Market News - Asia Food & Beverages

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5 MAJOR TRENDS TO WATCH FOR 2020

FOOD (GENERAL)ASIA

2020 will be an interesting year to watch as the world will see dramatic shifts in several perspectives. On the economic front, the US-China trade war has taken a ‘breather’ with the conclusion of US-China Phase 1 Trade Deal on 16 January whereby China agreed to buy US$200 billion of US goods, of which roughly 20% of these are farm/food prod-ucts over a period of 2 years, in return the US is expected to reduce its tariffs on several Chinese imports and cancel duties that were set to take effect in December. Both economic giants, US and China have approximately 40% share of the world’s GDP which was estimated at close to US$34.4 trillion in 2018. With such a dominant economic clout, any changes in economic policies which affects one or both countries will trickle down to the global community. Apart from the economic uncertainties, we have identified 5 major trends relating to the food and beverage industry, which will have a lasting impact to Asia in the many years to come.

There is rising health awareness against excessive consumption of sugar, which is indirectly accelerated by various health programs as well as sugar taxes and restrictions imposed by several Asian governments to tack-le rising issues of diabetes, heart diseases and obesity in many ASEAN countries. As a result, more and more companies are joining in the bandwagon to offer no or low sugar products in their portfolio. Many are also looking for sugar replacement alternatives like stevia and natural sweeteners which do not compromise on the taste of products and yet healthy. One interesting formulation is the use of Tate & Lyle’s sugar replacer like allulose, a low-calorie sweetening agent which has close to sugar-like taste. For those companies that still want to use sugar in their product formulations, Malaysia’s Central Sugars Refinery Sdn Bhd (CSR) had teamed up with Singapore-based Nutrition Innovation in 2019 to bring healthier sugar and sugar reduction solutions. CSR offers ‘Better Brown’ low glycemic sugar which leverages on Nucane technology from Nutrition Innovation.

Low Sugar/Sugar Replacement in food products

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While much attention has been placed on traditional flavors like Vanilla, Choco-late, Blueberry and Strawberry, industry players seem to have forgotten the rich va-rieties of flavors offered by our Asian counterparts which are yet to be fully explored to its fullest potential. Traditional age-old flavors which have a mild yet soothing fragrant and taste like ‘Pandan’ can have universal application in both food and beverage products. Very little progress has been made to incorporate Pandan into juices and other bever-ages. In the past few years, we saw a proliferation of bakery, snacks and confectionery products which utilise ‘Salted Egg’ in their new products. So far, the sales results have been encouraging to start with and there is a possibility that ‘Salted Egg’ will be a lasting flavor variant in many existing product formulations in Asia. Apart from Pandan and Salted Egg, there are also many potential Asian-based fruits flavors like the ‘kwini’ mangos which are native to only ASEAN countries like Indonesia, which emit a unique sweet flavor with a fragrant resinous smell.

This final trend to watch is probably one of the most important due to the impact that it can cause to a food business. Many countries in the developed parts of the world in Europe and America, have empowered this ‘Sustainability Movement’ by devising new laws and regulations to curtail the sales of products which they feel are sourced from unsustainable origins. One industry which faces tremendous challenge is Palm Oil industry, which is one of the most important trade commodities for Indonesia and Malaysia. Palm Oil is an essential commodity which has many applications in food products like cooking oil, confectionery, snacks and margarine amongst others. A sustainability certification for a palm oil plantation is now a necessity in many countries to ensure that it can sell or export its products. In 2020, Singapore is launching a publicity and business engagement campaign led by local non-government organisation People’s Movement to encourage Singa-porean businesses to use palm oil produced by environmentally friendly technolo-gies. Singapore aims to become the 1st country in the world to only use sustainable palm oil. The campaign encourages Singaporeans to switch to environmentally friendly palm oil and will initially focus on restaurants and cooking oil before target-ing other businesses. ‘Sustainability’ does not only revolve around agricultural practices, but also ‘sus-tainable’ raw materials ingredients and ‘sustainable’ (fair) labour use and work con-ditions, as well as ‘sustainable’ packaging. A growing number of Asian food companies are focusing on the use of quality raw materials sourced from credible suppliers to manufacture food products that are later packaged in materials that can be recycled. We will see dramatic shift towards ‘sustainable’ food products as Asian consumers have higher disposable incomes. ASEAN countries like Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand belong to the Top 10 polluters of the world’s ocean due to large number of plastic wastes and straws thrown into the sea. Consumers are now becoming more aware of climate change and the drastic effects of forest fires and sea pollution can have on the environment. We will definitely see growing interest by ASEAN food companies - from food ingredients suppliers to manufacturers to food service operators (restaurants) in 2020 - to look for sustainably sourced raw materials as well as sustainable packag-ing options for their products.

In the recent inaugural edition of Eldex Eldercare exhibition held in November in Singapore, there was a Food For El-ders pavilion led Enterprise Singapore, which featured food products by Singa-pore companies that cater to the spe-cial needs of this ‘silver’ (elderly) demo-graphic group. In a presentation done by Spire Re-search & Consulting, Indonesia has been identified as having the largest number of elderly population in ASEAN estimated at more than 29 million, but Singapore (27%) and Thailand (23%) will have the largest proportion of elder-ly in 2035. With the huge population of elderly in ASEAN, i.e. people who are above 65 years old, who are estimated to cross 78 million by 2035, food and beverage companies need to formulate more products that are specifically designed to meet the nutritional needs of this pop-ulation. In China alone, the number of people above the age of 50 has reached 250 million in 2019. Currently, research and development efforts are underway by MNCs like Nes-tle to look into medical, nutraceuticals and nutritional food products to cater to this population, however this is not suf-ficient and up to scale yet. More R&D efforts need to be taken to tap the po-tential of creating staple ‘daily’ food and beverages that cater to the nutritional requirements of this huge and growing population.

