The study, conducted by food and nutrition firm Cargill, provides insights into consumer attitudes toward indulgent products across five categories: sweet biscuits and cookies, sweet baked goods, chocolate confectionery, ice cream, and café-style beverages.
While indulgence remains a key driver, the region shows a strong shift toward health and sustainability.
“Around 69% of consumers said health attributes are important even as flavour remains the priority, with low sugar being the most influential factor,” said Beh Kok Wei, Cargill’s Senior R&D Director, Food Southeast Asia, Australia & New Zealand.
“Food manufacturers need flavour innovations that incorporate healthier and more nutritious solutions that meet the growing demand for indulgent foods for the more health-conscious consumers.”
Additionally, SEA consumers drink café beverages to reward themselves, satisfy cravings, and boost energy – nearly 40% drink indulgent café beverages once a day or more.
“Taste and flavour remain the primary drivers for drink purchases, with texture and mix-ins making the drinks more enjoyable. We therefore see immense potential for portfolio enhancement through innovation in texture and flavour,” said Beh.
More consumers in the region are now able to indulge due to the rise of the middle class.
“With rising incomes and a fast-growing middle-class population across South East Asia, consumers are increasingly seeking greater wellness, comfort, enjoyment and indulgence from food,” added Kashan Rashid, Cargill’s Vice President and Managing Director, Food Southeast Asia, Australia & New Zealand.
This growing preference for local flavours may be driven by a desire for comfort and familiarity, especially among middle-class consumers seeking wellness and enjoyment from food.
Rising demand for local Asian ingredients
The study revealed that 67% of consumers consider country of origin important, and 65% are willing to pay a premium for local Asian ingredients. Additionally, 46% prefer ingredients sourced from within Asia.
“Consumer preferences are continuously evolving, and the popularity of local tastes and ingredients reflects a shift towards more familiar, sustainable, flavourful, and community-focused food choices.
“Asia is a highly diverse region. With this study, we drilled down to the preferences of consumers at the country level. For example, in the chocolate category, we found that consumers in the Philippines enjoy a cream base, Vietnamese consumers prefer peanut butter and fruit flavours, and Indonesian consumers prefer crispy wafers.
“These detailed insights give our customers strategic business insight and allow us to co-create new formulations that are market ready,” said Beh.
He added that as consumer demand for healthier food grows, food manufacturers are under pressure to innovate healthier solutions without compromising taste, texture, or functionality.
Managing challenges of creating lower sugar treats
Making lower sugar alternative products, for example, is not as straightforward as simply adding less sugar.
“When we start reducing sugar, it’s not just the sweet taste we have to replicate. Sugar impacts how much cookies spread when baked, the binding of ingredients in granola bars, aeration and tenderness in cakes, browning, bulk, texture, shelf life and more.
“To achieve sugar-reduction goals, we have to recreate all this functionality with other ingredients – therein lies the value of marrying insights with the innovation in our labs,” Beh explained.
He added that the firm has made significant investments into lab-based facilities to create nutritious and tasty solutions for South East Asia.
“We recently opened an innovation centre in Singapore, which is well attuned to the needs of food manufacturing and foodservice industries.
“In these collaborative spaces, we co-create products that respond to local consumer tastes and diverse competitive landscapes across the region and help shape the future of food for Asia,” said Beh.
