Coffee Shop At Home: Nestle unveils strategies to boost business in India and China
Nestle is targeting growth for its coffee business in China, India and the Middle East, where consumptions lags far behind the global average.
The popularity of this along with its other superstar brands such as Nepresso and Starbucks have enabled the company to achieve market leading positions in multiple geographies all over the world, including the APAC, buthas now revealed big plans for future growth.
“Coffee is actually Nestle’s number one business, and we are the market leader for this in all our business zones including Zone AOA (Asia, Oceania and Africa) [which includes] both Asia Pacific and the Middle East regions,” Head of Nestle Coffee Brands David Rennie told the floor during a recent company conference.
‘India is ready for cultivated meat’: Start-up to debut ‘competitively priced’ 3D-printed chicken in 2025
Sixty percent of consumers in India are willing to consume cultivated meat and 46 percent would pay a premium for it, according to a survey by Biokraft Foods, a biotech start-up aiming to launch 3D-printed chicken in 2025.
The firm is looking to price its product at Rs300–350 (USD3.50–4) per kg for the B2B premium meat market.
Traditional chicken costs Rs130–250 (USD1.50–2.90) for general consumers in India, but B2B prices are higher, ranging from Rs300–600 (USD3.50–7).
“Our pricing will be similar to what restaurants are paying for a single piece of chicken breast,” said Biokraft Foods innovation specialist Mrunal Gund, emphasising that Biokraft’s product will be competitively priced against traditional premium chicken.
Mars Wrigley on plans for affordable premiumisation and local flavour focus across AMEA
Confectionery giant Mars Wrigley has highlighted key business strategies including affordable premiumisation, holistic wellness and local flavour focus across the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) region.
According to Mars Wrigley Global Emerging Markets (GEM) President Gabriel Fernandez, the role of snacking in this region is evolving at a rapid pace alongside consumer lifestyles here.
“Our data shows that some 41% of consumers are eating fewer traditional meals, and 81% are snacking differently [including a] greater focus on holistic wellbeing,” he said.
“This is in line with ageing populations across Asia as well as in the MEA region where , health and wellbeing is becoming as significant as economic stability.”
‘Far, fast and beyond’: Palm oil key to food security but must prioritise R&D – ICOPE 2025
Palm oil can play a major role in maintaining global food security, but government and industry leaders have urged the sector to prioritise research and development to overcome its many existing challenges.
This was highlighted at the recent International Conference of Oil Palm and Environment (ICOPE) held in Bali, Indonesia, a collaborative event held by industry (SinarMas / Golden Agri Resources), government and academia (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development / CIRAD), as well as NGOs (Worldwide Federation / WWF).
“Currently we see four main challenges that the palm oil industry is facing in general: food security, energy security, climate change and information dissemination,” CIRAD South East Asia Director Jean Marc Roda told the floor.
“In particular, we see that the world population is set to increase demand for edible oils and vegetable oils, so the sector has to look at increasing production as much as possible to fulfil this.”
South Korea to prioritise food safety information and visibility in new e-labelling regulations
South Korea will prioritise food safety information such as expiry dates and allergens in labelling regulations, while also mandating firms to use e-labels for non-essential information.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has published a notification of changes to food labelling regulations, which will primarily call for companies to transfer all non-essential information from the printed label to e-labels.
“This move looks to increase consumer convenience and visibility of the important information, protect their right-to-know, alleviate costs to the industry as well as fall in line with carbon neutrality initiatives,” MFDS Minister Oh Yoo-kyung said via a formal statement.
“The space on the printed label on the food packaging should be reserved for important information such as the product name, expiration date, allergens and storage methods whereas other information should be provided as an electronic label such as a QR code.”
Thailand revises Healthy Choice logo eligibility criteria for multiple food products
Thailand’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has revised the criteria for beverages, seasonings, packaged soup bases and plant-based dairy alternatives wanting to display the healthier choice logo.
Thailand first introduced its own Thailand Healthier Choice logo (THCL) in 2016, a voluntary front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme hoped to aid consumers in making healthier purchasing and consumption choices.
