Vow eyes APAC growth with cultured quail candles and cocktails
With regulatory approval in Singapore and Australia, Vow is expanding its cultured meat business in APAC, debuting novel quail formats in both markets.
The Sydney-based firm recently gained regulatory approval to sell its cultured quail in Australia – a key milestone that will help the firm expand consumer access to its innovative meat formats.
According to Vow COO Ellen Dinsmoor, the Forged brand gained strong traction after launching its novel quail formats in Singapore in 2024.
The success of Forged dishes in Singapore provides a strong foundation for Vow’s wider APAC expansion and highlights consumer openness to novel cultured meat formats.
Brazil nuts: Boosting health, forests, and livelihoods
Brazil nuts offer more than nutrition – they also protect rainforests and support local communities.
Truly Nuts!, retail arm of global agri-tech firm White Lion, about its plans to expand globally with sustainably harvested Brazil nuts starting in Asia and the UK.
The firm’s strategy hinges on offering better-for-you snacks – catering to time-strapped consumers whether commuting or travelling.
Truly Nuts! aims to move consumers away from ultra-processed snacks by offering real, whole foods made with Brazil nuts, which are lower in sugar and rich in nutrients like selenium and antioxidants.
From Malaysia to the world: Kantin Lab wants to take ASEAN flavours global
Malaysian snack brand Kantin Lab aims to counter the dominance of Western-style snack flavours and showcase authentic South East Asian tastes.
The brand aims to offer a fresh take on snacks by using bold, authentic Southeast Asian ingredients.
“We hope to bring something new to the snack category, which has been dominated by standard Western flavours like BBQ, ketchup, and sour cream & onion. This can be quite boring.
“Coming from Southeast Asia, we feel it’s important to highlight ingredients like lemongrass, lime, and curry leaves, in our products. The goal is to proudly bring South East Asian flavours to the global market,” said Kantin Lab co-founder Vincent Low.
Low added that before Chinese brands entered the scene, there was very little representation of Eastern flavours.
Oatside targets stress and sleep health with matcha oat latte
Oatside has launched a matcha oat latte designed to boost mental wellness – with flavour to match.
The Singaporean beverage brand is known for its oat milk series in Asia.
The firm believes matcha’s deep cultural roots and mental wellness benefits will appeal to increasingly health-aware Asian consumers.
With Asia ranking among the most stressed regions globally, functional wellness products are gaining traction. According to Statista, revenue in Asia’s broader mental health market – encompassing products and services – is projected to reach US$10.24bn by 2025.
This inspired Oatside to create a beverage that promotes “calm and clarity”, said Oatside CEO Benedict Lim.
Next level functional snacks: Is COA on the money with high protein chocolates?
High-protein chocolates look set to lead the next wave of innovation in the functional snacks category.
The increasing popularity of functional snacks in markets all over the world has been no secret – but while chocolate-flavoured protein products have been common, the idea of a chocolate snack that is high in protein has been less so.
This may be about to change with Singapore-based COA & Co (COA) Chocolates, which burst onto the scene recently with its high-protein chocolate snacks enriched with fermented soy.
“The mention of protein and chocolate tends to immediately be linked to chocolate protein bars, but we are not doing that – we have designed our product to be a real, premium chocolate that is high in protein,” COA Founder and CEO Eduardo Burg told us.