Plant-based Alternatives

Asian Flavors Boom

Growing Sustainability Movement

Rising Elderly population requires special food products

FISH SAUCE MARKET TO WITNESS ROBUST GROWTH TILL 2025

SAUCES/CONDIMENTS

The global Fish Sauce Market was projected to reach US$15.32 billion in market value in 2018, according to a recent research distributed by Million Insights Inc. This market is expected to reach US$19.5 billion by 2025 with a CAGR of 3.5%. This could be attributed to a strong demand for fish sauce in the form of condiment in various cuisines. Industry manufacturing of fish sauce requires combining fish essence, coloring, pre-servatives, flavoring, and sweeteners. Vietnam is the largest consumer of fish sauce due to the fact that the Viet-namese believe in nutritional value of conventionally made fish sauces. These sauces are reported to have nitrogen at the highest level. The 2nd largest consumer of fish sauce is China. Fish sauce is used as an ingredient for soups and casseroles in Southern China. The fish sauce market is segmented on the basis of product like Southeast Asian, Japanese, Korean, and Western. Asia Pacific is the most important mar-ket for fish sauce, followed by the US and the EU markets.

GLOBAL

In the recent inaugural edition of Eldex Eldercare exhibition held in November in Singapore, there was a Food For Elders pavilion led Enterprise Singapore, which featured food products by Singapore companies that cater to the special needs of this ‘silver’ (elderly) demographic group. In a presentation done by Spire Research & Consulting, Indonesia has been identified as having the largest

Rising Elderly population requires special food products 2020 will be the year where many new ven-

tures relating to the plant-based movement will take-off with the launch of new products, mostly focusing on meat substitutes. Leading the move-ment will be Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat which had finally advanced from supplying only to fine/casual dining restaurants to now supplying to fast food outlets and also directly to consum-ers through grocery retail stores. These compa-nies will intensify their distribution network, while also introduce a more diversified range of prod-ucts from initially focusing on ‘beef’ to ‘pork’ and then ‘lamb’ and ‘fish’ substitutes. One major challenge these companies will face will be in getting Halal certification from various bodies with regards to controversial ‘meat’ products like Impossible Pork. Based on our recent interview with Andrew Ive, Founder and Managing GP of Big Idea Ventures, he disclosed 2 high-potential new ventures in this field for the Asian region in 2020. They are Phuture Foods and Black Sheep Foods. Phuture Foods has developed a natural, 100% plant-based minced pork, through its proprietary processing method that non-GMO soy, chickpeas and peas. The product tastes, feels and looks like meat, yet it is lower in calories (65%), fats (90%) and has no cholesterol, as compared to animal pork. Black Sheep Foods, on the other hand, has developed a 100% plant-based lamb product. It has successfully identified flavor compounds that give lamb its taste in-cluding the unique pastoral notes. It claimed to have tested its lamb flavor against Givaudan’s lamb flavor, and won the test. Initial texture experiments have also been completed. These 2 companies are set to launch their products in 2020: Phuture Foods plans to launch its plant-based minced pork in 1st quarter 2020, while Black Sheep will be launching its ‘lamb’ product sometime in 2nd or 3rd quarter 2020. (For more information from our interview with Andrew Ive, please visit our website at www.asiafoodbeverages.com)

In the recent inaugural edition of Eldex

which featured food products by Singa

In a presentation done by Spire Re

-tures relating to the plant-based movement will take-off with the launch of new products, mostly

-ment will be Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat which had finally advanced from supplying only to fine/casual dining restaurants to now supplying

--

nies will intensify their distribution network, while -

Market News


A recent study conducted by Kantar Worldpanel showed that drinking out of home accounted for 59% of the to-tal spending on non-alcoholic drinks in HCMC. This is above the global aver-age of 52% indicating that Vietnamese like to go out for drink. Kantar surveyed 10 countries with Vietnam (HCMC) ranked 4th in out-of-home consumption behind Indonesia, Spain and Thailand which recorded a range from 64% to 67%. At the bottom of the ranking were Bra-zil, Mexico, France and Portugal with 28-37%. For out-of-home drinking, coffee and tea were the 2 most popular choices for Vietnamese, accounting for one out of four drinking occasions each, while around a third was dedicated to nutri-

OUT-OF-HOME ACCOUNTS FOR 59% OF SPENDING ON NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKS IN HCMC

NON-ALCOHOLIC DRINKSVIETNAM tional and health drinks. At home, juices were the most popular followed by loose leaf tea and instant coffee. The report also noted that the energy drink segment in HCMC has become much more innovative and competitive recently, with annual growth of 6-7% in both rural and urban areas in Vietnam. Kantar also reported that 62% of energy drink consumers in HCMC were individuals below 35. In terms of occasions, energy drinks were mostly consumed at work or school (44%), followed by street restaurants and coffee shops (36%) and sport centers/gyms, on the go or during outdoor activities (13%). Kantar reported that a person in HCMC spends an average Dong 4.5 million (US$195) a year on non-alcoholic drinks with roughly 65% for in-home and 35% for out-of-home. Kantar Worldpanel reported that people globally are spending more than ever out-of-home. In addition, the speciality coffee culture is booming on a global scale while demand for hot drinks on the go are also showing no signs of abating. Kantar re-ported that coffee represented 80% of spend globally within the hot drinks category. Chart 1.0 showed the spending for out-of-home versus in-home globally in 2018. It is evident that global consumers prefer out-of home consumption of coffee (70%) as compared to in-home (30%), thereby encouraging the proliferation of specialty coffee stores and smaller coffee shops in many countries in Asia and globally.