The THCL system is based on nutrient profiling criteria to categorise healthier options that target more ‘desirable’ nutrients like protein and fibre, and less ‘undesirable’ nutrients like saturated fat, sugar, and sodium.
Nine years after implementation, the Thai FDS announced in January 2025 that it would be revising and tightening the criteria required for certain food categories to be eligible to display the THCL logo.
“The food categories that will be revised will focus on beverages and food seasonings, [as these are] very important in the Thai food system,” nutritional symbol subcommittee Chairman Chalat Santiwarangkana said via a formal statement.
‘Alt product, not alt protein’: Meatable eyes global stage beyond Betagro investment
Cultivated meat firm Meatable has its eye on the international market by partnering with conventional protein producers, and has been boosted by recent investment from Thai giant Betagro.
The Dutch firm has highlighted a markedly different growth strategy compared to many cultivated meat firms in the market, shying away from building its own infrastructure or plants and instead looking to integrate itself into the existing supply chains of traditional meat companies.
“We have to understand that these companies are already comfortable with meat, and what they need to accept cultivated meat is the assurance that we are not out to change what they are doing but instead offering a different source of meat for them whilst still letting them maintain control over the process,” Meatable CEO Jeff Tripician told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“They already know the benefits such as much shorter production times e.g. 12 days for cultivated meat compared to 330 days for regular pork or 1,000 days for beef; much less waste as it only making what is needed means 100% efficiency; much less trouble to figure out animal feed, diseases, care and so on.”
Power chips: Balanced eating instead of calorie reduction the key for Samurai-inspired soy protein snack firm
Japanese snack brand Hananomi says it is emphasising balanced fat and protein intake for efficient energy conversion, as it targets consumers with moderate activity levels.
The firm will be using warrior-inspired packaging – the samurai and the female shinobi – to denote enhanced energy levels for powering through the day for its with its Power Chips range.
This new packaging concept appeals to cultural curiosity towards Japan and current health trends in the Asia Pacific region.
“Consumers in the region are increasingly seeking products that combine health benefits with unique experiences, making APAC an ideal market for our Power Chips,” said Hananomi director Yoshito Miyazawa.
“Samurai is power. For the ladies, we are conceptualising the artwork of a female shinobi warrior that will grace the packaging for the yuzu-flavoured soy chips.”
’Don’t trust hoaxes’: Halal experts make the case for GM foods to improve Indonesia’s food supply
Halal experts in Indonesia have called for consumers and industry to be more accepting of genetically modified (GM) foods as a means to improve yield and quality, decrying ‘harmful’ hoaxes that have been circulating in the market.
GM foods have seen a fair bit of debate amongst the Muslim community in Indonesia in the past few years, with quite a few consumers convinced that these are unnatural or harmful products due to claims circulating on the internet.
“Many people in Indonesia do not understand GM products due to a lot of hoaxes and false information circulating on the internet,” Gadjah Madah University researcher Nanung Danar Dono told the floor at a halal forum focused on regulations for GM foods in Indonesia.
“Some of these rumours include GM foods being harmful, unsafe for consumption and also haram (not halal) so not consumable by Muslim consumers."
Kewpie looks to apply elderly-friendly food development expertise from Japan to China market
Japan’s Kewpie hopes to apply the expertise it has developed in producing elderly friendly foods in Japan to the China market in light of the latter’s rapidly increasing elderly population size.
Japan currently has the largest ageing population inAsia, but data shows that China’s massive population, as well as its previous one-child policy, mean that it is set to take the number one spot in this regard not far into the future.
“Japan’s overall population size reached its peak in 2008, after which it was the elderly population size that grew rapidly – the same is happening in China, which saw a peak in 2021 but decrease starting in 2022, along with an increase in the elderly demographic,” Kewpie China General Manager of Health Care, Business Department Sato Kenji told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“We have already seen the impact of this elderly population on public health costs in Japan – since 2009 the public health costs have been continuously increasing despite the population size shrinking, and the top reason has been this demographic which makes up 29% of the population but 61% of the public health costs."
