Turning threat into opportunity: How Cargill is navigating the global cocoa crisis
Global food corporation Cargill has leveraged its cocoa-sourcing networks in Asia and other business units to support customers in overcoming the cocoa supply shortage, and ensure consumers continue to have access to chocolate products.
According to the International Cocoa Organization, global cocoa supply is projected to decline by nearly 11% to 4.449m tonnes in the 2023-2024 season, compared with 2022-23.
This has been primarily caused by “catastrophic harvests” in Ghana and Ivory Coast, which are responsible for over 60% of the world’s cocoa supply. Consequently, cocoa prices have hit record highs, warranting action from confectionery manufacturers and chocolate makers.
In the face of this crisis, Cargill drew on its extensive cocoa sourcing networks and innovation expertise to help customers address challenges and ensure consumers still get to enjoy chocolate products.
“Cocoa supply is indeed a pressing issue for the industry. Cargill is a bean-to-bar solutions provider, which means that we have the capabilities to innovate along every step of the value chain, from sourcing of raw materials to product customisation and solutions provision. For example, we are able to provide Asian-sourced cocoa products as we source globally.
“Right now, we are actively reaching out to our customers to see if they need support in managing this situation, such as sourcing, alternative recipes and product trials. We are able to tailor-make cocoa powder for a certain flavour and colour, and combine different ingredients to create new solutions or replacements,” Xiaoling Liu, Indulgence Leader, Food Solutions Asia Pacific at Cargill, told FoodNavigator-Asia.
Flavours and colours 2025: Personalised wellness and bold, fruity profiles set to shape food trends – ADM
ADM has identified four key trends that will influence the food and beverage industry in 2025, focusing on personalised wellness and bold, fruity flavours.
Consumers have been looking not only for food that looks and tastes good, but is also driven by their health goals and a desire for familiar yet unique experiences, according to ADM’s 2025 Flavor and Color Outlook report.
Kelly Newsome, senior global marketing manager for colours and savory flavours at ADM, emphasised the significance of selecting the right flavour and colour combinations to help brands meet the growing demand for wellness-oriented products.
The focus for 2025 will be on multisensory products that address consumer preferences for simplicity and familiarity while offering creative twists.
For instance, the trend “Revisit and Re-Invent” centres around flavours and colours that evoke nostalgia. Newsome associates these foods with shades of red, including coral and burgundy, which add visual depth to these flavour experiences.
For younger consumers, this means rediscovering classic favourites. For older generations, it’s about reimagining familiar profiles.
A world without cocoa? Lab-grown chocolate and other technologies may provide alternative, but not replacement – expert panel
Trending solutions to the cocoa price crisis, such as lab-grown or cocoa-free chocolate technologies, may provide a niche alternative to the lack of cocoa bean supply, but are unlikely to replace the role of authentic cocoa in the food system, according to an expert panel.
The panel convened at at the recent Cocoa Association Asia (CAA) International Cocoa Conference 2024.
It comprised of Barry Callebaut AMEA Regional Marketing Director Racheal Toh, Junglegold Bali Founder and CEO Tobias Garritt, ofi APAC Cocoa Regional Marketing Head Renee Tay, PROVA APAC Regional Director Julien Le Ky Huong, and Innova Market Insights Customer Success Manager APAC Felicia Kristianti.
The session was moderated by FoodNavigator-Asia Editor-in-Chief Gary Scattergood, and focused on the potential scenario of a World Without Cocoa, driven by the fact that cocoa supply has fallen significantly over the past year leading to sky-high prices and this trend is predicted to continue well into at least 2025.
With the cocoa industry abuzz with discussion surrounding potential solutions to a potential lack of this commodity, a major topic of discussion in this session was the potential of technologies such as lab-grown chocolate or chocolate made using fava beans or sunflower seeds coming in to fill the gap.
“Lab-grown cocoa is a solution that could solve some of the current challenges given that this method would definitely be free from deforestation, and as it is 25% of Asian consumers have already expressed a positive perception of cell-based ingredients,” Kristianti said.
“There are also novel technologies that are being developed to drive the cocoa industry forward, for instance Voyage Foods and Cargill have a technology replicating chocolate and nut spreads without cocoa, peanuts and hazelnuts, and NuKoKo is fermenting fava beans with the same process used on cocoa beans to make cocoa-free chocolate.