Chart 1.0: Out of Home vs In-Home Spending in 2018

Source: Kantar Worldpanel

Market News


GROWING FAVOR OF YOGHURT FOR SNACKING ACROSS ASIA

YOGHURT

A recent paper presented by Rebecca Cuthbertson, Global Market-ing & Communications Manager for Fonterra during the 6th Dairy Asia Pacif-ic Summit 2019 held in November 2019 in Singapore unveiled growing snacking trend for cultured products like yoghurt. The presentation revealed that many consumers enjoyed snacking due to their busy and fast paced lifestyles which means that they often skip regu-lar long meals for the more convenient snacks. The following chart made a comparison between 3 major countries in ASE-AN and proportion of consumers that skip meals in each country. It showed that the Thais have a higher tendency to skip meals like breakfast (20%), lunch (18%) and dinner (14%) compared to Malaysians and Indonesians.

Many consumers now look for nourish-ment or nutritional benefits when they snack. A survey done in Indonesia and China showed that 80% of Chinese con-sumers chose yoghurt as it is nutritious whereas 71% of Indonesians felt that yo-ghurt is low in bad ingredients. In addi-tion, 66% of Indonesians chose yoghurt based on taste as compared to 60% for Chinese consumers. Meanwhile, 76% of Vietnamese con-sumers looked at protein content first when choosing a yoghurt while similar per-centage (76%) of Thais look at sugar content instead. In addition, 79% of Thais are willing to pay a premium for a yoghurt with health claims.

Yoghurt has become a highly versatile product compared to a decade ago. Man-ufacturers are now looking to enrich yoghurt products with protein for energy. Yo-ghurt can also be combined with other ingredients like caffeine/guarana or vitamins/minerals like DHA Omega 3, Choline and Probiotics to support brain development. As snacking has become an established meal occasion, yoghurt can effectively take its place as a snack with its many benefits to consumers.

Consumption of yogurt is driven by fuel for energy, nour-ishment due to its nutritional contents and delight due to indulgence. Nevertheless, it is lagging behind confectionery and protein bars in terms of en-ergy purpose.

In addition, based on Global Data Consumer Survey Results in 2018, roughly 61% of Asia Pacific consum-ers enjoyed snacking between meals, regardless of whether they skipped or did not skip meals. This has effective-ly made snacking an established ‘meal occasion’ in its own right with an esti-mated US$135 billion in retail value in Asia Pacific, based on Euromonitor es-timates, with a CAGR of 5.5% in 2018. The paper also highlighted that 49% of Asia Pacific consumers associated

convenience with quick to eat/drink and with ready to eat/drink. Rebecca highlighted that Yoghurt is one of the top consumed snacks in Asian countries along with fruits and chocolates.

ASIA

Vietnam Dairy Association has pro-jected that the dairy industry will grow at an average 9-10% with per capita milk consumption reaching 28 litres in 2020. Chairman of the Association Tran Quang Trung said that growth is due to rising incomes and the development of modern sales chains. Demand for high-value dairy products like organic milk, and plant-based/nut milk is also expected to grow sharply due to de-mand from the younger population and middle income consumers. In the dairy category, the most con-sumed products will be liquid milk, pow-dered milk, yogurt and condensed milk, while consumption of other products like cheese and butter will remain modest. Presently the per capita consumption of milk in Vietnam is at 26 litres which is still lower than Thailand (35 litres), Singapore (45 litres) and EU (80-100 litres). The domestic dairy industry can only satisfy 35% of market demand, and the Association, under a domestic dairy de-velopment master plan, aims to achieve 1 billion litres in production of fresh milk by 2020 and 1.4 billion litres by 2025, which will meet 40% of domestic de-mand. Two major segments in the domestic dairy market are liquid milk and pow-dered milk which accounted for nearly 75% of the market value with an annual output of 1.5 million litres and 138,000 tonnes respectively. In recent years, dairy businesses have diversified into value-added or-ganic products and special nutritional products. Many large enterprises have increased their market shares through developing new products such as Vinamilk, TH True Milk, Moc Chau Milk and Nestle. These large businesses have also increased investment in expanding the production of their animal farms by im-porting special herds from the US and Australia while alsu upgrading their farms to reach GlobalGAP standards. Vinamilk currently has 12 farms across the country, including 2 farms under European organic standards and 10 farms following GlobalGAP standards. It is also building a modern organic milk plant in Laos which will start operation by early-2021. TH Group, parent of TH True Milk, has also invested US$2.7 billion developing a fresh milk production project in Rus-sia. In contrast, a separate report from bro-kerage firm, SSI Securities Corporation projected that Vietnam dairy market will maintain a single-digit growth in 2020, as consumer spending on essential goods has reached saturation while they focus on non-essential products. It also projected that the large dairy firms will see drastic drop in revenues in 2020.

