Convenience foods & snacks

Mars opens center to address food safety risk portfolio

02-Oct-2015 By Joseph James Whitworth

Mars Incorporated has opened a pre-competitive research and training facility in China to address food safety.

This week Down Under

Researchers: Junk food diet leads to brain weaknesses

16-Sep-2015 By RJ Whitehead

New research has shown for the first time that the part of the brain used for learning, memory and mental health is smaller in people with unhealthy diets.

Asean

Rabobank: SE Asian bloc will pave way for food and meat to boom

16-Sep-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Packaged food and meat will gain most out of all food and agriculture (F&A) sectors as a result of Asean Economic Community (AEC) integration to outpace global growth.

Big in Japan: Pretz to launch in US market

11-Sep-2015 By Hal Conick

Pocky Sticks maker Ezaki Glico will release another Japanese snack, Pretz, on the US market.

Far East digest

Korean junk food consumption halves in last decade

04-Sep-2015 By RJ Whitehead

The rate that Korean teenagers regularly consume has halved over the past 10 years, the country’s health watchdog has found. 

tna co-founder talks cashflow, acquisitions & fighting patent litigation, as firm celebrates 33 years as ‘Australian icon’

04-Sep-2015 By Jenny Eagle

tna celebrates its 33rd anniversary this year and was recently recognised as an ‘Australian icon’ in the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Eastern Australia, for its innovation in the food industry.

Key events in the Maggi affair

13-Aug-2015 By RJ Whitehead

On June 5, India’s food regulator, the FSSAI, ordered nine lines of Maggi, the Nestlé noodle brand that dominates the market, to be removed from shelves in India.

Analysis

As Maggi affair nears a conclusion, questions need to be asked

13-Aug-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Over the last few days it feels like we’ve written about little more than the Maggi noodles affair in India. Thankfully it is now reaching a conclusion. But still it raises some vitally important questions that must surely be addressed.

Maggi given all clear by high court pending further tests

13-Aug-2015 By RJ Whitehead

The Bombay high court has ruled that the chief executive of India’s food regulator, the FSSAI, had “acted in an emergent, drastic and arbitrary” fashion in ordering Nestlé to withdraw its popular Maggi noodles from the shelves in June.

Editorial

Maggi action: The latest monsoon in a chai cup

12-Aug-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Reactionary and radical moves by politicians and administrators who like to ride roughshod over common sense are unexceptional occurrences in India. 

Mixed Maggi news for Nestlé as FDA gives all clear

11-Aug-2015 By Joseph James Whitworth

Nestlé India’s Maggi noodles have been cleared by one Indian lab but failed tests in another as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given them the green light.

Global savory snacks to hit $166.6bn by 2020

04-Aug-2015 By Hal Conick

The savory snack market will grow 7.1% each year, driven by the increasing purchasing power of developing countries, says P&S Market Research.

Australia

Tyrrells's Aus acquisition reflects craft movement’s eastern surge

04-Aug-2015 By Richard Whitehead

Britain’s biggest hand-cooked premium potato chip brand will establish a foothold in Australia with its purchase this week of Yarra Valley Snack Foods. 

Nestlé India sales drop 20% after Maggi recall

31-Jul-2015 By Joseph James Whitworth

Nestlé India’s net sales plummeted 20.1% in the second quarter largely due to the Maggi noodles scare.

South Asia radius

20% of Indian food tests revealed adulterated or misbranded products

28-Jul-2015 By RJ Whitehead

20% of Indian food tests revealed adulterated or misbranded products

This week Down Under

Could Australia be hamstrung by earlier WTO country-of-origin ruling?

22-Jul-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Could Australia be hamstrung by earlier WTO country-of-origin ruling?

Nestlé to open $120m food processing plant in Dubai, creating 400 jobs

06-Jul-2015 By Jenny Eagle

Nestlé is investing $120m in a 175,000m² manufacturing facility in Dubai to produce Nescafé coffee and Maggi products, creating 400 jobs.

Nestlé India gets go ahead to export Maggi noodles

30-Jun-2015 By Joseph James Whitworth

Nestlé India has been allowed to export Maggi noodles by the Bombay High Court but the product will remain off shelves in India.

Double jeopardy: Do fitness foods make people eat more and exercise less?