“What these alternatives are really targeting is the replication of that same indulgent experience that consumers associate with chocolate.”
However, others in the panel said that many of these proposed solutions are unlikely to give the industry any long-term resolution to current challenges throughout the supply chain.
Hard-boiled commitment: China cage-free eggs movement gains traction with major government and industry backing
The cage-free egg sector in China has rapidly gained in popularity due to major support from both government and industry players as well as rising consumer demand.
The Chinese food and retail industry first started to focus on switching to using cage-free eggs as an attempt to remove previous associations with food safety and quality scandals linked to eggs, from melamine content to antibiotics usage.
This movement has gained significant momentum throughout 2023 and 2024 due to strong support from across government, industry and also consumers, with a great deal of investment having gone into making this change.
An example is Tudama, one of the largest food development firms and egg producers in China.
“We have decided to allocate the majority of our resources to cage-free eggs production and distribution after two decades in the industry,” Tudama’s General Manager Cai Huazhu said via a formal statement.
“These eggs will be [distributed] between both our longstanding corporate clients and directly to consumers, as part of our aim to offer superior-quality eggs.”
The firm is set to become the owner of the largest cage-free egg farm in the country, having initiated construction of the 100-acre farm – set to house some 500,000 chickens – in Guangdong back in 2023.
Sense and solubility: Mouthfeel and taste key for fortified beverages to appeal to older APAC consumer base
Better-for-you beverages fortified with minerals such as calcium would need to ensure a smooth mouthfeel and taste to meet rising demand from older consumers in APAC.
According to palm oil giant Musim Mas, this would be just as important as meeting health and wellness trends.
“We [see] a great demand for healthy, fortified beverages [especially] as older consumers become more educated and aware of what they are consuming,” Musim Mas Manager for Dairy and Frozen Desserts Cecilia Ng told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“These older consumers are thinking more about health [and] basically trying to make better food and beverage choices for themselves to live longer and healthier [so] products fortified with calcium and minerals, or associated with certain health claims like immune health or gut health tend to appeal to this group of consumers.
“One of the main issues that beverages fortified with minerals like calcium or even matcha powder can face is sedimentation, where insoluble particles will sink to the bottom of the drink [and make this] less palatable,” she added.
“[This would be a far cry] from the desired texture and appearance [to] appeal to consumers here in this region.”
Meeting local demand: Kalsec touts supply chain efficiency at new Singapore site
Ingredients firm Kalsec Inc. has shortened its supply chain and diversified raw materials sourcing via its new Finishing and Distribution Centre in Singapore.
The facility was part of a series of global expansions by Kalsec, including the launch of its Savoury Product Innovation Centre of Excellence (SPICE Lab) in the Netherlands in November.
The firm had also announced new agreements to expand distribution in Colombia, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as its hops solutions across the US.
Kalsec has regional headquarters in the UK and Singapore, with the latest facility in the island-state said to be part of its plan to diversify production locations and further extend its reach in Asia.
“The new Finishing and Distribution Centre in Singapore expands our regional footprint, which includes local sales offices and laboratories located across Asia. It allows us to take a more holistic approach in supporting our customers, including a dramatic improvement to order-delivery response times, especially for products in high demand in the region.
“Previously, all finished products were distributed from Kalamazoo. An immediate benefit of having this additional facility is a shorter supply chain, which provides gains for product shelf life. It also reduces logistics costs for cold-chain shipping,” Kathleen Koh, Vice President & Managing Director of Kalsec Asia, told FoodNavigator-Asia.
‘Future alternative protein’: Microbial yeast protein must expand product formats in order to reach larger audience
Microbial alternative proteins such as those made from yeast have been identified as needing to expand into trending product formats in order to secure the awareness and acceptance of a larger consumer group.
With lots of discussion in the industry surrounding food security and especially protein supply, there are three main protein sources in the global food supply chain: Animal proteins, plant-based proteins and microbial-based proteins.
“Microbial-based proteins are a more sustainable and nutritious protein source compared to animal and plant-based proteins, but right now the main issue is with consumer awareness and format compatibility,” yeast protein specialist Angel Yeast APAC Senior Sales Manager Jo Chang told FoodNavigator-Asia at the recent Vitafoods Asia 2024 event in Bangkok, Thailand.