VIETNAM DAIRY INDUSTRY TO GROW 10% IN 2020

DAIRY

Source: FMCG Gurus Snacking Survey 2019

Chart 1.0: Skipping Meals at least 3 times a week

Source: Globaldata, Consumer Survey Q3, 2018

Chart 2.0: Most popular snacks consumed in 2018


Chart 3.0: Reasons for choosing yoghurt


Chart 4.0: Which snacks do you choose for energy

Market News


Investment NewsFOOD(GENERAL)

DAIRY

PLANT-BASED MILK

FRUITS

BEER

MEAT

Campbell Soup Company has recently announced that it has com-pleted the sale of Arnott’s and certain of Campbell’s International operations to KKR for approximately US$2.2 billion in cash, sub-ject to customary adjustments. With this transaction, Campbell has now completed the sale of its entire Campbell International division, including Kelsen Group, for an aggregate price of approximately US$2.5 billion. Acquired by Campbell in 1997, Arnott’s regional headquarters are based in Sydney with operations in Western Sydney, Brisbane, Ade-laide and Bekasi, Indonesia. Arnott’s is by the far the biggest single brand in Campbell’s international portfolio with iconic local brands such as Tim Tams, Mint Slice and Shapes. Campbell’s International operations include Campbell’s simple meals businesses in Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Japan, and manufacturing in Australia and Malaysia. Under the terms of the agreement, Campbell and KKR have entered into a long-term licensing arrangement for the exclusive rights to use certain Campbell brands, including Campbell’s, Swanson, V8, Prego, Chunky and Campbell’s Real Stock, in Australia, New Zealand, Ma-laysia and other select markets in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

China’s leading dairy producer, Mengniu Dairy has confirmed plan to acquire a 5% equity stake in Shanghai Milkground Food Tech, as part of its ambition to expand its market share for dairy products in the domestic market. Shanghai Milkground Food Tech currently focuses on research and development as well as the manufacturing and sales of dairy prod-ucts in China. Some of the company’s products include cheese slic-es, pure milk and yogurt drinks amongst others. The company has production facilities across China, such as Tianjin and Jilin. Mengniu Dairy’s minority acquisition in Shanghai Milkground Food Tech is part of efforts to enlarge its market share, particularly in the premium dairy segment. Mengniu has set aside Rmb 744 million (US$106 million) in Shanghai Milkground Food Tech Co, with Rmb 287 million (US$40.88 million) allocated for buying the 5% stake, and Rmb 457.6 million (US$65.19) as registration capital to hold a 42.9% stake in Jilin Guangze Dairy Technology Co, a previously wholly-owned unit of Shanghai Milkground Food. This investment, however is subject to anti-monopoly regulatory approval. Mengniu and Milkground have also agreed to share sales and mar-keting resources and to complement each other to promote and de-velop new cheese categories. Jilin Guangze Dairy meanwhile hopes to use the newly-infused capital to expand production capacity and maintain its strong foothold in the cheese sector. Shanghai Milkground Food reported robust 53.8% growth in reve-nue in 1st half of 2019 with the cheese business more than doubled to Rmb 340 million (US$48.4 million). One of its core products, a frozen cheese stick snack, saw sales of Rmb 170 million (US$24.2 million) alone. In a separate development, Mengniu Dairy is also planning to expand globally following its acquisition of infant formula maker Bel-lamy’s Australia for US$980 million in November 2019.

US-based almond milk producer, Califia Farms has raised US$225 million from global investors including Singapore’s Temasek Hold-ings who are looking for the next plant-based food hit after Beyond Meat last year.The funding was led by Qatar Investment Authority followed by Te-masek Holdings, Canada-based Calridge, Hong Kong’s Green Mon-day Ventures and a Latin America based family with big interests in coffee and consumer products. This new investor rush into plant-based milk comes as cow milk consumption in the US is falling, partly due to health and environ-mental reasons. In the US, two of the largest dairy producers namely Dean Foods and Borden Dairy Company had filed for bankruptcy protection. Califia plans to use the funds to launch more plant-based milks and expand its line of oat products, a growing category in the plant-based

China Haisheng Juice Holdings Co., Ltd. has recently announced that its subsidiary, Shaanxi Chaoyue and Luoning Yongfeng have agreed to establish a 70:30 JV company with a registered capital of Rmb 40 million (US$5.78 million). The JV company will be principally engaged in modernised exten-sive plantation and sale of apple and other fruits. No further informa-tion was disclosed.

Carlsberg China has officially opened its first craft beer production facilty in December in China in Anhui province. This forms part of Carlsberg plan to increase its investment in the country’s fast grow-ing high-end beer segment. Carlsberg has invested up to Rmb 187 million (US$27 million) for the craft beer project in Tianchang city, Anhui with production lines for its Draught Master products, craft brewing and packaging. The brewing and fermentation capacity of the brewery is 100,000 hecto-litres. The facility is designed to produce products including Draught Master beer, the 1664 series and Tuborg which will be sold in the domestic market as well as for regional market in Southeast Asia. Carlsberg China saw 6% growth in volume in the 3rd quarter, with revenue for premium products grew 8% in domestic market. The National Bureau of Statistics said beer production volumes in China in the past 5 years since 2014 have declined. However, beer imports have risen to 821,141 kilolitres, up 14.7%. Although craft beer only has 1% share of the China market in volume terms, its annual growth however reached 40% and this growth is expected to continue for the next 5 years. It is estimated that there are nearly 800 craft beer brands nationwide. Rising disposable incomes in China have accelerated the development of craft beer segment in the country.

