Trend Tracker: APAC snacking trends, China spending trends, healthier diet transitions and more feature in our round-up

Savoury, spicy and familiarity: Mondelez, Hunter Foods, Miaow Miaow and more weigh in on key APAC snacking trends​

The APAC snacking category is seeing a dominance of savoury and spicy flavours as well as consumer preferences for familiar products, while better-for-you options are also clearly gaining in popularity, according to major industry players.

The snacking industry has been one of the few to truly flourish both during and after COVID-19 pandemic-imposed lockdowns, managing to both survive and thrive even in the face of consumer concerns regarding inflation and price hikes.

Purchasing patterns: Packaged foods lead Chinese consumer spending in 2022​

Instant noodles and premium products led strong growth in China’s packaged food sector throughout 2022 - but significant inflationary price hikes mean that this continuous growth is unlikely for 2023, according to a new local report.

The China Shopper Report 2023, written by Kantar Worldpanel and Bain & Company, highlighted that 2022 was a year of massive growth for the packaged foods industry in China which displayed a strong 6.3% growth throughout the year, the highest increase seen over the past four years.

Taking the ‘easy’ route: Minimal sensory changes crucial to help Asian consumers transition to healthier diets​

South Korean firm PlantEat believes that innovation must result in minimal sensory changes and products should remain as familiar as possible in order to boost consumer transitions to healthier diets.

PlantEat brands itself as a plant-based product company but does not focus on conventionally animal-based items such as meat or dairy, instead opting to innovate in ‘easy-to-approach’ product categories such as sauces, bakery and noodles.

Mylk or milk? APAC plant-based dairy sector sees ‘no confusion’ amongst consumers regarding naming conventions​

The APAC plant-based dairy industry believes that controversy surrounding the use of dairy terms for plant-based product labelling is unlikely to happen in this region despite contention in other markets, citing differences in local consumption drivers as a major factor.

Plant-based product labelling has been a major source of contention within the food and beverage sector in markets such as the United States and Europe over the past few years, particularly in the context of plant-based milk and dairy products.

GALLERY: The top 10 most read APAC food and beverage industry stories in July 2023​

Here's a recap of our 10 most-read F&B stories in July 2023, including Ajinonomoto's views on new umami study, Diageo's premiumisation insights, Nestle China's dairy challenges and more.