Convenience foods & snacks

Organically equal: Taiwan reaches first equivalency status agreements with Australia and Japan

04-Mar-2020 By Pearly Neo

Taiwan has reached organic equivalency agreements with Japan and Australia in a bid to protect its local organic industry, widen export markets and smoothen organic certification processes both ways.

Snacking in Australia: Consumption of ‘healthy’ options up, but savoury snacks still in the lead

04-Mar-2020 By Pearly Neo

Although the Australian snacking industry has seen a sharp rise in consumer preference for ‘healthy’ snacks across the past decade, savoury options such as potato chips still hold a substantial lead over all others.

Boosting international trade: Philippines seeks food safety gains for exports to reduce recalls

02-Mar-2020 By Pearly Neo

The Philippines is developing local reference standards to raise the quality control and monitoring of exported food products, and as such reduce the probability of these being rejected overseas and resulting in forced recalls.

Middle East’s taxes and government policy fuel demand for fibre-enriched, sugar-reduction and dairy alternatives

26-Feb-2020 By Guan Yu Lim

Legislations and government programmes to combat lifestyle diseases are driving demand for fibre-enriched products, reduced sugar and fat goods, and vegan dairy-alternatives across the Middle East.

Double threat: Negative outlook for food retail scene as Hong Kong battles coronavirus and protests

25-Feb-2020 By Guan Yu Lim

Hong Kong’s sales of food retail outlets have dropped 3% to HK$42.8 billion (US$5.5bn) in 2019, compared to HK$44.3 billion (US%5.7bn) in 2018.

Government action needed: Political pressure key for Indonesian F&B firms to propel reformulation

20-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

Food and beverage companies in Indonesia have cited government regulations as the major factor for reformulation, in a country where 28% of the adult population is overweight, 22% is obese, and 35% of deaths are caused by cardiovascular disease.

Halal ‘mismatch’: Why Malaysia needs to take action and close hole in balance of trade

19-Feb-2020 By Richard Whitehead

There is currently a “mismatch” between the amount of halal food imported into Malaysia and the quantity it exports that needs to be addressed, according to Jamil Bidin, the recently retired chief executive of the agency charged with promoting the country’s...

Pakistan’s sugar wars: Punjab proposes 10000% penalty increase for illegal sugarcane dealings as tensions rise

19-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

The government of Pakistan’s most-populated province, Punjab, is trying to halt the ongoing ‘sugar wars’ in the country between sugarcane millers and growers by raising the maximum penalty for illegal dealings by 10,000%.

King of imports: China’s durian market continues to be top target for exporting countries

18-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

China’s appetite for durians has been on the rise over the past few years, and its status as the top export destination for major durian-producing countries worldwide such as Malaysia and Thailand does not look likely to significantly waiver any time...

PepsiCo’s Asian NPD: MNC highlights key trends it is applying to develop emerging markets

18-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

PepsiCo has identified several key consumer trends in Asia which it is applying to develop its major emerging markets in the region.

FNA Deep Dive 2: Chocolate

Sweet prospects: How sustainability commitments and taste innovation will supercharge chocolate success in APAC

14-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

APAC’s chocolate market is forecast to achieve solid growth in the first half of this decade, with sustainability commitments, bean-to-bar production and taste innovation set to propel the sector, as we reveal in detail in our latest FNA Deep Dive multimedia...

Brand New: Mondelez, Coca-Cola, Asahi and more feature in our round-up

13-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

Mondelez, Coca-Cola, Asahi and more feature in this edition of Brand New.

Pink power: Japanese firms loving ruby chocolate ahead of Valentine’s Day

12-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

The popularity of ruby chocolate is skyrocketing amongst local and international confectionery and bakery companies alike in Japan, with a further boom expected ahead of Valentine’s Day .

Bubble burst? Researchers question long-term health and environmental effects of plant-based diet

12-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

Plant-based products have recently come under fire for potential negative health and environmental effects, but much of this has so far gone more or less unnoticed and/or unmentioned by its proponents, it has been claimed.

JD reports surge in fresh food orders in China during Chinese New Year and coronavirus outbreak

12-Feb-2020 By Guan Yu Lim

China e-commerce giants JD say they have seen sales of fresh foods, especially vegetables, increase both online and offline during the Chinese New Year period and during the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

Snacking for kids: H&H’s Good Gout to expand China product offering and distribution channels

10-Feb-2020 By Guan Yu Lim

Health & Happiness (H&H) Group’s Good Gout is focusing on its China expansion this year, with new product launches and more offline distribution channels in the pipeline for the firm which specialises in organic snacks for children.

