Convenience foods & snacks

Fi Asia 2018

From surplus commodities to innovative exports: How Thailand can hit the sweet spot with rambutan

09-Oct-2018 By Pearly Neo

Innovation, research and development are key factors if countries want to transform their ‘surplus’ commodities into value-adding products, said the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR).

Fi Asia 2018

Carbs crash: Meal replacement snack bar opportunities abound in Indonesia

09-Oct-2018 By Gary Scattergood

With a quarter of urban Indonesians are avoiding, or intend to avoid, carbohydrates, analysts are predicting a bright future for the nation’s fledgling meal replacement snack bar sector.

Top 7 from 7: The key global food industry news of the past 7 days (Oct 1-8)

08-Oct-2018 By Stephen Daniells

From Indra Nooyi’s key lessons from her time at PepsiCo to the rise of fermented foods and new cases of avian flu in China, a lot has happened over the past seven days. Here’s a round-up of the top seven global food and beverage news items to get you...

Chocolate’s use in bakery is a booming business in China

08-Oct-2018 By Gill Hyslop

Once perceived as an exotic delicacy – bought only as a luxury gift or an extravagant treat – the Chinese consumers’ taste for chocolate is growing and the ingredient is quickly cementing a niche for itself in bakery.

Fi Asia 2018

‘Innovate or become irrelevant’: Indonesian trade body, food scientists and regulators weigh in on state of nation’s industry

08-Oct-2018 By Gary Scattergood

International and local investment into Indonesia’s food and beverage industry is continuing to rise, but a trio of experts have underlined a series of challenges – from innovation to collaboration and food safety – that the sector has to confront to...

Mitsubishi Corporation Life Sciences to boost market share in health food with consolidation of subsidiaries

08-Oct-2018 By Tingmin Koe

Mitsubishi Corporation Life Sciences Limited is set to build its portfolio in health food with the consolidation of its three subsidiaries.

UAE consumers urge authorities to tighten supervision of homemade food businesses

08-Oct-2018 By Tingmin Koe

UAE consumers have urged authorities to tighten the supervision of homemade food businesses.

Jumping on the hojicha bandwagon: Canadian start-up eyes North American and Asian markets

08-Oct-2018 By Tingmin Koe

Foreseeing that hojicha will become one of the most popular tea varieties, Canadian start-up Hōjicha Co is devoting its resources to sell only hojicha products.

PepsiCo and Nestlé sever ties with Indonesia’s largest palm oil supplier in wake of alleged human rights abuses

05-Oct-2018 By Gill Hyslop

Nestlé announced it closed its joint venture with the Indofood Group last month, while PepsiCo reiterated its stance to not source palm oil – either directly or indirectly – from the company and its subsidiaries, purportedly linked to deforestation and...

Nestle Australia leads big food firms in Australasian Recycling Label implementation

03-Oct-2018 By Pearly Neo

Nestle has officially begun implementation of the Australasian Recycling Label (ARL) in its food packaging.

Tokyo Pack 2018

Singapore will run out of packaging waste landfill by 2035

03-Oct-2018 By Jenny Eagle

Singapore has created a Singapore Packaging Agreement (SPA) to alleviate the problem of packaging waste in the country.

High salt intake linked to development of impaired kidney function: Japanese study

03-Oct-2018 By Tingmin Koe

The higher the salt intake, the higher the risk of developing kidney impairment, according to a group of Japanese researchers.

Calbee to enter granola and veggie puffs categories in US

02-Oct-2018 By Douglas Yu

The Japanese snacks company Calbee is introducing two new snack brands, Granola Medley and Honestly Veggie Popper Duos, to the US early next year, adding to its existing US portfolio of Harvest Snaps, shrimp and potato chips in the market.

Financing the War on Diabetes: GI-lowering tech creator Alchemy FoodTech secures seven-figure investment

02-Oct-2018 By Pearly Neo

Singaporean start-up Alchemy FoodTech has obtained investments in the seven-digit range through a pre-series A round of funding.

China traceability rule changes: “QS” quality and safety logo no longer permitted for use

02-Oct-2018 By Tingmin Koe

Food and beverage manufacturers operating in China are now required to use a new set of quality and safety marks.

Top 7 from 7: The key global food industry news of the past 7 days (Sept 24 – Oct 1)

01-Oct-2018 By Stephen Daniells

From Dr Pepper’s acquisition of CORE Nutrition and tighter standards for advertising to kids and the UK’s pledge to halve food waste by 2020, a lot has happened over the past seven days. Here’s a round-up of the top seven global food and beverage news...