24-Jun-2015 By Niamh Michail

Products flogging fitness may encourage weight-conscious consumers to eat more and exercise less – leading the scientists behind the research to call for closer monitoring of sports nutrition marketing practices.

India

Court-ordered food safety group will begin scrutinising nutrition regulations

19-Jun-2015 By RJ Whitehead

India’s food watchdog will set up a working group to regulate the levels of sugar, salt and fat found in foods following one state’s crackdown on child nutrition.

UPDATED: Next hearing set for June 30

Hearing set in Nestlé Maggi ban case

12-Jun-2015 By Joseph James Whitworth

Nestlé India’s court case to challenge the ban on Maggi noodles has been heard today (Friday) with the next hearing set for the end of the month.

India

Maggi: Regulator to test other brands' noodles as outrage grows

10-Jun-2015 By RJ Whitehead

India’s food regulator will test all brands of instant noodles, pasta and macaroni that contain Tastemaker masala in the wake of what has been labelled by observers as the highest profile case they have ever had to tackle.

Japan

Poor returns blamed on increased VAT after vending machine sales drop

09-Jun-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Japan’s vending machine stockers have been seeing sluggish fortunes over the last year as overall sales dropped by 5% last year, down from 2013’s US$42.9bn.

India

Nestlé brand taking a battering as gov’t prepares to sue over Maggi

08-Jun-2015 By RJ Whitehead

India's food safety watchdog has ordered all variants of Nestlé’s Maggi noodles to be withdrawn from sale and further production and exports to be stopped.

Seaweed in focus

What will it take to make Indonesian seaweed competitive?

03-Jun-2015 By Annie-Rose Harrison-Dunn, reporting from Indonesia

Indonesia has ambitious plans to add value to its seaweed industry – but its success could depend on the outcome of an ongoing tug-of-war between industry and government.

China

China now world’s second most obese nation

27-May-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Now with one in every four people in the country being overweight, China has placed second in the list of countries with the largest number of obese inhabitants, leading analysts to call for the introduction of a tax on unhealthy foods.

Lead level concerns in Maggi Noodles prompt Nestlé India response

25-May-2015 By Joseph James Whitworth

Nestlé has hit back at orders from an Indian food safety authority to recall Maggi noodles because of lead levels.

Leading emerging countries match poor nutrition patterns of the West

14-May-2015 By RJ Whitehead

For consumers in newly wealthy countries like China and South Korea, nutrition is not improving at anywhere near the pace their nations’ economies are growing, a leading think tank believes. 

Myanmar

KFC hunts for golden egg in Myanmar's new market

05-May-2015 By RJ Whitehead

US fast food is poised to arrive in Yangon for the first time after KFC was named the first north American chain to open in Myanmar.

Patties testing claims berries were not the source of hep A infections

15-Apr-2015 By RJ Whitehead

The Australian food manufacturer whose frozen berries were reportedly at the centre of a hepatitis A outbreak in March has claimed its products were negative for the virus after it conducted testing.

India

Packaged food and fizzy drinks not behind India’s diabetes spike

25-Feb-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Despite living among the highest population of diabetics in the world, Indians consumed just one-fifth of the global daily average for calories through packaged food and soft drinks last year.

Briefing

Peanuts: Fewer allergies mean more fans as Asian consumption grows

25-Feb-2015 By RJ Whitehead

It is no coincidence that eight out of the world’s top 10 peanut consumers are in Asia, where eating the nuts appears to be an altogether safer pastime than doing so in Europe or North America.

Beauty and Traditional Chinese Medicine bars could be 'instant wins' in China

23-Feb-2015 By Kacey Culliney

Snack bar makers can create instant wins in China with beauty bars or products containing Traditional Chinese Medicine ingredients, say Chinese consumer experts.

VIDEOS EXPLORE KOREAN AND US ATTITUDES TO OTHER NATION'S SNACKS

‘Ah! The smell of artificiality...’ South Korean girls sample US snacks for the first time

20-Feb-2015 By Ben BOUCKLEY

Pop Tarts, Lay’s and Cheez-Its... How do young South Korean women tasting these US staple snacks for the first time rate them? The reactions in the recent videos below are surprising, and provide interesting insight into the cross-cultural potential,...

