Morning Fresh is actively expanding its portfolio across categories and formats to fulfil rising demand for functional products, particularly ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages.

Countering counterfeits: Japan establishes first physical facility to find fake food ‘exports’ in Thailand

18-Dec-2023 By Pearly Neo

Japan has set up a physical anti-counterfeit consultation desk in Thailand to fight against a rising number of food and agriculture products claiming to be of Japanese origin.

Diageo and ecoSPIRITS go global with reusable glass packaging partnership

15-Dec-2023 By Rachel Arthur

Diageo and circular economy tech company ecoSPIRITS are taking their reusable spirits packaging partnership global: turning to the ‘lower carbon, lower waste’ tech for Gordan’s, Captain Morgan and Smirnoff.

Prioritising user-friendliness and customer incentives are key to unlocking e-commerce success in Middle East – experts

14-Dec-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

FMCG e-commerce holds significant growth potential in the Middle East, as consumers in the region increasingly turn to online shopping for time-saving and convenience, filling larger virtual carts than in physical stores, say experts.

Caffeine crack down: Researchers call for UAE policy action over school children energy drink consumption

12-Dec-2023 By Hazel Tang

Researchers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are urging policymakers to crack down on caffeinated energy drink consumption among school children, despite only 2% of those surveyed consuming them on a daily basis.

Driving down salt intake in China: Targeted campaigns needed to reduce excessive intake by 50%

12-Dec-2023 By Shali S.

Targeted educational campaigns focused on the health risks associated with high salt intake could promote behavioural change among consumers in China, say researchers.

Vitafoods Asia 2023

Cheaper alternative? Consumer market gravitating towards functional beverages as spending tightens

12-Dec-2023 By Tingmin Koe

Functional beverage is becoming a cheaper alternative to health supplement as consumers tighten their budget amid the current microeconomic environment, according to the observations of functional ingredients distributor Brenntag.

Coffee conversion: Nescafe highlights soluble products’ ‘key role’ in recruiting APAC consumers

11-Dec-2023 By Pearly Neo

Nestle’s star coffee brand Nescafe believes that its keystone soluble coffee products continue to play a crucial role in recruiting and converting consumers in the Asia Pacific region to enter the wider category.

Suntory price hikes: Beverage giant does not foresee ‘major impact’ from alcohol increases

06-Dec-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

Japanese beverage giant Suntory expects a “slight demand fluctuation” for its products in light of price increases from April 2024, but does not anticipate a major impact on sales.

Tackling food fraud: Urgent need for ‘real-time’ global monitoring – Thai experts

05-Dec-2023 By Shali S.

There is an urgent need for real-time global monitoring of food fraud in order to protect public health and the global economy, say experts in Thailand.

Danone’s Global Methane Hub partnership ‘welcome’ but more firms must act – Changing Markets Foundation

30-Nov-2023 By Teodora Lyubomirova

As COP28 kicks off, we look at Danone’s partnership with the Global Methane Hub and how effective technical solutions to methane mitigations really are.

‘Aggressive measures’: Kirin outlines plans for beer and sugar-free product innovation amid profits slump

29-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Beverage heavyweight Kirin Holdings has outlined plans to implement ‘aggressive measures’ across beer and sugar-free innovation, to recover from the negative impact of cost increases.

Kickstarting kale: Chinese trend for ‘punk nutrition’ lifestyle opens major functional food innovation opportunities

28-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Chinese consumers’ increasing demands for functional and fortified foods and beverages to support a lifestyle based on ‘punk nutrition’ has opened up massive innovation opportunities for brands across various product categories.

Plant-based profits: Vitasoy looks to Asian growth to bounce back from challenges in Oceania

27-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Tofu and beverage brand Vitasoy hopes the performance of its soy milk and tea businesses in Asian will help it bounce back from manufacturing and logistical challenges faced in Oceania over the past six months.

Level up: Singapore’s Gryphon Tea Company reformulates RTD teas to meet better-for-you demand, raises Nutri-grade rating

23-Nov-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

Singapore-based Gryphon Tea Company has updated its cold-brewed tea range with “no added sugar” formulations, which the firm says has helped it keep up with the better-for-you trend and reach out to a bigger pool of health-conscious consumers.

Tea-ing up the competition: Unilever India predicts strong challenges from smaller players in the coming year

21-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Hindustan Unilever India (HUL) believes that strong market competition is on the way in the tea category from smaller players in the country, despite having successfully maintained profitability in the third quarter of the year.

