The campaign, dubbed ‘Snack it Right’, was just launched today (Jan 21) and will spread across all countries in the South East Asian region. The value of the region’s snacking market is expected to hit US$22bn by 2023, from US$14bn in 2018.
“The campaign recognises a potential in the ASEAN market and identifies a trend that is particular to an ASEAN consumer’s eating journey in a day and their unmet needs and demands when it comes to snacking,” DuPont Food and Beverage ASEAN Sales Director Vikki Paterson told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“We also recognise the different [snacking] needs across consumer archetypes, for example, we have Millennials who are looking for a snack that can provide sensorial enhancement, versus a Mom who might be looking for a more nutritious and satiating option during the day.”
The campaign will be focused on seven different food and beverage concepts based on data from DuPont’s own internal consumer research. These are: A baked cracker, a cookie with layered fillings, yoghurt coated wafers, two types of plant-based drinks, a lactose-free milk with oats and a milk coffee with fibre particulates and nata de coco.
“Our goal is to be a strategic partner with food manufacturers who are looking to capture the growing and untapped markets in ASEAN and provide consumers with products that suit their lifestyle and stage of life and to fulfil their snacking needs,” Paterson added.
“These concepts will benefit food manufacturers as they have been developed based on careful market analysis, extensive customer and consumer research and [science-based] innovation with an enriched nutritional profile, taste and texture.”
Major products and trends
Paterson added that some of the major snacking trends that will be highlighted via this campaign include healthy indulgence, convenience and freshness that can still meet consumers’ ‘evolving snacking patterns and preferences’.
“We also developed two plant-based drink variants to meet the CAGR 50% increase surge in plant-based products in the market today, [and also] recognise the consumer trend of ‘Instagram-able’ products,” she said.
Within the seven snacking concepts, solutions to be highlighted will include how to create crispier textures for baked goods, how to use cultures to deliver preferred mouthfeel for plant-based milks, and how to efficiently incorporate prebiotics and proteins.
“For example, our Litesse [probiotic] powder [can be used] as a source of fibre enrichment and sugar replacement,”, said Paterson.
“[We will also focus on] soy proteins that can provide enrichment for a protein rich product, whilst still being suitable for vegans and vegetarians.”
More on the consumer research
DuPont’s consumer insights research, on which the snacking campaign was based, was heavily focused on the dairy, bakery and beverage categories in the ASEAN region.
“We engaged a third-party research company to conduct the surveys with consumers across ASEAN, in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam,” Paterson told us.
“Our research looked at consumers’ ‘Usage’ and ‘Attitude’ towards the dairy, bakery and beverage product categories, and the role that each category plays as a snack filler, an indulgent snack and a complement to a snack.
“We also identified the unmet needs of consumers based on what is assessible in the marketplace today.”
Examples of these ‘unmet needs’ included creamier mouthfeel and multi-sensorial experiences for bakery products, ready-to-drink yet fresh with a lower sugar content and added health benefits for beverages, and products that can offer complete nutrition for dairy products.
“The seven concepts for this campaign were developed through these insights together with our Innovation and Technical teams, and were also tested in the market with a group of consumers in ASEAN,” she added.
“We will leverage a variety of channels both online and offline to increase our reach for this campaign.”
