Alt protein not enough: Products must also offer functional benefits
South Korea’s Koralo believes that alternative protein products need to offer superfood benefits to entice a new audience.
Koralo has developed seafood from the combined fermentation of two major protein sources: microalgae and mushroom mycelium, creating what is essentially a hybrid protein product from two types of superfoods.
“Microalgae naturally contains the nutrition of the sea in terms of omega-3 as well as the various proteins and vitamins; whereas mycelium from mushroom roots is high in protein and also provides a desirable texture for these products,” Koralo Co-Founder and CEO Sina Albanese said.
“Prebiotics and postbiotics are also naturally present in the products after manufacturing – we’ve dubbed the line as NEW F!SH and started with salmon in 2024, moving on to shrimp in 2025 then scallops.”
Unilever India renews commitment to grow Horlicks and Boost as core portfolio products
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) continues to place its faith in its Nutrition Drinks portfolio comprising the Horlicks and Boost brands as future key growth products, despite domestic growth challenges.
HUL recently announced its FY2024 full-year financial results, reporting 2% underlying sales growth to INR606bn (US$7.16bn) in turnover and 5% growth in profit after tax year-on-year to INR106bn (US$1.26bn).
According to HUL CEO and Managing Director Rohit Jawa, the overall FMCG market in India has witnessed subdued demand trends in the 2024 financial year so the firm remains cautious about the market moving forward.
“[We observed many] divergent trends in commodity prices this year, such as significant inflation in palm oil, tea and coffee and deflation in crude oil, soda ash and skimmed milk powder,” he told the floor during the firm’s most recent investors’ meeting.
Academics play crucial role in ‘upgrading’ China’s functional food sector, say experts
Food industry academics in China have a major role to play in ‘upgrading’ the local functional foods sector, especially when it comes to discerning TCM herbs for food usage and novel foods development.
A lot of growth in China’s functional food industry has come from research into herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and identifying suitable ones that can be integrated into everyday foods and beverages.
However, given the complexity and vastness of herbal and medical knowledge found in TCM compendiums, local food industry academics believe that progress is not as fast as it could be in terms of ‘upgrading’ the functional foods sector.
“The food industry is one of the most important development areas in China, and when it comes to innovation and growth, we must remember that academia is at the core of the R&D and new scientific breakthroughs that make these upgrades possible,” China Ministry of Education Changjiang Chair Professor Zhengqiang Jiang said.
Millet mania: India’s Yellowfield pushes ancient grain as affordable, nutritious alternative
India-based Yellowfield is on a mission to promote millets as an alternative to rice and wheat, backed by rapid finished product innovation.
Yellowfield was previously a traditional grains company with a focus on rice and palm oil, but in recent years the firm opted to expand its portfolio to include a focus on millets as well.
“Due to its dependence on weather conditions and rainfall, rice is much more sensitive and less stable in terms of crop supply, and we are seeing many consumers and traders looking to replace rice as well as wheat with millets,” Yellowfield Managing Director Garvit Raj Patodia told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“India has one of the most advanced millet markets, we have both major millets like bhajra, ragi and sorghum, as well as minor millets like little millets and foxtail millets, so there is also a great deal of potential for innovation.”
What role can alternative proteins play amidst global Trump tariff uncertainties?
Alternative proteins could help maintain food supply chain stability and affordability by being ‘less influenceable’ than conventional protein.
Earlier this year, the world was rocked by a Liberation Day announcement made by United States President Donald Trump regarding ‘reciprocal tariffs’ to be implemented on all of the country’s trade partners starting at a minimum of 10%.
Although President Trump has already announced a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariffs over 10% to all markets except China, which continues to have some 145% tariffs placed on its exports to the US, and is maintaining 125% tariffs on all US imports, uncertainty remains rife in many markets.
This is no different for the food and beverage industry, given the prevalence of US brands such as Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Kellogg and more all over the world.
Protein supply chains in Asia have also felt the impacts of this uncertainty, having had to add this concern to an ever-lengthening list of challenges from sustainability to rising logistics costs over the past few years.
“The US tariffs will have an impact on all markets, even if the impact is supposedly ‘minimal’ such as in Singapore which has been hit with the ‘lowest’ tariff rate of 10%,” Nurasa CEO Xiuling Guo told FoodNavigator-Asia.