India

Research: Indian QSR market to almost double by 2017

11-Feb-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Currently worth almost Rs60bn (US$960m), India’s quick-service restaurant segment is expected to grow by 26% each year to reach Rs117bn by 2017, fuelled by the arrival of more international chains and strengthening of local playesr.

Japan

Scandals prompt McDonald’s Japan to report first loss in over a decade

05-Feb-2015 By RJ Whitehead

A series of food safety incidents last year has taken its toll on McDonald’s Japan, with the company declaring its first net loss in 11 years.

Cost, cynicism and frustration: Malaysian government launches own palm oil standard

30-Jan-2015 By Annie Harrison-Dunn

The Malaysian government has launched its own sustainable palm oil certification standard – but will this add to or detract from sustainability and transparency efforts in the sector?

First EU edible insect food safety guide published

28-Jan-2015 By Nicholas Robinson

Food safety guidelines for insects destined for human consumption have been created for the first time in response to their likelihood of becoming widely consumed in Europe.

Australia

Poll: Public angry at gov't and industry’s approach to healthier food

21-Jan-2015 By RJ Whitehead

Two-thirds of Australians believe that the food industry has more say than the government over food regulation, while eight out of 10 believe the health star rating should me mandatory for all packaged foods, according to disturbing figures released by...

If Bright Food takes over Weetabix...

14-Jan-2015 By Kacey Culliney

Bright Food will need to protect Weetabix’s UK brand heritage should speculation of a full buyout come true, says a China-based analyst.

Japan

Japanese ‘mega potato’ wiped out by McDonald’s' Far East spud shortage

22-Dec-2014 By RJ Whitehead

McDonald’s customers in Japan are facing life with smaller fry portions to go with their red snow crab croquette burgers as the company attempts to sort out problems with the potato supply chain that links its two biggest markets.

Case study

Chinese street food chain makes a ‘bing’ impression in Australia

11-Dec-2014 By Jack Baldwin

Combining a popular Chinese street food with a modern franchise model has turned out well for a South Australian entrepreneur with a solid business plan.

Australia

As Aussie as Croc Dundee, though Asian-born are not taking to Vegemite

10-Dec-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Barrack Obama isn’t the only non-Australian to find Vegemite “horrible… a quasi-vegetable by-product that you smear on your toast”, with research showing that the yeast extract is overwhelmingly more popular among people born in Australia than than almost...

Euromonitor: India snacks hold explosive growth promise for ingredients

03-Nov-2014 By Kacey Culliney

 Ingredients suppliers should target India’s sweet and savory snacks sector because it’s untapped and brimming with potential, says Euromonitor International.

Tate & Lyle backs fibre to battle Asian bulge

30-Oct-2014

Tate & Lyle used the recent Food Ingredients-Asia trade event in Jakarta as a springboard for its mounting ambitions in the country of 250 million people as well as other parts of Asia. Fibre and low-calorie sweeteners for weight control were a big...

India

BK to finally enter the Indian market after months of speculation

28-Oct-2014 By RJ Whitehead

Burger King will open its first stores in India in the next couple of months, with New Delhi, NCR and Mumbai each on the waiting list for restaurants.

Hydrocyanic acid forces recall of Tapioca chips

24-Oct-2014 By Joseph James Whitworth

Resmi International has recalled Manjilas Tapioca Chips Spicy in Australia due to high levels of hydrocyanic acid.

McDonald’s Japan revises finances following food safety scandal

08-Oct-2014 By Oli Haenlein

McDonald’s Holdings Japan has revised its financial forecasts to take into account a damaging incident earlier this year, in which workers from supplier Shanghai Husi were filmed picking meat off the floor and using out-of-date beef and chicken.

New Zealand

Sporty kids being bombarded with junk food ads in New Zealand

07-Oct-2014 By Andrew Schreiber

Kiwi kids are being bombarded with junk food advertising and their parents often feel powerless to combat this, according to new research released at the NZ Population Health Conference in Auckland today.

Australia

Australia’s manufacturers still not fully on board with salt reduction

19-Sep-2014 By Andrew Schreiber

A review of the Food and Health Dialogue, the Australian Government’s flagship initiative to improve the healthiness of the country’s food supply, has showed mixed results in efforts to reduce salt content.