Tyson Foods Inc. beef subsidiary has recently signed an agree-ment with Kazakhstan’s private holding company, Kusto Group to construct a modern beef processing plant in the country, with an pro-jected capacity of 2,000 heads per day. Kazakhstan is the 9th largest country in the world by geographic area and has identified the livestock and the multi-protein export in-dustry as a key growth market. The country has an established beef industry which serves the domestic population with exports to the re-gion. The agreement with Tyson and Kusto Group is part of a broader initiative by the Kazakhstan government to expand and modernise agriculture, beginning with meat production. Kusto Group is based in Singapore, but founded in Kazakhstan, and has an existing subsidiary with a leading position in beef production in the country. Steve Stouffer, Group President Tyson Fresh Meats said, “This op-portunity supports one of our growth strategies to expand Tyson’s global business, and we look forward to bringing our expertise and capabilities to the country of Kazakhstan.” The project is a collaboration between both companies with the support of the Kazakhstan government. Taking into account the ad-vantages of jurisdiction in Astana International Financial Centre, the parties express interest in implementing the project at the AIFC. US-based Tyson Fresh Meats’ beef business generated US$15.8 billion in sales in fiscal year 2019. It is the subsidiary of Tyson Foods, Inc which is one of the world’s largest food companies specialising in protein.

Campbell completes sale of Arnott’s and its International Division to KKR

Mengniu Dairy to acquire 5% stake in dairy firm to expand market share

Plant-based milk producer successfully raised US$225 million to support expansion

Haisheng Juice to set up JV in fruit business

Carlsberg opens its 1st craft beer production facility in Anhui

Tyson to explore major Beef Processing Plant project in Kazakhstan

GLOBAL

CHINA

market. The company is also looking at developing products beyond beverages, however it did not disclose further details. Califia Farms is the 3rd largest plant-based milk company in the US after Danone and privately-held Blue Diamond. Currently, there is a demand boom in the US for plant-based milk, and several companies have successfully raised funding to support their expansion.

Investment News


FUNCTIONAL/NUTRITIONAL FOOD

MEAT

MEAT SUBSTITUTES

Nestle Health Science has invested in a product innovation centre in Taizhou, Jiangsu province to cater to the country’s growing de-mand for clinical nutrition products. This new centre will operate in parallel with Nestle Health Science’s product innovation centers in the US and in Switzerland, sharing global advanced core R&D technologies, localised innovations for China’s national standards and consumer needs, and enriching the firm’s product systems of Foods for Special Medical Purpose (FSMP) in China. Nestle Health Science is a subsidiary of Nestle which has been in China for the last 3 years enjoying double-digit growth, with its products being locally manufactured. It has 11 approved formula products in China including 5 for babies/infants and 6 for FSMP. The centre is built in China to reflect Nestle’s commitment to the Chinese market. It will also serve the Asia-Pacific region. Products manufactured in its factory in Taizhou serve mainland Chinese con-sumers as well as those in Hong Kong and Taiwan, said Cecily Gu, a representative from Nestle Health Science China. The first liquid whole protein nutrition formula developed by the Product Innovation Center of Nestle Health Science China called Nutren Novasource GI has successfully obtained registration as a food for special medical purpose in July 2019. Gu said, “This inno-vation will trigger a new era of high-quality FSMP in China and lead the Chinese clinical nutrition to a new level.” The Nestle Health Science Taizhou Factory is also the first ap-proved liquid full-nutrition FSMP factory in China. It will introduce in-ternationally advanced production technologies and formulas, such as Nutren Novasource GI, into China. The Product Innovation Cente will also develop formulas according to Chinese tastes and nutrition-al diet characteristics. The future of China’s FSMP industry is seen as particularly prom-ising especially with the growing aging population and higher dis-posable incomes among the rising middle class consumers who are getting increasingly health conscious. China is home to the largest number of senior residents in the world. There are at least 249 mil-lion residents in China above the age of 50 in 2019. With higher life expectancy, demand for FSMP is expected to grow rapidly.

Despite the ongoing swine fever epidemic, New Hope will still go ahead to build 9 new pig farms with a total investment of Rmb 8.9 billion (US$1.3 billion) to meet strong market demand. All but one of the new pig farms will be in China and will start op-eration sometime in April to September 2020 with combined annual capacity of up to 6.7 million pigs. The other one will be in the Philip-pines which will start production in March 2021. China’s domestic pork prices have soared during the last quarter of 2019 due to the shortage of pork supply caused by the epidemic, which is the main driving force for China’s current CPI index above 3%. Pork supply and pork price have already been a national con-cern in the country, which is the world’s largest consumer of pork.

US-based plant-based meat producer, Beyond Meat has just re-vealed plans to tap into mainland China market in 2020. This decision is made just a few months after its US counterpart, Impossible Foods revealed similar plans to venture deeper into Chi-na. According to Seth Goldman, Executive Chairman of Beyond Meat, “An official announcement has not been made yet, however we are expected to do so this year.” Goldman added, “The company will continue to invest in its Missou-ri facility, but, we also have to set up production (facilities) on other continents and in other parts of the country.” He is optimistic that the plant-based meat category could someday represent at least 13% of the meat market. Beyond Meat is a market leader for plant-based protein, however it only has less than 1% of the market share in the meat category. Goldman projected that it will take at least 15 years to get to 13% of the market.

