Indonesia WTO submission warns food firms against high sugar, salt or fat content
The Indonesian government’s latest notification to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has included a stern warning to both domestic and foreign food firms against introducing products with high sugar, salt or fat content.
Indonesia is well-known to have one of the strongest-flavoured cuisines in Asia, which has imperatively led to much heavier usage of salt and sugar in food preparations.
The Indonesian Ministry of Health (MOH) has moved to counter this via regulatory means, establishing mandatory maximum content limits for nutrients conventionally considered ‘unhealthy’- i.e. sugar, salt and fat – targeting processed food products.
“This regulation aims to regulate the management of non-communicable diseases [via initiatives such as] controlling sugar, salt and fat consumption in processed foods including fast foods,” MOH Director of Implementation System for Standards and Conformity Assessment Konny Sagala stated via a formal statement.
Palm oil and soybean oil sectors look to India as major 2025 target market
India is set to become one of the world’s largest food commodity consumption markets in 2025, particularly for edible oils such as palm oil and soybean oil.
This was the conclusion of an expert panel focusing on the Future of Commodities which convened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and comprised of KLK Group COO Lee Jia Zhang, the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service Regional Agricultural Counselor Timothy Harrison and Euromonitor Head of Economies Practice Dr. Lan Ha.
India overtook China to become the world’s largest population in 2023, and is also the fifth largest global economy in the world. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi successfully defended his seat to lead the country for a third term, which experts believe is set to drive the local economy to new heights.
“Modi’s second term was focused on improving India’s self-reliance via domestic production and now his third term is to build further on this with agriculture as a key focus,” Dr Ha told the floor.
“We can expect to see a rise in modernisation in the country in order to increase domestic production as he wants to reduce reliance on imports – but this increased rate of urbanisation means there will also be an increase demand for food and the various basic commodities."
Indonesia updates genetically modified food regulations to clarify sale requirements
The Indonesian government has updated regulations governing the production and sale of genetically modified (GM) foods.
Indonesia has maintained an open attitude to the use of GM seed technologies as well as the import of GM food products (PRG) into the market over the years, which is unsurprising as the country is the fourth most-populous country in the world and needs to feed many mouths.
The local Food and Drug Authority (BPOM) recently updated the regulations governing the production and sale of GM foods in the local market, in order to clarify the standards that these products need to meet before obtaining approval for sale.
“The community still needs to be protected from the effects of any GM foods that do not fulfil food safety standards, so we are updating the local Genetically Modified Food Product Supervision regulations in accordance with the advancement of updated knowledge, technology and laws in this area,” BPOM Head Taruna Ikrar said via a formal statement.
“One of these areas is the GM foods that require labelling – all along BPOM has mandated that GM foods must carry labels that state ‘GENETICALLY MODIFIED PRODUCT’ on the packaging, but these new regulations clarify exactly which products are not required to carry this."
Precision fermentation sector needs to be ‘realistic’ in light of fading funds
The precision fermentation sector in Asia Pacific needs to take a more ‘realistic’ approach to operational and infrastructural management with a shift towards collaborative attitudes, in light of funding becoming increasingly scarce.
This was the opinion of an expert panel that convened at the Asia Pacific Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in Singapore.
Whilst the precision fermentation industry has made many significant leaps and bounds in the APAC region over the last few years, the panel concluded that it is now important for players in this sector to operate based on a more realistic framework.
“The fact is that the investment money today is no longer as available as it was three years back, and funding is crucial when it comes to building facilities or partnerships and so on,” Roberts told the floor.
“But solely relying on investments coming in is a high-risk strategy and what is really needed now is to derisk, as the sector should be moving towards evolving and growing but we are never going to be able to build it as an industry if the focus is on everyone using funds to build more and more facilities which then leads to increased worries about potential business failure.
“This may sound pessimistic but it really isn’t, it’s just moving from a hype stage to a more realistic situation now, and strategies should be focused on low-cost, high-speed growth.”
South Korea launches 19 government-backed reduced-sodium and sugar products
The South Korean government has collaborated with industry to launch 19 reduced-sodium and sugar food and beverage products as it seeks to meet national targets.
The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has announced the launch of food and beverage products developed across various popular processed food categories, which were created as part of the national Comprehensive Plan for Reducing Sodium and Sugar.
A total of 19 products were announced including packaged sandwiches with up to 45% of sodium content reduced and a 30% sodium-reduced packaged hamburger, developed in conjunction with Food Planet and Wonfoodrim Co., as well as strawberry ice creams with up to 50% less sugar than average developed with Jena Co.
“Other notable products include bakery items such as castella cakes, packaged soups, tteokbokki (rice cake) soup, sundae (Korean sausage) and iced teas,” MFDS Minister Oh Yoo-kyung said via a formal statement.
“This is in line with the government’s ambition to develop low-sodium and low-sugar products particularly within the processed and cooked foods sectors, to expand the available choices for consumers looking for less salty and less sweet foods.
“We chose items such as sandwiches, hamburgers and ice creams to focus on this year because of local data indicating that sodium intake due to convenience foods has been increasing, particularly amongst single-person households.
