Whilst industry trends such as health and wellness, sugar reduction, and better-for-you have been on the rise throughout the region, food industry experts believe that it also remains crucial for product innovation to be focused on affordability and versatility.
This is especially so in markets that are particularly price sensitive, i.e. many South East Asian markets such as Indonesia and Malaysia.
“Indonesia in particular is a very value-driven market, likely due to the large population meaning lots of options are available here,” Kerry South East Asia General Manager Will Kelly told FoodNavigator-Asia at the Fi Asia Indonesia event in Jakarta.
“The really strong messaging that needs to be put forth in innovation here needs to be the cost efficiency and value enhancement of products, in addition to the need to ensure there is sufficient depth and breadth in any portfolio.
“This is because during times when the economy is not so stable, it is key to ensure that products are accessible to consumers, otherwise no matter what quality and benefits the product has, it will not move off shelves to consumers’ hands.
“No doubt, this accessibility very realistically means affordability in certain markets, yet at the same time quality and food safety need to be maintained so this is where food technologies and solutions utilising enhancers, fibres and so on come in to create formulations that give better taste at lower cost.”
Kerry Indonesia General Manager Jane Haryono added that in a market as large as Indonesia, consumers in many areas have developed their own specialised local tastes and seek out authentic versions of these flavours even if they have moved to different parts of the country or overseas to pursue career progression.
“The Indonesia archipelago has some 17,000 islands covering many ethnicities and culinary cultures, and although it is not possible to cover every single one, when we develop products here there is a strong need to ensure maximum authenticity,” she said.
“This goes down to at least a regional basis as there is a large market of consumers looking for the taste of their favourite foods, even if in other more accessible formats – for example a consumer from East Java might miss sate klopo but find himself unable to find an authentic version of this where he is, so would seek this out in a more accessible format such as sate klopo flavoured chips.”
Versatility in action
In line with ensuring affordability, it has also become increasingly important when looking at areas such as home cooking to develop products that have a degree of versatility in their applications, as this also strongly contributes to consumers’ perception of these being value-for-money.
“There is definitely increased demand for products that are both readily usable and more versatile in their applications, as this increases value both in terms of usage and convenience,” Kelly added.
“Giving a B2B range example, we have a range of syrups under the DaVinci brand that is used in many foodservice chains, but the applications of these are actually very broad e.g. one caramel syrup can be used to make a caramel latte, on ice creams and desserts, in bakery and much more.”
