Trend Tracker: Tyson innovation insights, India kids snacks, cultivated protein developments and more feature in our round-up

Nuggets of truth: Increasingly demanding consumer tastes accelerating RTC and flavour innovations - Tyson​

Increasingly challenging consumer demands for products that can satisfy both taste and convenience needs are accelerating format and flavour innovation within the ready-to-cook (RTC) foods sector, according to Tyson’s APAC VP.

Poultry and protein heavyweight Tyson Foods is well-known for its wide range of RTC frozen meat products from chicken nuggets to chicken drumlets, but according to the firm’s APAC Vice President Commercial Lee Yeong Sheng, simply putting out traditional favourites is no longer enough to satisfy consumers within the region.

“There is no doubt that APAC consumer tastes are getting more and more demanding when it comes to food products, and we have to keep up even when it comes to traditional favourites like nuggets or drumsticks,”​ Lee told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

Keeping kids keen: Growth in India’s children’s snacking market driven by convenience, health and safety​

Convenience for parents and guaranteed food safety for children are the primary drivers of growth for the kids’ snacking market in India today, with the category evolving to become an increasingly important dietary occasion in the country.

Globally, the snacking sector benefitted from habits developed during the COVID-19 pandemic and its related lockdowns.

In India, the children’s snacking market in particular has been seeing significant growth, with parents increasingly seeing children-targeted snacks as a convenient yet important part of their diets – with the caveat that no compromise is made on the health, nutrition and food safety aspects.

Novel protein production: APAC consumer acceptance soars but scalability still hinders affordability​

Novel protein production technologies such as cultivated meat and precision fermentation are seeing consumer acceptance soar in APAC, but are still some way off achieving price parity for the everyday consumer due to challenges with regulations and scale.

In this edition of the FNA Deep Dive, we take a closer look at the up-and-coming industry of novel protein production technologies to make products such as cultivated meat and animal-free dairy, which has drawn significant interest from consumers, regulators and the traditional food and beverage industry alike.

Alt protein long haul: Thai Union says food security more important than making a ‘quick buck’​

Seafood heavyweight Thai Union has called for more big brands dealing in protein to hop into the alternative protein sector – but stressed that the motivation for this needs to be more centered on food security than profit margins.

Thai Union recently launched its first plant-based product range OMG Meat, and has also highlighted its high hopes for its alternative proteins portfolio over the next few years.

“A lot of people have been asking Thai Union why we are disrupting our own business model – but though it may seem so on the surface, we know that it is a fact that as the population grows and grows we are going to need to utilize all the protein sources available to feed the world’s population by 2050,”​ Thai Union Head of Global Busines Development of Seafood Alternatives Gerben Kamps told FoodNavigator-Asia​ at our recent Growth Asia Summit 2022 in Singapore.

Inflationary victors: Frozen, canned and bakery products biggest APAC winners amidst economic uncertainty​

Frozen foods, canned foods and bakery products have emerged as the most popular food categories amongst APAC consumers amidst rising inflation and food cost increases, driven by common themes of affordability, shelf-life and convenience.

It is no secret that factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the Ukraine-Russia crisis have contributed to rising inflation all over the world, including in the APAC region –

Analytics firm GlobalData has estimated average overall consumer price inflation in the region at 3.6% in 2022, with India leading the pack at 6%.