Bakery

Levels of plasticisers in Australian packaged foods meet international safety standards: FSANZ survey

29-Mar-2018 By Gary Scattergood

A new survey undertaken by the Australian and New Zealand food regulator found that levels of plasticisers in food products are generally low and below internationally recognised safe levels.

APAC’s burgeoning middle class providing huge opportunities for food firms: Kerry APAC boss

28-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

John Savage, President and CEO of Kerry APMEA, said consumer tastes in the region are rapidly changing due to the growing middle-class and increased travel, which is opening South East Asian markets up to a raft of new international flavours and opportunities...

Food manufacturers help raise recycling rates in Singapore, but still room for improvement

28-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

Recently released statistics from Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) show the amount of food waste recycled in the country has risen by 2% — with food manufacturers playing a crucial role in driving up standards.

Tate & Lyle doubles Shanghai lab as it seeks 30% of sales from emerging markets by 2020

26-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

Tate & Lyle has doubled the size of its food application laboratory in Shanghai, with its regional leader targeting 30% of its speciality food and ingredients sales coming from emerging markets by 2020.

Low awareness of hidden sugars among young Singaporeans, with few checking food labels

21-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

Young Singaporean adults have poor awareness of 'hidden sugars' in packaged food and drinks, with most admitting they rarely check product labels.

Tokyo offers incentives to halal food operators before the Olympics

21-Mar-2018 By Richard Whitehead

As Tokyo gears up to host the 2020 Olympics, one of the city’s municipalities is targeting Muslim visitors by encouraging its food businesses to gain halal certification.

Beverage taxes haven't yet proven a bitter pill for domestic sugar producers

21-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

Asia’s domestic sugar producers appear to be weathering the storm of sugar taxes, with steady local demand, strong exports and favourable tariffs aiding the sector.

Sugar-reduction and reformulation demand spurs Tate & Lyle to expand Singapore lab

14-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

Rising industry and consumer demand for more healthy products, especially with reduced sugar, was one of the drivers behind Tate & Lyle’s decision to double the size of its laboratory and application centre in Singapore.

Gulfood 2018

Low-cost advantage aiding Chinese bakery firm's expansion into the Middle East

12-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

Cookie and candy manufacturer Shenzhen Rungu Food Co. Ltd. said that multiple push factors have brought the company’s business to new markets, including the Middle East.

New round of Aussie supermarket wars claims scalp of local online independent

08-Mar-2018 By RJ Whitehead

The landscape is looking increasingly grim for home-grown retailers following the closure this week of Aussie Farmers Direct.

Regulator seeks views on revamp of 'unclear' allergen labelling in Australia and New Zealand

08-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

Regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is calling for submissions on proposals to make allergen labelling more clear, claiming the existing rules "lack clarity".

FoodEx Japan

Taste of the tropics: Philippines' fruit-based products helping boost exports to Japan

07-Mar-2018 By Gary Scattergood

Food exporters from the Phillippines are hopeful of securing new trade that will top $10m at this week's FoodEx trade show in Japan, with fruit-based products proving particularly popular with consumers.

FoodEx Japan

Hojicha's hot: Japanese roasted green tea used in new products from ice cream to pasta

05-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

The increasing popularity of Japanese roasted green tea, hojicha, is spurring a raft of new product development in the country, from ice cream to pasta.

Thai trans fats ban Draft Notification now being finalised

01-Mar-2018 By Lester Wan

The Thai Ministry of Public Health's Draft Notification on the proposed ban of partially hydrogenated oils, including trans fat, has ended its public consultation period and is being finalised.

Exclusive: Three-step plan unveiled to achieve harmonised nutritional labelling in ASEAN

27-Feb-2018 By Gary Scattergood

A three-step approach has been put forward to help ASEAN move towards a more harmonised regime for nutritional labelling, with a new report revealing that varying standards are contributing towards “the lacklustre export performance of the packaged foods...

India’s food safety authority proposes traffic light labelling for foods sold at schools

27-Feb-2018 By Lester Wan

The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) wants to introduce a traffic light labelling scheme for foods sold in school canteens and vending machines, in a bid to curb consumption of sugary drinks, heavily processed foods and confectionery.

Amazon targets national roll-out of Indian food e-commerce operation after pilot launch

26-Feb-2018 By Lester Wan

Amazon India is set to roll-out its food retail business across the nation in the next quarter, having launched its pilot project in Pune city, Maharashtra state.

Child obesity soaring in Vietnam with urban youngsters at highest risk

21-Feb-2018 By Lester Wan

Childhood obesity is rapidly increasing in Vietnam with a new study revealing that 11.2% of youngsters aged six to 10 are overweight and 10.1% obese.

Singapore officials drawing up plans to curb sugar levels in food products

19-Feb-2018 By Lester Wan

Singapore’s Health Promotion Board (HPB) said it is drawing up guidelines for food manufacturers and restaurants to reduce the amount of sugar in their food products.

Five Aussie-food start-ups enrolled onto yoghurt firm Chobani's incubator programme

12-Feb-2018 By Gary Scattergood

A high-protein Jerky manufacturer and a gluten-free nut butter firm are among the five start-ups on Chobhani’s Australia's first incubator scheme, each of which has been warded $100,000 in equity-free funding.

New products, transparent labelling and value: How food firms can achieve halal sales success as demand soars in Asia

07-Feb-2018 By Lester Wan

As home to four of the five fastest-growing Muslim-majority countries and boasting increasing levels of disposable incomes, Asia is offering halal food firms vast growth potential — but only if they embrace new product development, labelling transparency...

Grocery wars: India’s e-commerce battle hots up with Alibaba, Amazon and Walmart on manoeuvres

05-Feb-2018 By Lester Wan

India’s e-commerce and online grocery sector has been buzzing with speculation and new investment in the past week with Alibaba, Amazon and Walmart all seemingly jostling for position.

Asia's Food Leaders video series

Watch: ADM exec on Asia innovation, regional KPIs and healthy ageing potential

05-Feb-2018 By Gary Scattergood

Hitting ‘local preferences, local profiles and local tastes’ are three of the key priorities for ADM in Asia after the company opened its new flavour and ingredient innovation centre in Singapore.

Dubai conglomerate ploughs $333m into Egypt sugar factory project

31-Jan-2018 By Gary Scattergood

Dubai-based conglomerate Al Ghurair Group has committed to investing US$333 million into a new sugar factory in Egypt.

Cargill and ARASCO JV to boost ingredient production for Gulf beverage, confectionery and bakery firms

31-Jan-2018 By Gary Scattergood

Cargill has made its first investment in Saudi Arabia with the opening of a joint-venture corn milling facility to increase supplies to the Gulf’s food and beverage firms.

Rakuten and Walmart combine powers for new Japan grocery delivery service

30-Jan-2018 By Lester Wan

Japan e-commerce giant Rakuten and retailer Seiyu GK, a Walmart subsidiary, have agreed on a joint venture to launch a new online grocery delivery service — Rakuten Seiyu Netsuper.

Why yet another Asian online giant — Tencent — is investing in China's brick-and-mortar food retail

25-Jan-2018 By Lester Wan

The wave of online giants ploughing cash into traditional bricks-and-mortar food retail business shows no sign of slowing, with hypermarket chain Carrefour announcing it is in collaborative talks with China technology and entertainment giant Tencent.

ADM targets Southeast Asia flavour and ingredient growth after opening new Singapore innovation centre

25-Jan-2018 By Gary Scattergood

ADM is the latest global food giant to plough investment into Singapore with the opening of a new innovation centre to meet rising consumer and customer demand across Southeast Asia.

Food waste-fighting app launched to tackle Japan's six-million-tonne burden

24-Jan-2018 By Lester Wan

Tokyo is trialling a project to stamp out food waste by rewarding shoppers who use a new app while buying foods that are close to their best-before or consume-by dates.

Two-hundred 'sugar reduction' retail stores to help slash obesity and diabetes in China

23-Jan-2018 By Lester Wan

China is set to be home to 200 'sugar reduction' retail stores and an industry park, after ingredient firm Bayn signed a joint venture agreement with real estate outfit Huahe International.

GM in Australia: Proposed changes to gene-editing rules likely to receive 'fierce opposition'

22-Jan-2018 By Gary Scattergood

Proposals to shake-up Australia’s GM rules are likely to face “fierce opposition” according to a leading academic, while another said that it would undoubtedly result “in the food our children eat in the future having a different DNA sequence to the food...

Jebsen & Jessen creates pan-Asian chemical and ingredients business

11-Jan-2018 By Gary Scattergood

A new "joint venture of equals" has been established in Greater China between Jebsen & Jessen Ingredients (JJING) and Jebsen Industrial Specialty Ingredients & Solutions Business (JI-SI&S).

APAC's four key private label trends into the 2020's: Premium, sustainable, digital and healthy

02-Jan-2018 By RJ Whitehead

Growing digitisation, premium packaging formats and a rising focus on health and wellness are among the key trends in private label that Asia-Pacific will face into the next decade.

Bread’s future is far from flat for Novozymes in the Middle East

13-Dec-2017 By RJ Whitehead

The humble flat bread, a regional staple, is among the things that have spurred the interest of a multibillion euro multinational ingredients maker in the Middle East.

Food policy picks: Our top 5 regulation stories from 2017

11-Dec-2017 By Gary Scattergood

Edible insects, halal rules, sugar taxes and the ever-controversial issue of GM foods shared the spoils in our top five most-read policy stories of 2017.

Special report: As incomes increase, why are organic food sales in Asia not yet soaring?

05-Dec-2017 By Gary Scattergood

Despite the fact that disposable income is growing and the middle class expanding, sales of organic food in Asia still lag far behind that in the rest of the world.

Tate & Lyle triples production capacity at China polydextrose facility

04-Dec-2017 By Gary Scattergood

Tate & Lyle has completed work to expand the capacity and upgrade its STA-LITE Polydextrose facility in Nantong, Jiangsu Province

Gluten findings in buckwheat prompts recalls

28-Nov-2017 By Joseph James Whitworth

Buckwheat flour containing gluten and used in products advertised as gluten-free has prompted numerous recalls in New Zealand and led to at least one reaction.

Arjuna sets sights on Europe and US for shelf-life extender growth

16-Nov-2017 By Gary Scattergood

Indian supplier Arjuna says it is "aggressively expanding" its base in the US and Europe for its clean-label shelf-life extending ingredients.

Food firms worry about arrival of Gulf VAT

15-Nov-2017 By RJ Whitehead

A Gulf-wide goods and services tax that will come into effect next year has been one of the main talking points among companies exhibiting at Gulfood Manufacturing this year, with its ripple effect likely to impact business in the food industry.

Raw material costs and currency woes lead to profits slump at Nestlé Malaysia

09-Nov-2017 By Lester J Wan

Net profits at Nestlé (Malaysia) dropped by 25% during the latest quarter, down from RM160.71m this time last year to RM119.75m.

Heightened sensitivity to 'seventh taste' carbs leads to larger waist sizes

01-Nov-2017 By Gary Scattergood

Scientists in Australia say they have identified a potential seventh 'taste' — carbohydrate — and are working to uncover how it leads people to eat excessive amounts of starchy foods.

Campbell Soup to make Tim Tam biscuits ‘permanent fixture’ in US with new single-serve pack

30-Oct-2017 By Douglas Yu

Campbell Soup’s global biscuits and snacks division has brought Tim Tam single-serve packs to the US and has set about educating consumers on the Tim Tam Slam.

Saudi makes food security play through Black Sea grain joint venture

18-Oct-2017 By RJ Whitehead

The Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Investment Company (Salic) has joined the UAE’s Al Dahra in a SAR5bn (US$1.3bn) joint venture to invest in the Black Sea region.

Officials disrupt Egypt’s wheat supplies in protest to losing jollies

18-Oct-2017 By RJ Whitehead

Government inspectors furious at losing their travel perks are behind the disruption of wheat shipments to the world’s biggest buyer.

Nestlé brings Australian cereals, nut bars to China through e-commerce

16-Oct-2017 By Douglas Yu

Nestlé has brought its Australian cereal and snack bar brand, Uncle Tobys, to China through one of the country’s biggest e-commerce platforms, VIP.com.

Soapbox

Soundbite science doesn't help children learn about good food

10-Oct-2017 By Katherine Rich

My daughter often likes to take part in our weekly shop at the supermarket. I think it's a good part of her education. She's learned about all the different foods, how to select fruit and vegetables, and how to think about what's needed...

Saudi’s Savola seeks Sanabel Al-Salam acquisition and Egypt expansion

04-Oct-2017 By RJ Whitehead

Savola Group is reportedly in talks with sweets and confectionery manufacturer Sanabel Al-Salam over a US$300m acquisition.

Australia

Chiko Roll to be touted on world market

28-Sep-2017 By RJ Whitehead

Aussie icon the Chiko Roll may finally find a place in the hearts of consumers in the northern hemisphere as its makers set off on a search fo importers.

China

Palsgaard opens Shanghai emulsifiers application centre

13-Sep-2017 By RJ Whitehead

Global emulsifier manufacturer Palsgaard has opened an application centre in China, where its bakery scientists will help customers test and develop new recipes for cake mixes based on the company’s Emulpals and Palsgaard SA ranges.