Beer boost: Asahi Super Dry drives international growth amid cost setbacks at new Japan brewery

20-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Asahi’s star-performing beer product Asahi Super Dry has helped to sustain the firm’s profitability and international growth even amid cost setbacks at its new domestic brewery in Tosu.

It’s a date: Agthia plans to strengthen digitalisation and snacking innovation amid strong nine-month performance

16-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Middle Eastern food and beverage heavyweight Agthia has pledged to focus more investment into the digitalisation of its business as well as the creation of new snacking innovations in order to sustain the positive growth and profitability seen in the...

Going local: India’s new local language food safety platform hoped to boost compliance among domestic food firms

15-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

The Food Safety and Standards Authority India (FSSAI) has launched a new version of its food safety platform in the local Hindi language in an effort to increase domestic food firm understanding and compliance of local regulations.

Beyond product innovation: Affordability and accessibility take centre stage in meeting Asia’s nutritional needs

14-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

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 waste reduction: Japan believes it is ‘close’ to achieving awareness and action goals – government data

13-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

New Japanese government data has revealed that the country could be close to achieving its goal of having 80% of the population simultaneously aware of, and taking action against, food waste.

Thai UPF warning: Products routinely exceed fat, sugar, salt RDIs – new data

08-Nov-2023 By Shali S.

New data from Thailand claims almost all ultra-processed food (UPF) products exceed the recommended daily amount of sodium and lack essential nutrients and minerals.

Powered potatoes: PepsiCo pushes entrepreneurial collaboration as ‘vital’ APAC sustainability strategy

08-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

PepsiCo has highlighted collaborations with entrepreneurs as a ‘vital’ part of its strategy to achieve sustainable operations in the APAC region, amid the crowning of its regional Greenhouse Accelerator champion.

Beer slump: Carlsberg Malaysia forges ahead with new premium Sapporo partnership despite consumer spending concerns

07-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Beer heavyweight Carlsberg Malaysia has decided to persist with its portfolio premiumisation strategy and a new Sapporo partnership despite concerns over ‘weak’ consumer sentiment and diminished profitability in the third quarter of 2023.

E-commerce conversion: Singapore consumers’ purchasing decisions increasingly driven by health and sustainability - RedMart

07-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

Grocery e-commerce platform giant RedMart is seeing health and sustainability trends increasingly driving the purchasing decisions of consumers in Singapore, inspiring the firm to focus its own in-house product innovations on these factors.

Hola to Hallyu foods: South Korea sets sights on Latin America as next major export market

06-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

The South Korean government has set its sights on partnerships with the ministries of multiple Latin American countries to establish the region as its next major trade partner in terms of food exports.

Cream of the crop: Liquid milk and ice cream categories spur Yili to ‘record high’ financial gains

06-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo

China dairy giant Yili has secured ‘record high’ financial results in the first nine months of its financial year driven by liquid milk and ice cream category growth.

FNA DEEP DIVE: NUT BUTTERS

'More than just a spread': Novel applications and affordable pricing strategies crucial to grow nut butter success in APAC

01-Nov-2023 By Pearly Neo and Hui Ling Dang

The nut butter industry in Asia Pacific is targeting pricing strategies and novel applications as it seeks to achieve mainstream success beyond being ‘just a spread’, according to industry experts.

Big Food likely to miss plastic targets, while ‘large part’ of industry yet to take action

31-Oct-2023 By Flora Southey

Although efforts show progress on plastic pollution is possible, the world is ‘not on course’ to eliminating plastic waste and pollution, stresses the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

Innovation challenge: How can firms meet reformulation and fortification demands while remaining cost competitive?

31-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

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.

Sweet stability: Sunsweet sees stable recovery for prune products in Thailand after pandemic woes

31-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Sunsweet’s ingredients arm is optimistic that stable recovery is incoming for prunes and prune-derived products in Thailand on the back of rising demand after a standstill during the pandemic period.

The ‘and’ consumer: Affordable nutrition trend gains further traction in APAC amidst dairy and RTE category growth

31-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Asia Pacific consumers are increasingly demanding a combination of affordability, health and tastiness when making their food and beverage purchasing decisions, driving the rise of what is known as the ‘and’ consumer.

FNA InnovATE: ENERGY DRINKS

Bull fighters: How Thailand’s Hippo Energy Drink is taking on the big-name competition

25-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Thailand-based Hippo Energy Drink believes that its combination of health, natural ingredients and low sugar offerings can help it build on its initial success in South East Asia and take on major brand competitors in the category.