Nestle sets up Product Innovation Centre for Special Medical Foods

New Hope to invest US$1.3 billion in 9 Pig Farms

Beyond Meat eyes China expansion in 2020


MILKMILK

Vinamilk has recently up its stake in Moc Chau Milk after completing its acquisition of 79.5 mil-lion shares in GTNFoods. Vinamilk has officially become the parent company of GTNFoods after the acquisition with 75% stake. Vinamilk will also own 51% in Moc Chau Milk, a subsidiary of GTNFoods. Previously, Vinamilk owned 43% share of GTNFoods. The sale was concluded after many rounds of negotiations, and GTNFoods is now undergo-ing major restructuring of its activities based on advice given by Vinamilk. GTNFoods is in the agricultural and food and beverage (F&B) sectors with a paid-up capi-tal of Dong 2.5 trillion (US$108.7 million). The company invested in state-owned companies, including 73.7% in Vietnam Livestock Corpo-ration JSC, 95% in Vinatea, and 35% in Lam Dong Foodstuffs. According to GTNFoods’ latest financial state-ment in 2018, milk processing activity contrib-uted to Dong 2.48 trillion (US$107.83 million) or 82% of its net revenue. This is a remarkable 15% growth compared to 2017, signifying Moc Chau Milk’s development potential. As such, this indirect acquisition of Moc Chau Milk will help Vinamilk expand its dairy ecosys-tem and is an important premise for Vinamilk’s long-term growth target. Moc Chau Milk presently has 9% share of the national dairy market but in the northern provinces, its share jumped to 30%. Moc Chau Milk also has an extensive distribution cover-age with up to 80,000 retail points. Moc Chau projected sales growth of 10-15% annually. Although Vinamilk has majority ownership of Moc Chau Milk, it views the acquisition as a partnership deal, in which Vinamilk can capital-ise on Moc Chau Milk substantial land banks and its extensive farm system.

China’s Coconut Palm Group Co Ltd is plan-ning to invest in coconut plantations and set up a factory in Cambodia to produce fruit juice, said its General Manager Zhao Bo. The company is also the largest natural plant protein soft drink producer in China and spe-cialises in processing tropical fruits such as coconuts. Cambodia’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries supports the company’s invest-ment in Cambodia which will also apply modern growing techniques while boosting domestic coconut production with high prices and good demand. The ministry estimated that the com-pany will need some 14,000 hectares for the plantation to supply its demand requirement. In 2016, coconut was cultivated on a total of 16,935 hectares in Cambodia, mainly in Preah Sihanouk, Kampong Speu and Kampot prov-inces. Zhao said a market study will be undertaken before establishing the natural juice factory to supply both domestic and international mar-kets. Hainan-based Coconut Palm Group has an annual revenue of US$400 million and requires 600,000 coconuts daily in its production. The company also employs 6,000 workers and ex-ports its juices to 38 countries. Coconut Palm Group is responsible for the promotion of tropi-cal fruits cultivation in Hainan.

Japanese food producer, Takesho Food and Ingredients Inc. has invested US$8 million in a shrimp byproducts processing plant in Vietnam that will produce seasonings to serve the food industry. The new plant will occupy 2 hectares of land in Tra Noc 2 Industrial Zone located in Can Tho city, which will be built in January 2020. Nguyen Kim Ngoc, Head of the Trade Pro-motion Division at Can Tho Promotion Agency said that the municipal government had granted the investment certificate for the Takesho plant project. Earlier on, Takesho and students at Can Tho University had collaborated and success-fully studied ways of converting shrimp heads and shells into spices/seasonings. Toshinao Tanaka, Chairman and Managing Director of Takesho added that Takesho and the university are also undertaking a study on byproducts of tra fish and on rice bran. A spokesperson from Can Tho University com-mented that it would be wasteful not to process local agro and seafood byproducts. Takesho delivered machinery worth over US$1 million to the University for the research activities. The process to extract the protein in shrimp heads to make seasonings/spices and food materials had reached completion earlier than expected.

Vietnam National Seed JSC (Vinaseed), the largest seed producer in the country, has re-cently inaugurated a seed-agro processing plant in the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap, with a total investment of Dong 350 bil-lion (US$15.09 million) in the 1st phase, after 8 months of construction. The plant, located at Truong Xuan industrial cluster, has an annual capacity of processing and preserving 50,000 tonnes of seeds and 100,000 tonnes of rice. The plant will also look into research and pro-duction of varieties of seedling for the large-scale rice production in the Mekong Delta region with a focus on climate change- and pests-resistant products. The facility is also moving towards Industry 4.0 by utilising sophisticated agricultural pro-duction management to reduce losses in rice production and facilitate SMEs, cooperatives and farmer households to join Vinaseed’s value chains. Earlier in November, Vinaseed set up a sub-sidiary Vinarice, which will operate the new seed center. Vinaseed is under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and has over 30 mem-bers, supplying 100,000 tonnes of seeds per year to the domestic and international market with annual sales revenue of Dong 2 trillion (US$86.4 million).

