In spite of fears that El Niño will deliver a possible monsoon failure in India and Southeast Asia, the fate of existing rice stocks have failed to perturb the market.
This story is part of a new series of investigative reporting commissioned by FoodNavigator-Asia to follow the legalities and loopholes in Asia's produce growing and production network.
Indonesia’s fast-growing importance in flavour production was acknowledged by the opening of a US$27m spray-dry facility by the worldwide flavours and scents market leader, Givaudan.
The Philippines’ special treatment in rice, which allows the country to keep high duties on rice imports, is expected to continue after the World Trade Organisation’s Goods Council approved the country’s waiver request for its extension.
This story is the first in a new series of investigative reporting commissioned by FoodNavigator-Asia to follow the legalities and loopholes of Asia's produce growing and production network. Please feel free to comment in the box below.
The natural sweetness and antioxidant properties of dates could add value to dairy, pastry and meat products, and would reduce waste of a fruit that was not being eaten fresh, Spanish researchers say.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has been called on to renew its principles on zero deforestation, land development and rights by Cargill Refined Oils Europe.
Mondelēz is challenging palm oil suppliers to step up their game so it can move towards using physical supplies of purely sustainable palm oil for all its products.
The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and the Indonesian Vice Minister of Trade have announced that they are open to a collaboration to produce a joint sustainable palm oil standard.
Speciality hydrocolloid manufacturer CP Kelco has opened a hub for South Asia alongside a dairy beverage centre of excellence in Singapore, with hopes to strengthen the company’s global innovation footprint.
Mondelēz International has published a palm oil action plan promising to “prioritize” suppliers that meet its sustainability principles – something Greenpeace says is fundamentally flawed due to its definition of what a forest is.
Food businesses and consumers don’t understand the impact emerging economies could face if pressure to source 100% sustainable palm oil builds too quickly, Marks & Spencer’s (M&S) sustainable development manager Fiona Wheatley claims.
UK-based food coatings specialist Bowman Ingredients has launched a new offshoot in Thailand with a joint-venture with an family-owned food coatings firm based near Bangkok.
Evolva Holding will collaborate with Universiti Malaysia Pahang to establish a scientific centre of excellence for natural products from Malaysia in Pahang state’s Flavour and Fragrance Cluster.
A year after opening its operation in Burma, consumer products giant Unilever is finding itself in hot water this week after advertising banners for the company’s products were found to support the Buddhist extremist movement blamed for a spate of attacks...
Malaysian food companies are lazy in comparison to their counterparts north of the border in Thailand, and are not willing to experiment with formulations the way their neighbours have become accustomed to do.
More than 20 Malay-Muslim groups have called for a boycott of Cadbury products after pork DNA was found in two batches of the company’s chocolate, reports the Malay Mail Online.
While the trend for major flavour players to decamp in Asia-Pacific continues to grow, one Vietnam-based company has said such companies are not doing enough for this vast new market.
Southeast Asia’s regulatory system is out of sync with industry practices, with some regulators sometimes uncertain of what constitutes a natural ingredient.
Ball Corporation will build a one-line beverage can manufacturing plant in Myanmar for Coca-Cola Pinya drinks and several other regional and multi-national customers.
Automation allows workers to make better decisions, while improving a factory’s efficiency and offering greater levels of food protection, according to Tetra Pak.
While research suggests the DHA omega-3 fatty acid is good for the brain, little has been understood about how it is absorbed. But now a new study by researchers in Singapore seems to have identified a transporter protein that is used to carry DHA from...
UHT will continue to be the "preferred format" for liquid dairy in Vietnam because it guarantees the safety of products distributed to the country's high rural population, according to Tetra Pak.
The recent trade spat between Indonesia and Australia, which comes on the back of the southeast Asian nation’s objection towards its southern neighbour’s move to implement plain packaging of cigarettes, might have been blown out of all proportion, but...
Swiss business developer and Indonesian government signs Cargill Cocoa Promise, just as the firm announces initial cocoa processing tests at its first Asian plant in East Java.
Sustainability is not such an important issue for the supplements industry, because of the relatively low ingredient volumes involved and a difference in industry priorities, Malaysia-based Carotech has said.
BASF’s Nutrition & Health division is carrying out a number of changes aimed to strengthen its competitiveness in Asia-Pacific’s fast-growing flavours and fragrances market.
Tens of thousands of farmers are bringing in their first rice harvest just six months after one of the worst typhoons ever to hit the Philippines left their fields in tatters and their livelihoods at risk.
Vietnamese government initiatives designed to boost the average height of citizens by encouraging milk consumption have contributed significantly to the growth of the country's drinking milk products category in recent years, according to Euromonitor.
The International Rice Research Institute is marking the 150th harvest of its Long-Term Continuous Cropping Experiment (LTCCE), the world's longest-running rice research project.
The Malaysian government has agreed to form a special committee to study the economic impact on trade and investment with China following the disappearance of Flight MH370 last month.
Asahi Group Holdings, the firm behind the Asahi Japanese beer brand, is preparing for its first foray into fresh dairy after agreeing a deal to acquire Malaysian firm Etika Dairies.
The opportunities to engage with Southeast Asia’s growing middle-class are abundant, but marketeers will also need to nurture the consumer up the value chain to ensure success.
Norwegian consumer goods giant Orkla, which also owns Indian brand MTR Foods, has committed to using palm oil from sustainable sources in a move which Greenpeace says should coax other food majors to do similar.
Even though Singapore’s obesity rate is steadily rising, a recent poll there has shown the majority of its residents do not read or understand the information printed on food packaging.
Japan-based Takasago International has announced the opening of a new fully integrated flavours and fragrances plant in Singapore, in a move directed towards targeting growing Asian food and beverage processors.
Greenpeace has suggested that security forces in a palm oil concession linked to the supply of Wilmar International might have been complicit in the death of a member of the Sumatran indigenous community that has been fighting for the recognition of their...
Southeast Asian women are more worried about the effects of poor bone health than an expanding waistline, according to a new report on opinions towards ageing.
With wheat consumption is on the rise in Indonesia, the country might soon be in a position to resolve its self-sufficiency target for rice, according to a new report by Rabobank.
