ASEAN Focus: Nestle Vietnam, JD Foods Thailand, Fonterra's Nurture plans in SEA and more feature in our round-up

Concentrate-d cuppa: Nestle banks on convenience trend in Vietnam to launch new Nescafe products​

Nestle Vietnam is banking on the rising demand for convenient beverage options in the country to drive the growth of its newest Nescafe format innovation, a ready-to-serve liquid concentrate.

According to the firm, Nescafe’s core strength lies in its instant powdered coffee business which continues to remain its keystone coffee range throughout Asia, but it has also stepped up its new format and product innovation to keep up with the latest trends and consumer demands.

“Vietnam in particular is a country with a very rich coffee culture, and there have also been some novel popular trends emerging over the past few years,”​ Nestle Vietnam Business Executive Officer Mostafa Youssef told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

Coco-snacko: Thailand’s JD Foods believes coconut clusters to be the perfect snacking combination of health and affordability​

Thailand’s JD Food believes that coconut clusters are the snacking industry’s answer to demands for a perfect combination of healthy and affordability, having launched a dedicated brand to cater to consumer demand.

JD Food has been in the food and beverage industry for several decades with a strong presence in seasonings and processed foods, but has recently decided to branch out into the snacking space with a coconut snack brand dubbed Crispconut.

“It is no secret that the major trends dominating the food and beverage industry currently are health and affordability, but the real challenge has always been to combine these together to make a good product,” ​JD Food Export Manager Pornpan Tangkamolsuk told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

Nurture to expand its Digestion + probiotic drink range as it set sights on South East Asia​

Fonterra brand Nurture plans to expand its powdered probiotic drink range to target stress-relief and skin health this year.

The brand is simultaneously introducing the range offline in Singapore and exploring potential markets in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand.

All these are part of Fonterra’s strategic move into the wellness sector and positioning South East Asia as its regional hub. Nurture introduced a series of products, including Digestion + Immunity last April followed by Digestion + Energy and Digestion + Focus in November.

Cycling up collaboration: Nestle and KosmodeHealth looking at product innovation to boost valorisation partnership​

Nestle Singapore and upcycling specialist firm KosmodeHealth are looking at new product innovations with valorised ingredients in an effort to move forward with their award-winning upcycling collaboration.

When we first spoke to KosmodeHealth in 2021, the firm had just embarked on its milestone collaboration with firms such as Nestle to collect spent barley grains on a small scale​, transforming these into its zero-GI, high-protein W0W Noodles.

Almost three years on, this collaboration has just taken home the SICC Most Transformational Award 2023 from the Singapore International Chamber of Commerce (SICC), awarded to local collaborations that have resulted in the ‘biggest gains in the areas of increased capacity, value creation, productivity improvements, revenue growth and/or return on investment’.

Everyday Weekend seeks bigger share in RTD alcoholic beverages market through rapid expansion in SEA​

New Zealand-founded hard seltzer brand Everyday Weekend is aiming to seize growth opportunities in the ready-to-drink (RTD) alcoholic beverages category across Asia through affordable pricing and community marketing strategies.

Founded in 2020, Everyday Weekend’s footprint has since extended beyond its domestic market to China, Singapore, and Taiwan.

Its latest expansion into Hong Kong in November 2023 denotes a significant milestone, as the brand is doubling down on solidifying its presence in the hard seltzer sector in Asia. According to the firm, the global hard seltzer market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13% to US$15.65bn by 2030, with an annual growth of 16% across South East Asia (SEA).