Enabling food safety research: New Singapore centre seeks food industry applicants

01-Oct-2018 By Pearly Neo

The Waters-sponsored International Food and Water Research Centre (IFWRC) has opened its doors to applicants from food companies and other scientists with food and water safety-related projects.

World first: Nestle leads food companies in using satellite service to monitor palm oil supply

01-Oct-2018 By Pearly Neo

Nestle has become the first food company worldwide to execute the use of the satellite-based Starling service to monitor all of its palm oil supply chains globally.

Trend Tracker: Halal boom, organic growth and clean label innovation revealed

27-Sep-2018 By Gary Scattergood

In this month's edition of our Trend Tracker review, we look at halal growth in Malaysia, an organic surge in the UAE and clean label innovation in South East Asia.

Turkey’s food exports to China soar by 100% in the past three years

27-Sep-2018 By Tingmin Koe

The amount of food exported from Turkey to China had skyrocketed 100% in the past three years, according to the Aegean Exporters Association.

Brand new: Kellogg's, Coca-Cola, Heineken and Nestlé feature in latest brand round-up

27-Sep-2018 By Gary Scattergood

In the latest edition of our need-to-know news featuring the region's biggest brands, we shine the spotlight on MNCs including Nestle, Coca-Cola and Heineken.

Halal food boom: Malaysia predicts rapid growth in exports and foreign demand for certifications

27-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Malaysia is expecting an increase of 10% in halal exports and a significant increase in demand for halal certifications by foreign countries this year.

Dual use of Health Star Ratings and Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion "likely to confuse consumers": Australian study

26-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Australian researchers have found that dual implementation of the Health Star Ratings (HSR) and Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion (NPSC) to advertise product healthiness is "likely to result in confusion for consumers".

Coconut oil 'poison' row: Harvard distances itself from 'pure poison' statement in response to Indian government's wrath

26-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Harvard University has responded to the Indian agricultural department's emphatic letter protesting the description of coconut oil as 'pure poison' by distancing itself from any direct connection with the claims, saying that these were...

Taxing soda vs sugar: Which is the way to stop sugar over-consumption in Malaysia?

25-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Implementing a tax on soda will not be enough to stop Malaysians' over-consumption of sugar, says a local think tank.

Top 7 from 7: The key global food industry news of the past 7 days (Sept 17 - 23)

23-Sep-2018 By Stephen Daniells

From Heinz's new Maychup condiment to Coca-Cola entering Australia's kombucha category, here’s a round-up of the top seven global food and beverage news items from the past seven days.

Japan Focus: Mail order crisis, Kirin and 'nuclear food' in the spotlight

20-Sep-2018 By Gary Scattergood

In the first of our monthly reviews of the latest food and beverage developments in Japan, we look at the latest business, regulatory and innovation news.

Opinion: How Singapore’s food industry is shaking things up for the future

20-Sep-2018 By Matthew Kovac and Kee Ai Nah

It is undeniable that the food and drinks in supermarkets have been changing – from production to packaging, writes Matthew Kovac, Executive Director, Food Industry Asia (FIA) and Kee Ai Nah, Executive Director, Lifestyle & Consumer Cluster, Enterprise...

China Focus: JD, DSM and Xiaomi in the spotlight

19-Sep-2018 By Gary Scattergood

In the first of our monthly round-ups featuring the latest food and beverage developments in China, we shine the spotlight on JD, DSM and Xiaomi, among others.

Is technology the answer to solving Asia's food waste crisis?

19-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Technological innovation looks to be the name of the game in the search for solutions to defeat Asia's food loss and food waste issues.

Increase in Philippines’ F&B spending will drive local online grocery market growth

18-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Strong growth in local Filipino food and beverage spending is set to propel e-commerce activity in the Philippines, especially in online mass grocery retail (MGR).

Cracking down on China’s food safety: Vice Premier urges lifetime bans for offenders

18-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

China Vice Premier Han Zheng is pushing for harsher penalties, including lifetime bans, on industry players that knowingly flout food safety laws and regulations.

Japanese mail order food seller goes under leaving 33,000 investors out of pocket

17-Sep-2018 By Tingmin Koe

Japanese mail order food seller Kefir Inc has announced bankruptcy, after accumulating debts of US$949 million (105.3 billion yen).

Brand new: The need-to-know developments from big-name food and beverage brands across APAC

13-Sep-2018 By Gary Scattergood

In the first of our new monthly round-ups of the biggest brand developments in the region's food and beverage industries, we shine the spotlight on Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Heinz, San Miguel and Mondelēz.