“These are proteins obtained via microbial fermentation, so compared with animal protein production they are faster, more sustainable, have less allergen issues and are nutritionally on par with products like whey; whereas compared to plant-based proteins they actually have a higher nutritional content and are free of issues such as GMO, hormones or the dreaded beany flavour.
“As such although, this is not yet a major protein source for the world’s population, we really see this as becoming a future alternative protein with a great deal of potential.”
Hot in here: McCormick expounds on importance of spicy flavours and salt reduction across savoury food categories in Asia
Flavours specialist McCormick has highlighted the importance of innovating with spicy flavours in tandem with sodium reduction across savoury food categories in the Asian market.
Whilst it is well-known that spice and heat are very important taste and flavour profiles for consumers in many Asian markets, McCormick believes that there is a need to look at the various levels and types of spicy flavours across the various food categories in order to develop the best flavour profiles.
“What is important to note here is that heat does not only come from chilli, which is a common misconception,” McCormick Vice President for Flavour Solutions Betty Juliana Tan told FoodNavigator-Asia at the recent Fi Asia Indonesia 2024 event in Jakarta.
“For instance, looking at a spicy soup such as ginger soup for example, we would incorporate pepper for that initial heat on the tongue and chilli for a longer burn from tongue to throat – just one profile alone will not bring out the desired experience.
“Similarly when looking at snacks, just using one spice profile would make it impossible to have real variety, so again the levels of spice required need to be clearly differentiated, and we have developed concepts with ginger and lemongrass for Thai spa chips targeting Thailand, or capsicum and tamarind for spicy tamarind chips targeting Indonesia.
“Spicy flavours are especially important in markets like Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia where consumers grew up with this across most of the savoury food categories from their snacks to their main dishes, and so creating new innovation in this area is both challenging and interesting.”
Oterra to boost production capacity in Asia, push ‘bold innovations’ backed by new data on consumer preferences
Natural colours manufacturer Oterra has boosted its production capacity in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region while continuing to create “bold innovations” based on its internal survey findings.
Formerly a part of Chr. Hansen, Oterra was born after the natural colours division was sold to one of the largest private equity funds in the world, EQT AB, in Sweden in April 2021.
“Currently, our products are made predominantly in Europe and the US. We supply all over the world, and we are now optimising our supply chains to ensure that we consistently exceed our customers’ expectations. We’re trying to increase production in APAC to shorten lead times and present more provenance, as some customers actually prefer ‘made in Asia’ products,” Beshoy Saad, APAC Commercial Director at Oterra, told FoodNavigator-Asia.
According to Andrew Arnold, Head of Communications at Oterra, one of the company’s focus is on strengthening its production capacity in Asia.
“By December, we’ll have the capability to manufacture many of our colours, which we used to bring from outside of APAC, in India. Starting from the new calendar year, Oterra will be making more and more products in the country. Our localisation plan received a lot of interest at the recent Fi India trade show. We haven’t talked too much about it publicly yet, but we’re scaling it up.
“Oterra also has a partnership in China with Gudu that produces pigments solely for the China market, with other products imported where necessary.”
Morinaga Milk tackles Japan’s healthy ageing needs with functional food innovation
Morinaga Milk Industry launched a series of functional foods across yogurt, sachet powder, milk formula, and fermented drinks earlier this year to support the nutritional needs of Japan’s rapidly ageing population.
This included a fermented drink containing its flagship human-residential Bifidobacterium probiotic strain Bifidobacteria longum BB 536, marketed under the name Puresu.
Said to be the first-of-its-kind product in Japan, the Food with Function Claims (FFC) came with three functional claims, namely reducing fatigue, reducing belly fat, and improving intestinal environment.
The company showcased the product alongside its other innovations during a breakfast meeting titled “Ageing Well” held in conjunction with the Growth Asia Summit 2024 that took place in Singapore.
Another example was an elderly milk powder containing BB536, lactoferrin, and the postbiotic marketed as LAC-Shield – also a functional immune health ingredient produced by the company itself.
The product was designed to support the overall nutrition for the elderly and was even selected as space food due to its nutritional value.
Immune health is one of the top concerns among consumers when it comes to healthy ageing, said Saki Yamashita, assistant manager, marketing and legal support, citing market data.
