New year boost? Carlsberg Malaysia banks on festive season to drive final quarter sales, offset poor Singapore performance
Carlsberg Malaysia believes that the upcoming festive season as well as stronger economic growth will help to drive improved sales for the rest of 2024, despite a negative performance in Singapore in Q3.
Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd (Carlsberg Malaysia) recently announced its Q3FY2024 financial results, reporting an overall 8.3% year-on-year growth in revenue to RM555.9mn (US$124.1mn) and a healthy 19.8% growth in net profit to RM91mn (US$20.3mn).
That said, the firm operates in both Malaysia and Singapore, and the majority of positive news was contributed by its Malaysian operations – in Singapore, Q3 revenue dropped 6% to RM142.4mn (US$31.8mn) and group profit from operations dropped 6.1% to RM15.3mn (US$3.4mn).
Fruity strategy: Polish government eyes South East Asia as next major export market for apples and aronia berries
The government of Poland has set its sights on South East Asia as the next major trade and exports market for its various food products, particularly apples and aronia berries.
Poland has made major strides in trade relations with the ASEAN region over the past year, particularly in terms of its meat trade where the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) recently announced the approval of Polish beef into the market.
This means that all forms of Poland’s major meat exports which are poultry, pork and now beef are now eligible to enter the Singapore market – but Poland believes that there is much more growth potential here in not just Singapore but the entire ASEAN region.
Advancing acceptability: Ajinomoto highlights Indonesia’s urgent sodium reduction needs
Ajinomoto believes that Indonesian consumers are in more urgent need of sodium reduction solutions due to local consumption habits as well as the heavy use of salt in local cuisine.
The past few months have seen sodium reduction emerge as a very important topic of discussion in South East Asia, particularly after the Singapore government announced it would be implementing Nutri-Grade traffic light labelling measures for sodium content.
Within the region, Indonesia is well-known to have one of the ‘heaviest’ cuisines in terms of flavourings, particularly salt and sugar, and this makes reformulation to cut down sodium levels even more challenging.
Breaking status quo: Asian food industry needs to push beyond digital ‘comfort zone’ for AI tech to see breakthrough
Food and beverage companies in Asia will need to move beyond just understanding the benefits of digital technologies such as AI and blockchain and actually embrace their use in order to reap benefits in terms of food safety, security and sustainability.
Artificial intelligence has been a major buzzword within the food industry in Asia in recent years, but till date large-scale implementation has yet to be seen especially amongst small to medium-sized enterprises in the region.
“A lot of the time the problem in the food and beverage industry here is that we’ve become so used to doing the same thing over and over again, even when it comes to the pen-and-paper style of management which many would consider outdated, as it has been what we are familiar with for a long time,” fruit trading firm and food supply chain AI firm DiMuto Founder and CEO Gary Loh told FoodNavigator-Asia.
Broadening flavour horizons: Malaysian ingredients firm expands product range with white peach amid growth in sweet and savoury categories
Malaysia’s flavour house Matrix has introduced a new white peach flavour to meet rising consumer demand for lighter, fruity options while continuing its foray into the growing savoury segment.
Matrix continues to grow its product offerings with the introduction of white peach. This new flavour caters to the increasing demand for lighter, fruit-forward profiles, particularly in sweet categories like beverages and confections.
“White peach is our latest star ingredient. It’s light and fruity, and it’s aligned with current demands,” said Rozell Ng, marketing, communications and local sales head for Matrix Flavours & Fragrances.