Start-up Spotlight: New Zealand's Forty Thieves, Thailand's Hippo Energy Drink, Singapore's Noce Nuts and more feature in our round-up

‘Amateurish but authentic’: NZ’s Forty Thieves keeps up with video marketing trends to appeal to short attention spans​

Auckland-based nut butter producer Forty Thieves is investing in social media content creation and influencer marketing to target online consumers, whom it says have increasingly shorter attention spans.

From roasting and milling of raw materials to blending ingredients and bottling of products, Forty Thieves has been producing its nut butters fully in-house for the past seven years.

According to co-owner and marketing director Shyr Godfrey, the brand’s marketing strategies have evolved considerably since it was launched, with the biggest difference being the way social media and its algorithms work today.

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

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.

For many years now, the energy drink market regionally and globally has been mostly dominated by big brand names such as Red Bull and Monster.

In recent years though the growth of the health and wellness trend within the food and beverage industry has motivated market players to look at healthier, better-for-you versions of energy drinks to differentiate from those high in sugar and caffeine content.

Going nuts for nuts: Singapore start-up hopes to carve out a niche with premium, customisable nut butters​

Singapore-based start-up Noce Nuts says that consumers are willing to pay a premium for nut butters that are customised to their preferred taste and texture, including reduced sugar and salt options.

BYOB takes on a different meaning — “build your own butter” — for Noce Nuts, which claims to be the first in Singapore to offer customisable nut butters.

Launched in August 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the firm wanted to bring more “unique and creative flavours” to the table, even though they come at a higher price compared to conventional nut butters.

Meatable says costs cut and production improved as it aims to debut price-competitive cultivated meat in Singapore​

The Netherlands-based food tech company Meatable says it has managed to reduce costs and raise production efficiency of its cultivated meat products, which are on course to be launched in Singapore by next year.

Founded in 2018, Meatable raised US$35m in a recent funding round, bringing its total funding to US$95m, which will be used to scale up production and accelerate commercialisation.

In September, the company held its first ever media tasting in Singapore, marking a significant step towards full regulatory approval for sales in the island-state.

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

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.

This is the opinion of Vietnam-based insect protein firm FlyFeed’s Founder and CEO Arseniy Olkhovskiy, who believes that food and beverage manufacturers can address consumer demands for high-quality protein with their pricing priorities by using insect protein.

“The biggest advantage that insect proteins have to become part of the food supply chain is the ability for this to be produced at super cheap costs,”​ he told FoodNavigator-Asia​ during the most recent episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast.