Convenience foods and snacks

Food safety warnings: South Korean regulator demands more collaboration as contamination cases rise

29-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

The South Korean food safety ministry has urged industry and other government bodies to increase its efforts to slash contamination in the food supply, after cases jumped by 19% year-on-year.

Certification clarity: Vegan logo application only needed for processed food products - India food safety authority

28-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has assured food firms dealing in ‘vegan by default’ products that they do not need to have the new national vegan logo displayed on their products and need not undergo the certification process...

Veggie powder power: Australia’s Nutri V eyes snacking space to take upcycled foods mainstream

28-Mar-2023 By Si Ying Thian

Australian upcycling firm Nutri V – a partnership between vegetable producer Fresh Select and Australia’s national science agency CSIRO – has taken its first steps into the B2C snacking space, with its CEO stating there is more product innovation on the...

Big business bids: Dubai authorities highlight commercial ease and political stability to lure food manufacturing investment

27-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

Trade and economy leaders in Dubai are looking to position the city as the main food hub in the region, calling for more investment from international food firms and claiming its ‘political stability and ease of doing business’ are major draws.

Making leaps: White Rabbit ice-cream brand reveals expansion strategy for South East Asia

27-Mar-2023 By Si Ying Thian

The Singapore distributor of the iconic Chinese brand White Rabbit’s ice cream is looking for partnerships to provide a marketing boost in South East Asia, while also aiming for expansion across the region, providing its quality control objectives can...

Convenience is king: Auric eyes Middle East market with easy-to-consume functional products

23-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

Indian functional foods and beverage firm Auric is eyeing expansion in the Middle East with its easy-to-consume products, riding on increasing demand for health products in convenient formats in the region.

Shining amid adversity: CP Foods to tread carefully in 2023 but pledges food safety and sustainability progress

21-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

Thailand-based food giant CP Foods has committed to further improve its food safety and sustainability initiatives in 2023 on the back of a successful 2022 financial year, but also plans to proceed with more caution due to ongoing challenges spanning...

Sustainability amid volatility: Nestle Malaysia pushes energy, packaging and plant-based progress despite economic uncertainty

20-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

Nestle Malaysia has vowed to continue its progress in environmental and business sustainability areas such as renewable energy, recyclable packaging and plant-based product innovation even amidst current global economic instability.

‘Collective effort needed’: Cultural and behavioural challenges major hurdles for UAE national project

15-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

The National Food Loss and Waste Initiative (Ne’ma) backed by the United Arab Emirates government still faces immense challenges in the form of cultural practices and consumer behaviour as it seeks to halve food loss and waste.

High-tech inspections: South Korea deploys AI in national food imports plan to boost safety

14-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

The South Korean government has announced a new food imports plan to be enforced in 2023 which will involve the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to improve its monitoring and inspections processes.

Going bananas? Why Indian firm Beyond Snack believes banana chips can peel off potato market

13-Mar-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

Indian firm Beyond Snack has mapped out expansion plans both in the country and globally as part of an ambitious move to see banana chips outstrip sales of potato-based products.

Post-pandemic bounceback: Protein and snacks lead robust business growth for Agthia despite economic challenges

07-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

Middle Eastern food and beverage giant Agthia has recovered strongly from the impacts of COVID-19 on the region, with its protein and snacking businesses both seeing over 70% growth in the past year despite ongoing economic challenges.

What is palm oil sustainability? Forget premiumisation and complex certifications say experts

06-Mar-2023 By Pearly Neo

The age-old ideas that palm oil sustainability must involve complex certification processes and premium price points needs to be scrapped in order to truly achieve sustainable goals throughout the entire value chain, according to industry experts

From niche to mainstream: Singapore brand taps healthy snacking trend with guilt-free chips

01-Mar-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

Singapore’s Hey! Chips says it is hoping to benefit from first-mover advantage with its whole-ingredient snacks, which the firm says is an untapped category in Asia’s healthy snacking space.

Trendsetting central: Dubai key market for healthy snacking products to capture Middle East – Temole

22-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

Healthy snacking brand Temole believes that it is crucial to gain a firm foothold in Dubai in order to establish a following in the wider Middle Eastern region because of its ‘trendsetter’ status.

Making sugar reduction mainstream: Swiftlet sees snacking format as gateway to mass market

22-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

Swiftlet believes that developing everyday sugar-reduced food products such as snacks are a key gateway to integrate sugar reduction into APAC consumers’ daily diets.

Standing strong: Nestle’s affordable products strategy boosts emerging market growth

21-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

Nestle’s strategy to focus on product affordability and accessibility appears to have paid off in 2022, with the firm seeing more significant growth from its business in emerging markets even amid inflationary and economic turbulence.

Hemp at the helm: Hemp Foods Australia unveils expansion strategies to make products mainstream

20-Feb-2023 By Si Ying Thian

Hemp Foods Australia hopes to create higher value products in the functional food space, as well as targets expansion in New Zealand, Japan, and the United States.

Boost-ing optimism: Unilever India confident in beverage nutrition potential despite setbacks

15-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

Hindustani Unilever Limited (HUL), the Indian arm of international FMCG giant Unilever, has stressed that its beverage-based nutrition or health food drinks (HFD) portfolio will remain a major area of focus for the business despite current setbacks caused...

‘No place in food’: Egypt food safety authority vows to hit WHO trans fats guidelines within 12 months

14-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

The Egyptian food safety authority has committed that the local food supply will hit World Health Organisation (WHO) trans fats guidelines within 12 months, claiming its recent policy changes will finally take it off the global high-consumption list.

‘Gateway to Asia’: Future Food Asia 2023 seeks to attract international food firms to accelerate regional innovation

13-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

Organisers of the Future Food Asia (FFA) Awards 2023 have revealed a whole new awards track targeting start-ups based outside APAC, hoping that this will bring more expertise and technologies into the region.

‘New logic’: Ajinomoto says localisation and innovation key to drive sustainability agenda

13-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

Japan food heavyweight Ajinomoto has highlighted localisation and innovation as key pillars of its sustainability strategy in the firm’s most recent report, with its leaders pledging to take a ‘fundamentally different’ path from other MNCs.

Safe for second use: South Korea approves recycled PET as material for new food and beverage containers

08-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

South Korea has given the nod for recycled PET plastic to be used as a material to make new food and beverage containers as part of its national sustainability strategy, citing work by international brands such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo as an inspiration.

Food in the Metaverse: Why APAC F&B brands need to keep up with Web 3.0 to accelerate growth

07-Feb-2023 By Pearly Neo

Food and beverage brands in the Asia Pacific region would do well to stay up-to-date with worldwide Web 3.0 transformations to accelerate business growth, especially when it comes to capturing younger consumers in the Metaverse.

‘Huge growth potential’: India’s ProV Foods seeks to combine affordability and health benefits to gain snack market share

06-Feb-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

Indian dried fruits and snack brand ProV foods says affordability is key for better-for-you brands to take a bigger slice of the country’s rapidly developing snack market.

Salty stakes: Philippines eyes revamp of salt industry regulations to boost productivity and self-sufficiency

31-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

The Philippines is looking to revamp the regulations governing salt production and processing in the country, in a bid to boost local productivity and reduce reliance on salt imports.

Economic enormity: Format innovation key to getting APAC plant-based product costs down

30-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

Brands manufacturing plant-based products in the APAC region have highlighted format innovation as a crucial factor in bringing down costs to a level that can satisfy local consumer demands in the short-to-mid term.

Nutritional navigation: UAE eyes ‘virtual elimination’ of trans fats and sets ambitious salt reduction targets

26-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has announced implementation guidelines for its National Nutrition Strategy 2022 – 2030, eyeing the ‘virtual elimination’ of trans fats in the local food supply as well as a 30% reduction in consumers’ average...

FOOD AND BEVERAGE TRAILBLAZERS PODCAST EP 38

Innocent innovation: How better-for-you confectionery is shifting candies out of the ‘guilty’ indulgence space

25-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

The rise of new ingredients and innovations in the better-for-you confectionery space is shifting candies and other sweet treats into a guilt-free indulgence space, and has to the potential to progress further into the functional foods realm.

Fit for purpose? Australia launches grocery code review amid effectiveness concerns

24-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

Australia recently launched a public consultation as a first step towards reviewing its Food and Grocery Code of Conduct following increasing concerns over its effectiveness and ability to resolve disputes between suppliers and retailers.

Traceability priority: CP Foods targets blockchain integration for all products after pork and chicken success

23-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

Thailand-based protein multinational CP Foods is targeting the full integration of blockchain technology for all products, after a successful introduction for pork and chicken.

Saudi teen food trends: Study reveals ongoing shift towards fast food consumption

18-Jan-2023 By Hui Ling Dang

One in three Saudi Arabian youths consume fast food more than twice a week, sparking concerns that the nation’s rapid economic development is leading to dramatic shifts in eating habits.

Danone to cut methane by 30% by 2030 through regenerative farming, feed innovation

17-Jan-2023 By Teodora Lyubomirova

The French dairy giant has become the world’s first food company to make a methane-specific climate pledge - but questions remain around how this ambition could be realized.

Reformulation ‘no small chore’: Thailand food industry calls for sodium reduction solutions instead of salt tax

17-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

The food industry in Thailand is calling for the development of a more all-rounded solution to reduce sodium consumption, including product reformulation and innovation, amid continuing talk of a salt tax.

Boiled peanuts could help overcome child peanut allergy, clinical trial shows

13-Jan-2023 By Oliver Morrison

Boiling peanuts for up to 12 hours could help overcome children’s allergic reactions, according to the results of a clinical trial at Flinders University and SAHMRI in Australia which found up to 80% of children with peanut allergy became desensitised...

Food development focus: UAE government highlights strengthening of local food security as key 2023 goal

11-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has highlighted efforts to boost local food security as a key goal for the country to transform its food supply system in 2023, alongside the introduction of new taxation strategies to fund further innovation...

ASEAN food sector outlook 2023: Post-COVID-19 growth in Indonesia, Vietnam dampened by food security and inflation woes

11-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

Many South East Asian countries remain cautious and concerned over food insecurity and rising inflationary costs despite having seen stellar post-COVID-19 growth in multiple food categories.

Combo craze: ‘Contradictory’ flavour combinations rising in popularity among younger APAC consumers

10-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

Younger consumers in APAC are increasingly seeking out food and beverage products that offer a combination of ‘contradictory’ flavours, according to experts in the region.

Returning to normality? China ramps up relaxation of COVID-19 food testing and tariffs

10-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

China is ramping up its efforts to move past the immense impacts COVID-19 has had on the country over the past three years, including removing all requirements for nucleic acid testing on frozen food imports and reducing tariffs.

Expiration experimentation: South Korea embarks on nationwide project to set ‘use-by’ dates for food and beverage products

03-Jan-2023 By Pearly Neo

The South Korean government is implementing a nationwide project to set ‘use-by’ dates for some 2,000 food and beverage items, in its latest move in an attempt to cut national food waste.

Optimistic about oats: Vitasoy sees oat milk as key growth avenue across major APAC markets

21-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

Beverage giant Vitasoy believes that oat milk is set to be an important avenue of growth for the company across multiple APAC markets including China, Oceania and the Philippines.

Thailand’s Halal 4.0 journey: Tech and blockchain to play crucial role in ensuring product integrity

20-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

The halal food and beverage sector in Thailand is ramping up its use of technology as a crucial tool to achieve ‘Halal Integrity’, and hopes to establish a halal blockchain platform within the next few years.

‘No more wasteful gimmicks’: China issues strict constraints for fruit, meat, egg and seafood packaging

14-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

The Chinese government has launched strict draft standards to govern excessive food packaging in the country covering fruit, meat, egg and seafood products, allowing public comments on these until January 2023.

GM food in India: Debate reignited after food security and trade concerns drive government to assess rules

14-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

The Indian government appears to be softening its stance as ‘no-GMO’ country in light of ongoing food security and trade disputes – sparking fresh debate in the country.

Retort regulations: Australia tightens rules for imports containing meat, dairy and eggs

12-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

Australia has implemented more stringent regulations to govern imported retorted foods and beverages that contain meat, dairy or egg content, requiring an additional manufacturer’s declaration to be displayed prior to entry.

RSPO RT2022

‘Ownership still lacking’: FMCG brands need to step up public support of sustainable palm oil – RSPO leadership

12-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

FMCG food and beverage brands making popular consumer products need to step up and publicly support sustainable palm oil in order to make a real impact in the sector, according to leaders of the RSPO.

Convenience at a cost: Excessive fast-food consumption among Korean kids sparks concern – new data

08-Dec-2022 By Hui Ling Dang

The accessibility of convenience food and changes among family structures have led some Korean adolescents to consume fast food more than five times a week.

Pride and palm oil: PepsiCo calls for big brand sustainability involvement to attract smallholder producers

05-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

Food giant PepsiCo believes that the involvement of major food and beverage brands in palm oil sustainability initiatives is crucial to attract smallholder producers and make a bigger impact.

‘Making it happen’: NZ industry says new grocery competition bill is ‘concrete step’ towards fairness

01-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

The New Zealand food and grocery sector has voiced wholehearted support for the government’s announcement of a new legislative bill addressing unfair competition in the local grocery sector, which was previously dominated by a duopoly of major retailers.

Kimchi season is coming: South Korea conducts manufacturer checks amid adulteration fears

01-Dec-2022 By Pearly Neo

The South Korean authorities have conducted food safety checks on almost 2,000 kimchi and related ingredient manufacturers ahead of the peak production season, amid public concern about hygiene and adulteration issues.