FNA F&B Trailblazers Podcast Episode 4

PODCAST: AI Palette’s Som Ganchoudhuri on transition from MNC to AI start-up

07-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to the CEO and Co-founder of Singapore-based artificial intelligence company AI Palette Somsubhra Ganchoudhuri (Som) about using AI for food product innovation, and making the switch...

Nissin Foods Group reduces sodium levels in instant cup noodles and launches smart salt intake indicator

06-Feb-2020 By Guan Yu Lim

Nissin Food Products (subsidiary of Nissin Foods Group) is reformulating its instant noodles to reduce salt intake for the rising number of Japanese consumers with hypertension.

Five top trends set to shape Asia’s grocery retail sector in 2020

06-Feb-2020 By Gary Scattergood

From state-of the-art shopper-focused store formats, to the soaring scope of social commerce, here are five trends that are set to shape the region’s grocery retail sector this year…with market-leading examples from Aeon, Lotte, FamilyMart, Alibaba and...

Sabah’s top beans: Malaysian cocoa specialist Vive Snack banks on local focus for success

05-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

Malaysian cocoa firm Vive Snack is banking on a strong local focus to further expand its reach in the domestic market, with an emphasis on its use of local ingredients and new product innovations.

Growth and technology: Food companies singled out as significant force in generating halal industry development

05-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

Food and beverage companies have been singled out as a significant force to ‘generate substantial growth’ for the halal industry, especially in Asia and the Middle East, by creating dedicated halal propositions in developing their businesses.

Palm oil dilemma: Why Malaysia’s second-largest commodity export continues to face uncertain future

05-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

Malaysia is the second-largest palm oil producer in the world and the commodity is also the country’s second-largest export in terms of value - but the local palm oil industry as a whole faces an uncertain future due to volatile prices and continuing...

Digital and physical: Why food packaging developments can combat India’s adulteration woes

04-Feb-2020 By Pearly Neo

With the food adulteration situation in India showing no sign of slowing down, an authentication expert has argued that food packaging developments can help improve the situation and raise food safety levels in the country.

No colour, no PVC: South Korea bans hard-to-recycle plastic materials for F&B packaging

31-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

South Korea has enforced regulations banning the usage of plastic materials that are difficult to recycle such as PVC and coloured PET bottles for the packaging of food and beverage items.

High salt intake linked to increased mortality rate in new Japanese study

29-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Japanese researchers have found a link between high household salt intakes and increased deaths due to various forms of cardiovascular disease, renewing calls for lower salt consumption and increased intake of healthier foods such as fruits, vegetables...

10-step plan: South Korea releases new nutrition labelling guidelines to increase food industry compliance

29-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

South Korea has released a new 10-step nutrition labelling guidelines document to address challenges faced by food businesses in correctly labelling food and beverage items, in the hopes of increasing industry compliance to standards and regulations.

Bigger and better? Nestle’s Uncle Tobys focuses on health with superfood muesli bar range

27-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Nestle Australia’s Uncle Tobys muesli bars have launched a new range with a superfoods and nutritional health focus, targeting whole families and consumers looking for convenient snacking options.

Agriculture, recycling and water: PepsiCo’s key sustainability APAC strategies revealed

27-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Global food and beverage giant PepsiCo has revealed its key sustainability priorities and strategies for the APAC region, ranging all the way through the food chain from agricultural strategies to packaging recycling efforts.

Best of bushfire relief: How Mondelez, Estee Lauder, Blackmores and more are helping out

27-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

The Australian bushfire crisis has caused the death of almost 30 people, countless animals and scorched millions of acres of land, In response to the tragedy, food, nutrition and beauty companies in the country, big and small, have been trying to play...

Podberry announces 2020 partnerships following growth in demand for healthy snacks

23-Jan-2020 By Jenny Eagle

Podberry has announced a number of partnerships for 2020 thanks to a growth in demand for its freeze-dried pea snacks, both in the UK and the Middle East.

Allergen focus: Australia and New Zealand look to tighten mandatory labelling rules

22-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is looking to implement stricter mandatory allergen labelling regulations in both countries, particularly surrounding aspects such as clarity, consistency and prominence, and has opened this proposal to public...

India food quality: Over one in four samples fail quality test as FSSAI makes ‘improvement’ claims

21-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Over 25% of food samples in the Indian state of Haryana have been found to fail food quality tests conducted by the local Food and Drug Administration (FDA), with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) claiming they are getting better...