Taiwan-based Want-Want Holdings Limited, which is also the world’s leading rice cracker producer, is planning to build a factory in Viet-nam’s Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang with a total investment of US$70 million. The factory will occupy a 75,000 sq.metre site at Long Giang industrial zone, and is expected to be operational by early 2021, with a project-ed annual revenue of US$260 million. The fac-tory is expected to require 6,000 tonnes of rice for production annually. Vietnam has become the first country in Southeast Asia for Want-Want’s business ex-pansion and it has already signed contracts with around 100 wholesalers in Vietnam.

Vinamilk now owns Moc Chau Milk

Chinese firm to invest in fruit juice factory in Cambodia

Japanese firm invests US$8 million in shrimp byproducts facility

Vietnam’s largest Seed producer opens US$15 million processing plant

Want-Want plans to build US$70 million Rice Cracker factory in Vietnam

MILK

JUICES/COCONUT

SEAFOOD BY-PRODUCT

GRAINS/COMMODITY

SNACKS

BEER

Thailand’s beverage giant, Thai Beverage Public Co Ltd (ThaiBev) has denied rumours that it is seeking potential investors to buy over its brewery business in Vietnam. The rumours started late last year after

ThaiBev denies rumors that it is selling Sabeco stake

ThaiBev President Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi announced his plan to launch an IPO for the company’s beer division in Singapore for US$2 billion, sparking speculation that ThaiBev is finding ways to exit from its Vietnamese invest-ment in Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corpo-ration (Sabeco). ThaiBev, through its subsidiary Vietnam Bev-erage Co Ltd, released a statement that it is confident in its business in Vietnam and re-mains strongly committed to making Sabeco and Bia Saigon the pride of Vietnam. Vietnam continues to be one of ThaiBev’ core markets and is integral to its goal of becoming a stable and sustainable leader in Southeast Asia’s bev-erage industry. ThaiBev also said that its planned IPO listing is ‘still in its early stage and there is no assur-ance that it will occur’. In December 2017, ThaiBev purchased near-ly 54% stake in state-owned Sabeco for almost US$5 billion, which is at a premium compared to its market valuation. ThaiBev paid 32 times pre-tax earnings for Sabeco stake. In the first 9 months of 2019, Sabeco posted Dong 28.3 trillion (US$1.22 billion) in combined revenue and Dong 4.28 trillion (US$184.6 mil-lion) in combined post-tax profit, which were 10.5% and 23% growth from previous period respectively. Vietnam is a key growth market for beer in the Asian region. Currently, ThaiBev is the No.1 market player in the beer segment in ASEAN.

CAMBODIA

SEAFOOD/LIVESTOCK FARMING

Truong Hai Auto Corporation (THACO), Viet-nam’s largest automobile manufacturer has re-cently inked a strategic cooperation with Hung Vuong Corporation, one of the country’s leading seafood exporters. Under the deal, THACO, via its subsidiary THADI Agriculture Farming Processing & Distri-bution JSC, is expected to cooperate with Hung Vuong in the seafood and animal husbandry sectors. THADI will acquire a 35% of Hung Vuong and holds a 65% stake in the joint venture between Hung Vuong and THADI. The joint venture will invest Dong 2 trillion (US$85.8 million) in breeding pigs in the Binh Dinh and An Giang provinces. THADI will also help to restructure Hung Vuong’s operations and resolve its financial problems. In 2020, Hung Vuong targets its rev-enue to reach Dong 12.5 trillion (US$540 mil-lion). THACO set up THADI in March 2019 which specialises in fruits, forestry and animal hus-bandry sectors. At present, THADI is also in cooperation with Hoang Anh Gia Lai Agricultur-al JSC to develop fruits in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia for processing and exports.

Vietnam’s largest automobile company ventures further into Livestock Farming

VIETNAM

Investment News


Malaysia’s Guan Chong Bhd, the world’s 4th largest cocoa grind-er, is all set to further expand globally by buying European-based chocolate producer, Schokinag Holding GmbH (SHG) for €9.93 million (US$11 million). Guan Chong said the proposed acquisition will enable it to ex-pand its presence to Europe and position the group to target new growth opportunities in the world’s largest chocolate consuming market. With this, the company has also expanded its product range into the downstream industrial chocolate business-to-busi-ness market. Guan Chong has entered into the purchase agreement through its sub-subsidiary GCB Cocoa Singapore Pte Ltd with the Neth-erlands’ Schokinag Holding BV for the proposed acquisition. This acquisition is expected to be completed by 1st quarter 2020. SHG is engaged in the business of manufacture, sale and dis-tribution of industrial chocolates, including chocolate couvertures, from liquid to solid, in various sizes, shapes and packaging types, as well as liquid compounds. Located in Mannheim, Germany, SHG’s industrial chocolate plant has an annual capacity of 90,000 tonnes, while its cocoa processing plant can grind 7,000 tonnes of cocoa beans into cocoa mass per year. Guan Chong Managing Director and CEO Brandon Tay said, “We are making our next major move by expanding our presence to Europe. The acquisition of SHG certainly sets us strategically to target new growth opportunities in the world’s largest choco-late-consuming market.” Brandon said the move is ideal as Guan Chong aims to not only enlarge its global client base but also to expand its range of value-added downstream industrial chocolate products to supply to major chocolate players. He added, “Additionally, SHG will require about 40% to 50% of the supply of cocoa ingredients from our upcoming cocoa pro-cessing plant in the Ivory Coast. This will ensure that our incoming new cocoa grinding capacity will be met with immediate demand.” In August 2019, the group announced its US$66 million invest-ment in a new cocoa bean processing plant in Ivory Coast, its first plant in Africa. The plant is expected to start operation in early 2021.