Luxury or complement? What does the future hold for APAC cultivated meat?
The cultivated meat and seafood sector in APAC has gone through various ups and downs in recent years – but now that the dust has settled, what does the industry truly see as the path forward?
Cultivated meat had a heyday just three to four years back when it was often declared the protein source of the future, and having the potential to feed millions across the globe, particularly the growing population in Asia Pacific where demand is expected to rise the most.
This was further boosted by what appeared to be major steps in support of the industry such as Singapore approving cultivated chicken for sale locally, and China placing unprecedented focus into developing what it deems its New Protein sector, which includes cultivated meat.
This saw venture capitalists and investors all over the world pouring in millions of dollars into various cultivated meat start-ups – but more recently, with the hype the sector has been faced with the unfortunate reality of much of these funds drying up, resulting in what many have called a funding winter.
In the wake of all of these developments, it has become clear that the route for cultivated meat to become the protein source of the future is not quite as clear cut as many once expected, and today’s views on where it will fit into the protein sector have altered significantly.
Dairy opportunities in Asia abundant for foreseeable future – expert insights
There is a wealth of opportunities for the dairy sector in Asia to grow and innovate particularly China and South East Asia, say experts.
Over the past few years, the dairy sector managed to stand firm and achieve new heights of growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the sudden boom of plant-based dairy alternatives which seemed poised to become a threat.
Today, experts believe that the path forward for dairy is even stronger than before, particularly in Asia.
“Indeed, our data shows that animal protein overall is forecasted for stronger growth rates than vegan protein in Asia,” GlobalData South East Asia and Australasia Key Accounts Director Tim Hill told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“We have already seen plant-based enthusiasm decrease significantly compared to two or three years back, and the number of vegans/vegetarians in APAC drop since 2019, particularly in terms of Gen Z consumers who have moved to the option of being flexitarian.
“A survey on ASEAN consumers showed that the number one reason they still gravitate towards traditional protein products is taste, and the second is expense - this applies to not only animal meat products but also dairy.
“Importantly, it is not only lower-income consumers that are doing this but also those better-off economically – we saw that middle-income consumers were the group that cut their spending on plant-based products the most in the past year.”
‘Focus is key’: Vital Meat adopts streamlined approach to scale cultivated protein for APAC market
B2B partnerships and a focus on cultivated chicken are Vital Meat’s strategies to scale production and achieve competitive pricing in the APAC market for cultivated protein.
Scaling production to meet demand and achieve competitive pricing are key challenges in the cultivated meat industry.
To address these issues, Vital Meat collaborates with food industry players to incorporate its cultivated chicken into various products rather than targeting consumers directly.
“Our primary focus is on partnering with food industry players, restaurants, and food service providers to introduce our cultivated meat product into their offerings. We work with leading food companies that will use our chicken in their final products – stuffed pasta, soups, broth, nuggets,” said Olivia de Talancé, COO of Vital Meat.
By working with existing brands, Vital Meat introduces cultivated meat in familiar contexts, which helps build consumer trust and acceptance of a novel protein source.
Aesthetic appeal: Social media culture driving increasing demand for ‘better-looking’ food and beverage products
The importance of social media and online food photography have rapidly increased consumer demand for ‘better-looking’ food and beverage products in the Asia Pacific region, with a focus on elements such as clarity and colour.
Alongside the rapid rise of the health and wellness trend in the APAC food and beverage sector driven by consumer awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the parallel increase in demand for visual appeal, driven most strongly by modern technology.
According to industry experts, this has grown to become one of the most important elements influencing retail and purchase decisions today, but remains one that many firms still struggle with.
“We are indeed seeing an increasing demand amongst food and beverage manufacturers to create better-looking products today,” Roquette Head of Product Marketing Damien-Pierre Lesot told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“The visual appeal of food has grown to become a significant factor influencing consumer purchasing decisions.”
“Frozen sleep”: Tomin Nama Sake re-ignites demand for traditional Japanese alcohol
A revolutionary process that preserves unpasteurised sake for year-round consumption could revitalise an industry facing competitive pressures from both domestic and international alternatives.
Developed by Technican Co., the Tomin (凍眠) process, which translates to ‘frozen sleep’, flash freezes sake in a way that preserves its quality and taste.
“Freezing unpasteurised sake is challenging and cannot be done via typical freezing pocesses. Firstly, the glass will crack. Secondly, the alcohol will separate from water, Causing a change in taste and texture. But our unique flash freezing technique can prevent all of these, preserving the integrity of freshly brewed sake,” said Hideki Tsudatani, PR manager for Technican Co. Ltd.
“Nama” (生) means “raw”, which translates to “unpasteurised” when used in the context of sake brewing. Nama sake is not subjected to any heat or processing. It therefore has a fruitier, richer flavour compared to normal sake, which is pasteurised with heat before bottling.
But nama sake, or namazake, must be consumed as soon as possible as its flavour and aroma will deteriorate rapidly. The Tomin technology, however, has changed this seasonal product into something that is available year-round.