‘Historic’ challenges: Nestle hopes nutrition strategy will boost recovery after APAC inflation and FX strife

24-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Nestle is hopeful that its new nutritional labelling and marketing strategy will play a strong part in its sales recovery, after seeing a drop in sales across many APAC markets due to ‘historic’ inflation and foreign exchange challenges.

User-friendly guidelines: Opportunity for industry to help Indonesian consumers fulfil breakfast needs

19-Oct-2023 By Shali S.

Further research is needed to translate nutrient-based breakfast guidelines into more user-friendly, food-based recommendations that consumers can easily understand and implement in their daily lives, says a study conducted in Indonesia.

‘Glocalisation is over’: Microlocality and domestic production chain increasingly important for APAC consumers

18-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Food and beverage brands that are able to convey microlocal tastes and tap into consumer pride with a strong domestic production chain are best-placed for success in the APAC region, according to Kerry.

FOOD AND BEVERAGE TRAILBLAZERS PODCAST EP 45

‘Super cheap’: Affordability trumps protein and sustainability as main driving factor for insect-based foods in APAC

18-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Affordability is emerging as the main driving factor for insect-based foods in the APAC region, possibly even more significant than its often-lauded protein or sustainability factors.

Hemp for active nutrition: Regulatory support and debunking of myths ‘crucial’ to unlock potential

18-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Stronger government regulatory support and the ‘debunking’ of myths surrounding hemp are still at a ‘crucial’ stage in Asia, the success of which is key to unlocking its active nutrition potential.

Liquor legacy: China’s 1,300-year-old Yanghe Distillery eyes wider international markets with ‘mellow’ baijiu portfolio

17-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

China liquor heavyweight Yanghe Distillery is looking to establish itself more firmly in international markets, banking on the expansion of its baijiu portfolio with mid-to-premium ranges as well as its trademark ‘mellow’ flavour.

Philippines sugar tax: ‘Watered-down’ policy will lead to fewer health gains – new data

17-Oct-2023 By Shali S.

The sugar tax as implemented in the Philippines will lead to health and economic improvements, but to a lesser extent that if it had been enacted in its original form, new data suggests.

Low to go: Japan's CHOYA Sarari reduces alcohol content and price to appeal to younger demographic

12-Oct-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

Japanese firm CHOYA has added two new products to its Sarari line-up, both of which contain lower alcohol content and are “priced affordably”, to appeal to a younger demographic.

Growth Asia Summit 2023

‘It’s not too late’: Singapore Chinese Health Study lead investigator reveals protective impacts of diet on cognition

11-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Data from the large-scale Singapore Chinese Health Study has shown that all consumers can reduce their risk of later cognitive impairment by switching to a healthier diet at any age, as revealed by the study’s principal investigator at the recent Growth...

Growth Asia Summit 2023

Dairy the core base, but greater co-existence with plant-based, precision fermented proteins to come – Friesland Campina

11-Oct-2023 By Tingmin Koe

While dairy is the basis of protein nutrition, the use of plant-based and precision fermented protein is bound to increase in products such as infant formula, healthy ageing, and sports nutrition, says dairy multinational firm Friesland Campina.

India iced tea innovation: Shark Tank-backed Beyond Water launches first RTD products with strong health focus

10-Oct-2023 By Si Ying Thian

India’s Beyond Water has launched its first ready-to-drink (RTD) iced tea in India, tapping on high-quality tea sourcing and consumers demand for healthier beverages.

Bottled opportuni-tea: China’s traditional tea sector must overcome stiff competition and price barriers to expand exports

09-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

Traditional China tea brands believe that bottled, ready-to-drink product formats are the industry’s gateway into international markets and appealing to younger consumers – but faces major hurdles in terms of pricing and competition.

Hydration and hemp: Kommunity Brew sees innovation potential in Australia’s healthy beverage space

05-Oct-2023 By Si Ying Thian

Australia’s Kommunity Brew believes that hemp has the potential to feature more widely in its NPD and innovation strategies, amidst the addition of more local acquisitions to its healthier beverage portfolio.

FIT-ter KIDS: Fortified products key to addressing APAC micronutrient gaps – Nestle at Growth Asia Summit

04-Oct-2023 By Pearly Neo

New Nestle data has revealed the major micronutrient gaps faced by many toddlers and school-age children in the Asia Pacific region, as well as the important role that fortified foods and beverages can play in addressing these needs.