Combo craze: ‘Contradictory’ flavour combinations rising in popularity among younger APAC consumers
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.
While, combined flavours such as spicy and cheesy might be traditionally thought less than appealing, they have emerged to become a major trend.
Backed by its new intelligence tool Panoptic, flavour experts at IFF have found that this is especially so for younger consumers in the region, who tend to seek out more tantalising experiences compared to their older counterparts.
Top F&B trends 2023: Tyson, Thai Union, McCormick, Nestle, Carlsberg and more on what to expect in the year ahead
We have spoken to major brands from across the Asia Pacific region to reveal the five top trends set to shape the food and beverage industry in 2023, including demands for convenient product formats, rising interest in spicy flavours, an affordability-driven focus and more.
Paper power: Nestle moves plastic reduction ambitions one step closer to APAC region with Australia pilot
Nestle has moved one step closer towards its ambitions to reduce plastic packaging in the APAC region with its latest announcement of a paper packaging trial for chocolate in Australia, though its suitability for Asia’s hot and humid climate still remains to be seen.
Food and beverage giant Nestle has long been vocal of its ambitions to tackle plastic packaging usage and reduce the use of this in the name of sustainability. But the majority of such innovations, including those coming out of its international packaging science institute, have been targeted mainly at markets with colder climates e.g. Europe and the United States.
A major limiting factor for the firm to bring similar new innovations into the Asia Pacific region is the tropical hot and humid climate here.
Guilt-free gummies: Funday highlights gut-friendly formulation and single-serve packaging as major success factors
Australian guilt-free confectionary firm Funday has highlighted its unique gut-friendly ingredient formulation as well as its one-bag-one-serve packaging as major success factors after entering 3,000 retail outlets in the region.
When we last spoke to Funday early last year, the firm had just hit the 1,000 retail outlets mark and told us of plans to make it to 3,000 outlets by the end of 2022 – a target which it has now achieved.
“Funday natural sweets are now in Chemist Warehouse and Woolworths outlets worldwide, as well as some 450 Ampol gas stations, WH Smith stores as of last December, and more retailers to come as of this month (January 2023),” Funday Founder Daniel Kitay told FoodNavigator-Asia.
Up-and-coming: Three emerging categories to watch for food industry growth in 2023
As the Asia Pacific region learns to navigate multiple challenges including the economic fallout of COVID-19 as well as ongoing geopolitical conflicts, the food and beverage industry still continues to flourish and we believe these three emerging categories will take their place in the spotlight in 2023.