By Shane Starling at FI-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia
From tea yoghurt to coffee fruit energy, portable water enhancement to Milo’s brand expansions, Mintel shared category-busting innovation at Food Ingredients-Asia in Jakarta, Indonesia, this week.
Dispatches from Euro Fed Lipid Congress, Montpellier
Exotic and functional fruits and vegetables like cashew nut fruit, chu chu and their extracts are set for an easier passage into European Union markets if mooted simplifications to EU Novel Foods laws come to fruition, according to a UK-based expert.
UHT will continue to be the "preferred format" for liquid dairy in Vietnam because it guarantees the safety of products distributed to the country's high rural population, according to Tetra Pak.
Food manufacturers, retailers and other food industry players are failing to connect with consumers who are tuning out of mainstream messaging and infesting their own comms channels, says angel investor, business mentor and philanthropist, Mike Greene.
“I get personal because they [EFSA] get personal to me"
Veteran probiotic researcher professor Gregor Reid is not a happy man. It’s time the probiotic community fought back against those forces that have for too long denied a perfectly valid body of nutrition science in the form of commercial claims. It’s...
From the 20th International Congress of Nutrition in Granada, Spain
The food industry came under attack last week at the International Congress of Nutrition (#ICN20) for not doing enough to improve the healthiness of its portfolios…unfairly, says Unilever.
This time last year, the Southeast Asian nations of Asean set out to create the single largest regulatory framework for dietary supplements in the world. We spoke to Dato' Dr Rajen M, who has been advising on Malaysia's position, to give us...
Alcohol-free malt beverages are big business in the Middle East and there were plenty of varieties on show at Gulfood last week. Symrise brewmaster and category development manager Wilhelm Resanovic caught up with FoodNavigator at the show, where the...
With predicted growth of 15 to 20% imminent, probiotics in China and South Asia are destined for big things. But, according to Russell Ward, research director of food analyst Giract, a number of other factors must come into play before the segment reaches...
Last week saw a furious row between researchers in France and their critics from around the world after they published new findings on the effect of genetically modified Roundup maize when it is fed to rats.
There has been a fundamental and significant shift in global business moves, with Asia now bypassing EU and US markets to work directly with Latin America and this is a trend set to stay, according to Mintel analyst.
Vitafoods Europe 2012 is a good place to come face to face with business in Europe’s lucrative health and nutrition market, according to Chinese firms exhibiting in the China Pavilion.
Korea’s health claim regulations are set to change next year, enabling functionality claims to be made in general foods rather than just supplements, according to a previous Korea FDA member.
Asia’s functional food market is still a new target area for pharmaceutical firm Vésale Pharma and working with regional agents will prove essential in gaining traction in the market, according to president.
Genetic modification is an on-going problem in Asia’s basmati rice network and it is a problem that importers need to be vigilant in curbing, according to an industry expert.
The World Food Programme (WFP) operates on many fronts, with many initiatives, but it’s core remains the same – to better the nutritional inputs of the world’s neediest people. Significant advances in fortified rice technology are set to see those goals...
Innovative new products, a strong focus on health and wellness, and regional dairy tastes were all on the agenda at FI India in Mumbai this week - and FoodNavigator-Asia's journalists were there, taking stock of what the latest trends mean for the...
Indian awareness of lactose intolerance is growing rapidly, leading consumers to seek reduced reduced lactose and lactose-free products without compromising on taste, according to a Novozymes South Asia executive.
Intra-regional finesse is a necessity not a luxury when it comes to doing business in the many markets of the Asia-Pacific, as leading suppliers Chr Hansen and Danisco relayed at the recent Vitafoods Asia trade show in Hong Kong.
A growing middle class with rising disposable income is fuelling a rapid increase in demand for dairy ingredients in China and Southeast Asia, and North American dairy cooperative Agropur is finding opportunities in some specific market sectors.
There is a huge range in taste preferences within Southeast Asia, so being immersed in the market is essential for meeting regional customer requirements, according to Asia-focussed flavour company KH Roberts.
Regional preferences in Asia are not just confined to taste, textural preferences are also an important part of new product development, according to an Asia Pacific specialist at CP Kelco.
Campaigns against vitamin D deficiency have gained prominence in the western world but the dietary issue is just as relevant in Asia, according to supplier DSM, even if sunlight hours are greater than most regions.
As Vitafoods Asia closes its doors on a successful three-day debut edition in Hong Kong today, event director Chris Lee shares impressions of the show with Shane Starling, and ponders refinements to the event in 2012.
Spanish supplier Genosa brought its olive extracts to Vitafoods Asia in Hong Kong this week where it found a recent EFSA-approved health claim resonated well beyond European shores.
Vitafoods Asia trade expo will open its doors for the first time in Hong Kong to an expectant region in coming days – a culmination of more than two years work by the organisers of the show that has its foundation in Europe.
Asia Pacific markets are ripe for functional foods development as a response to the increasing prevalence of western diets, says Katrina Diamonon, consumer analyst at market researcher, Datamonitor.
General Mills is throwing more and more resources behind an ‘intellectual outsourcing’ project that has significantly reduced its product fail rate. But gaining the trust of start-ups has not been easy, says Kamel Chida, associate director of its Worldwide...
Three deaths from nitrite tainted milk in China show that the country still has some way to go to clean up its dairy industry. One of the authors of a new study1 on the 2008 China melamine milk scandal explains what has gone wrong and what reforms are...
