This is according to China natural powdered products specialist Essence Valley.
“Home baking is definitely the category where we have mainly seen growth over the past few years since the pandemic, which is been particularly visible in the B2C sector for us,” Essence Valley Managing Director Pan Qiang told FoodNavigator-Asia at the recent Food Ingredients China (FIC) 2025 show.
“We saw our home baking powders range Zhanyi leap to the top of B2C product sales ranking online in China, particularly colourful items like purple sweet potato, pumpkin and wheatgrass.
“This range is quite flexible with a wide range of applications, but many of these consumers were mothers who wanted to make bakery products or desserts at home, and have these as bright and colourful as possible to entice their children to try these as well as increase their appetites.
“This has not been limited to China either – we have been seeing a similar trend and demand for colourful powders in Thailand to make baked goods, and have been selling our range in 7-Eleven locally as a result.
“We also export these to the United States, where popular variants include wheatgrass, butterfly pea, beetroot and strawberry – all of which are colourful and carry their own nutritional benefits.
“Another important point is the vibrant colours these powders can provide – this has been thanks to our shift from high-temperature processing to ultra-low temperature processing at -20°C, which has helped to improve vibrancy significantly.”
The firm deals in a wide variety of different food and beverage powders beyond the baking range, including tea powders which Pan said are particularly in-demand in South East Asia.
“There are a lot of consumers and companies looking for tea powders in this region, especially in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand,” he said.
“This is likely because tea as a beverage and as a flavour has been trending in these markets, and using natural, high quality tea powder for this enables a lot more flexibility in product innovation.”
Why powders
It was not all that long ago when it was a norm for food colouring in Asia to come as bright liquids in small transparent bottles, but most of these were made from artificial, chemical sources.
Following the rise in health and wellness trends, today powders tend to be viewed as a better, potentially safer option.
“Powders are overall more convenient especially when it comes to colours, as there is far less chance of staining fingers or clothing or other items,” he added.
“The trends today are also shifting strongly towards food that is green, natural and healthy, and powders match these demands very well overall.
“We also intend to take a further step in riding this increased demand for natural products by increasing focus on our organic portfolio and increase sourcing of organic ingredients so as to push the value and quality of our products even further.