Hot right now: Our top trending food and beverage stories on social media

11-Sep-2018 By Gary Scattergood

In the first of our monthly reviews of the top five stories finding favour on social media, we highlight the latest developments at Nestle, DuPont and around palm oil and e-commerce.

Coconut oil ‘poison’ row: Indian government fires back over Harvard professor’s allegations

11-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

The Indian agricultural ministry has lashed out with a strongly-worded letter against claims by a Harvard professor who declared coconut oil to be ‘pure poison’.

Ethnic inspiration and home cooking: Ingredion’s future directions for clean label innovation

10-Sep-2018 By Tingmin Koe

Ingredion is exploring new ingredient sources, ethnic and home-style cooking to invent its future clean label products.

'Nuclear food referendum': Taiwan's softening of Fukushima ban under threat amid ballot calls

10-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Japan's hopes that the Taiwan government will lift the current ban on foods from Fukushima and surrounding areas has hit another hurdle after Kuomintang, the largest opposition party in Taiwan, submitted a referendum request on what has been dubbed...

Trend tracker: The latest APAC consumer and market insights for the food and beverage industry

06-Sep-2018 By Gary Scattergood

In the first of our monthly round-ups of the need-to-know market and consumer trend developments in APAC, we reveal the latest insights around dairy, organic, noodles, retail and food safety.

Gluten-free 'healthy' instant noodles seeking to disrupt Australian market after Woollies roll-out

06-Sep-2018 By Lester Wan

A new 'healthy gourmet' instant noodle brand, Mr Lee's Noodles, is seeking to disrupt the Australian snack and convenience food sector after securing a number of retail distribution deals.

Meet the Indian start-ups brewing up disruption in the nation’s tea industry

05-Sep-2018 By RJ Whitehead

India may be the world’s second-biggest tea producer, but it has perennially struggled to develop brand names with domestic and international appeal, but this may now be starting to change with the growth of several new-generation speciality tea start-ups.

San Miguel reveals extensive facilities expansion plans to boost production capacity

05-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

San Miguel Food and Beverage (SMFB) will plough resources into building new company-owned production facilities in the Philippines in an effort to tramp-up production and help boost exports.

Singapore scientists claim plant-based product a ‘game-changer’ for clean label preservation

04-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Scientists in Singapore claim they have found a “game-changing”plant-based preservative that could bring immense benefits to consumers.

Aussie self-fertilising almond trees could meet industry demand amid dwindling bee population

04-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Six new varieties of Australian-bred almond trees are expected to play a role as growers seek ways to combat declining bee colonies, which are needed to fertilise the trees.

Pandan sesame cookies and reduced-sodium noodles…US dairy innovations for Asian consumers

04-Sep-2018 By Tingmin Koe

The US Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and Food Innovation and Resource Center (FIRC) at Singapore Polytechnic have created South East Asian food with reduced salt and sugar, using US dairy ingredients.

The chips are up: Singaporean start-up packing a punch with traditional dish flavours

04-Sep-2018 By Lester Wan

A Singaporean start-up is finding favour with its locally-inspired potato chips — available in Hainanese Chicken Rice and Singapore Laksa flavours — now on the shelves in leading supermarkets.

Nestlé Philippines responds to Greenpeace waste criticisms following Manila's 'plastic waves'

04-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Nestlé Philippines has responded to criticisms over packaging waste made by environmental campaigners after ‘plastic waves’ hit Manila, with the firm issuing reassurances that steps are in place to ‘reduce its environmental footprint’.

Noodle sales bounce back as major Asian markets report first annual rises in five years

03-Sep-2018 By Pearly Neo

Asia has retained the top five spots for instant noodle consumption worldwide, with four out of the top five countries recording year-on-year growth.

COMMENT: Indian food regulator FSSAI has big ambitions, but is it biting off more than it can chew?

03-Sep-2018 By Gary Scattergood

No one can accuse India's food regulator FSSAI of a lack of ambition or activity, as hardly a week goes by without a major new announcement, scheme or plans for new rules reaching my inbox, writes FoodNavigator-Asia Editor-in-Chief Gary Scattergood.

Chinese ‘diplomatic sanctions’ could hurt big US food brands as trade war escalates

30-Aug-2018 By RJ Whitehead

With China having vowed to retaliate against the growing number of sanctions placed on it in by America in an escalating trade war, a number of major US brands with sizeable operations in the Asian giant stand to lose out, including foodservice chains...