As part of its efforts to tap into opportunities in the region, the company participated in Gulfood Manufacturing in Dubai last November to showcase its “locally relevant” solutions.
“I’m responsible for the India, Middle East and Africa regions, where there are almost 3bn people and 81 countries but we only have presence in 16 of them, so our ambition is very high. What is really exciting about these markets is that we are seeing great opportunities to combine different Kerry technologies into solutions that will work for multiple customers.
“And because there are lots of new businesses starting up, it gives us a great opportunity to experiment and push customers into new categories. It’s a perfect playground for Kerry’s vast technologies. We are building some exciting partnerships with customers here, which we feel is going to allow Kerry to be a significant leader going forward,” Peter Dillane, Vice President and General Manager of Kerry in the Middle East, India, Sub-Saharan Africa (MISA) told FoodNavigator-Asia.
Over the years, the company has focused heavily on localising production as well as setting up R&D and application facilities in the Middle East.
“Today, we have a very large footprint in Jeddah [Saudi Arabia], and smaller footprints in Turkey and Oman. What that allows us to do is to move at pace and optimise supply chains to service our customers. The solutions that we developed have better speed to market.
“As we have people on the ground in these markets, we also understand the local consumers better, and are able to quickly respond to the needs of our customers.”
Beyond geographical expansion in terms of production, Kerry is also looking to ramp up its R&D facilities to address growing consumer demands for healthier, sustainable, and authentic food experiences across these diverse markets.
“We have built a model where we are able to establish application labs — hiring and training local staff and linking them up with our technology experts around the world — so that we can offer solutions swiftly. In this region, we have opened seven labs in the last 12 months, so we are very much excited by the success of that and by future possibilities.”
Turning trends into action
In the next five years, Kerry expects to see continuous consumer demand for “innovative, great-tasting” products, and greater interest in healthy products.
“Consumers are becoming a lot more sophisticated in their taste and a lot more experimental. There is an increased willingness to try new things due to the nature of the young population, the work-from-home culture, and the pervasiveness of the Internet.
“While young people may not pay as much attention to healthy products, there will come a point where they will be more concerned about their health and that will drive an increased demand for better-for-you products. For example, in Saudi Arabia, which has a high rate of obesity, there is a consciousness of calories and to some degree, a consciousness of sodium being not so good for you,” Dillane shared.
Leveraging its extensive insights on the mass market and foodservice sector, Kerry tailors solutions with the basis of its innovation being co-creation.
For instance, the company uses its TasteSense line of taste and flavour modulators to make low-salt products, and works with its customers to position a product to consumers. In markets where price is a key purchase factor, Kerry focuses on developing a “value option” that tastes good and optimises nutrition at the same time.
“If we notice a major trend like the Hallyu wave in certain countries, such as the Middle East, we will share that with our customers. But at the end of the day, we need to understand their brand priorities and the possible constraints of their production lines.
“We have put in a lot of effort into building an easy framework for customers to engage with our marketing and R&D teams, which have come up with successful unique products for the respective brands they work with.”
At Gulfood Manufacturing, Kerry presented some of these creative concepts, such as strawberry matcha latte and K-popcorn chicken. The latter is said to be fermented gochujang (red chilli paste)- and kimchi-marinated chicken with an “unusual noodle coating” that gives a unique crunch.
“About half our business in the Middle East is sold into restaurants and independent chains. We have noticed that something that is big in a five-star restaurant in Dubai or Riyadh will more than likely become a hit in the mass market.
“So, we are focused on identifying these trends and translating them into retail concepts that would work for our customers. The strawberry matcha latte is an example of turning one of the most popular out-of-home coffee trends to a supermarket ready-to-drink product.”