Korea’s 2030 food industry vision: Five major local food sectors to receive ‘vitality boost’

20-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

South Korea plans to focus on five major sectors within the local food industry and give these a ‘vitality boost’ as part of its 2030 target to double the value of the sector.

Singapore’s War on Diabetes: How industry has played a key role in government’s health battle

20-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Three years after Singapore officially launched its War on Diabetes campaign, with the aim of ‘mobilising the whole nation’ to tackle the condition, we assess how the food and beverage industry has been a key ally in the battle.

Safety First: Philippines alcohol poisoning, Aussie allergen alert, India food labelling and more feature in our round-up

16-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Philippines alcohol poisoning, Aussie allergen alert, India food labelling and more feature in this edition of Safety First.

Grab and go: Slovenian snack company to distribute energy and protein balls to Middle East

15-Jan-2020 By Guan Yu Lim

Slovenian company Touched by Nature is aiming to enter the Middle East market in early 2020 with its healthy snacks range.

Functional porridge: Malaysian firm targets major halal markets with bird’s nest product

15-Jan-2020 By Guan Yu Lim

Malaysian firm Vesbo is hoping to target major halal markets with its functional instant porridge containing bird’s nest and collagen.

South East Asian push: Takasago unveils 100% halal production focus for its new Indonesia factory

15-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Japanese flavours and fragrances giant Takasago International has revealed a completely halal production focus for its latest factory established in Indonesia, in a bid to strengthen its presence in the South East Asian market.

The science of food regs: FSANZ outlines strategy behind industry co-operation to 2023

14-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has revealed the scientific basis behind how it plans to work with the food industry to develop the regulation system in Australia and New Zealand until 2023.

Responsible food labelling in India: Lack of awareness causing smaller F&B firms to miss the mark

14-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Many big F&B brands in India have been making the shift towards the responsible labelling of products, but this is still lacking in smaller local companies – a situation that might be helped by implementing better and stricter labels and regulations,...

Sobar so good? Protein bar which aims to reduce alcohol absorption set for Asian markets

13-Jan-2020 By Guan Yu Lim

California-based Zeno Functional Foods announced it has plans to enter several Asian markets in late 2020 with its protein bar, Sobar, which claims to reduce alcohol absorption.

Science Shorts: Research on allergens, alcohol, red meat and more feature in our round-up

09-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Research on allergens, alcohol, red meat and more feature in this edition of Science Shorts.

‘Kneejerk’ reaction to plastics puts circular economy at risk: ‘This report is a reality check’

09-Jan-2020 By Katy Askew

Public pressure to find solutions to plastic pollution means companies are ‘on the verge’ of swapping to other materials with ‘new, and potentially greater, environmental consequences’, a new report warns.

Taste and solubility: Cargill pea protein product boasts ‘high flexibility’ for product innovation

09-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Cargill is looking to further extend its reach into various product categories across the Asian protein market with its new Radipure pea protein, which it claims to be exceptionally flexible for usage in new product formulations as a result of its neutral...

2020 trends

Sustainability, CBD, smart snacking and plant food are trends to watch in 2020

08-Jan-2020 By Anthony Myers

A report published by Flavorchem expects new categories such as CBD and plant-based to increase in popularity as consumers demand heathier options in their grocery basket.

‘700% cost increase’: Malaysia puts export permit rule changes for fruits and veggies on hold

08-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Malaysia’s initial plans to implement stricter regulations for all plant commodity export permit applications to Singapore have been put on hold after vehement protests from local fruit and vegetable firms.

Snacking, hemp and energy drinks: Three categories ripe for APAC F&B industry growth in 2020

08-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

With the Asia Pacific food and beverage food industry growing at a rapid rate over the past few years, and even more advancement predicted to come, we bring you three of the most significant emerging categories showing strong potential for growth moving...

Convenience key: Australia’s largest organic kids’ snacks range Whole Kids plans APAC expansion

07-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

Australia’s largest organic children’s snacks brand Whole Kids sees convenience for both mothers and kids as well as delivering delicious tasting products as its major priorities whilst planning for its upcoming expansion into the Asia Pacific region.

Five top trends set to shape the APAC food and beverage sector in 2020

06-Jan-2020 By Pearly Neo

We take a look at the five top trends that look set to shape the Asia Pacific food and beverage industry in 2020, from fortification to cell-based development to sustainability and more.