Guan Chong to acquire EU chocolate firm as part of its global expansion strategy

CHOCOLATE/COCOAMALAYSIAMEAT SUBSTITUTES

SEAFOOD

Thailand’s leading agribusiness firm, Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl (CPF), is set to introduce plant-based meat substitutes in 2020 in response to growing customer demand, said CPF’s Chief Executive Prasit Boondoungprasert. He said these new products will be sold first in Thailand this year, before being rolled out across the rest of Asia. Prasit said, “There is a global trend of ‘flexitari-ans’ - people who have vegetarian meals once or twice a week. Restaurants will also want to offer this option to their diners.” Prasit added that introducing meat substitutes is part of the firm’s strategy to expand its food business, including ready-to-eat (RTE) meals and pre-cooked meats in Thailand. CPF’s domestic business currently account for about a third of its revenue. As a global brand, CPF has operations in 17 countries and exports to 30, and it plans to allocate Bt 20 billion (US$662.5 million) in capital expenditure this year, down from Bt 30 billion (US$993.7 million) last year. This will be used to build up existing assets and expand its feed, farm and food businesses in populous mar-kets such as China, the Philippines and Vietnam. In 2018, its feed and farm busi-nesses each accounted for about 40% of revenue, with the remainder in food. In 2019, CPF acquired Canadian pork producer HyLife for US$372 million, and bought a poultry firm in Russia in 2015 for US$680 million. CPF projected its revenue to cross Bt 800 billion (US$26.5 billion) by 2023 with an annual revenue growth of 10%. In 2018, CPF recorded revenue of Bt 541.9 billion (US$17.95 billion).

Thai Union Group PCL. (TU), one of the world’s leading producer of sea-food-based food products, has acquired a 39.9% stake in Thammachart Seafood Retail Co., Ltd., a provider of management services to Thai retailers for their seafood counters, and fresh and frozen products. This acquisition will increase TU combined stake in Thammachart Seafood to 65%. The acquisition will help TU to expand its presence in the domestic seafood retail business. Meanwhile, in a separate development, TU has also made a strategic overseas investment in Aegir Seafood, a producer of cod liver in Iceland. Aegir intends to use the investment to support the growth of the cod liver business for TU’s King Oscar brand.

CPF to launch plant-based meat substitutes across Asian markets in 2020

Thai Union acquires stake in 2 companies in December

THAILAND

Investment News


South Korea’s Lotte Chilsung Beverage has offered to acquire 2.134 billion shares in listed soft drinks producer, Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc., (PCP-PI) amounting to 57.78% of PCPPI’s issued outstanding capital valued at close to Pesos 4.2 billion (US$83.2 million). In 2010, Lotte Chilsung, one of the largest beverage companies in South Korea, had acquired a substantial stake in PCPPI after purchasing the combined stakes of Guoco Inc., Hongway and other minority shareholders. Lotte Chilsung holds an approximately 38.8% stake in PCPPI while US beverage giant PepsiCo Inc. owns 25%. Should the Lotte offer goes through, PCPPI might have to be delisted as it will no longer comply with the 10% minimum public float. Meanwhile, PCPPI said it will continue to strengthen its core business lines in the beverage sector after the company formally discontinued manufacturing local-ly-made snacks under the trademark Cheetos. PCPPI said PepsiCo will continue to import and sell Cheetos in the Philippines, along with other brands of snacks.

Korea’s Lotte offers to buy shares in Pepsi-Cola Philippines

SOFT DRINKPHILIPPINES

A new start-up in Singapore is hoping to create a dent in the multi-billion dollar infant milk formula industry, by producing ‘artificial’ breast milk cultured from stem cells, which it claims no other company in the world has done before. Singapore’s new start-up, Turtletree Labs, with its small laboratory team of 9 members, has found a way to generate milk from stem cells, and this new pro-duction process, which is pending patent, can produce the milk of any mammal. Max Rye, Chief Technology Officer of Turtletree Labs estimated that the infant milk formula industry is currently valued at US$45 billion, and Turtletree will not compete in this market based on price as it plans to sell its product at a premium compared to other infant milk products in the market. Max is optimistic that cus-tomers will be willing to pay the premium as ‘breast milk’ is often considered more nutritious than formula milk. Max said, “We see (our milk) as a better product than other baby formula products found in the market.” Milk generated from stem cells seems to be an idea conceptualised by the company’s CEO Lin Fengru which revolves around the same procedure as how alternative meat substitutes are produced. Ms Lin wanted better quality milk which is not effected by the use of hormones and poor animal hygiene in dairy farms. This resulted in the formation of Turtletree Labs. Turtletree hopes to work with players from the infant milk formula industry to scale up its production of breast milk. It expects to produce its 1st batch of ‘breast milk’ in laboratory quantities by January 2020. By April 2020, the team from Turtletree aims to debut a glass of cow milk, with different milk products such as cheese and butter, along with a glass of breast milk to investors and potential customers such as corporations that manufacture infant milk formula. It also aims to set up a pilot plant which can produce 500 litres of milk daily by the end of 2020. The plant will allow the team to showcase its technology to industry players, said Ms Lin. When asked whether consumers are ready for such innovation, Max said that it is a matter of educating them that milk from stem cells is cleaner than milk from farms which may have hormones or chemicals infused, or milk from mothers who are unhealthy.

New start-up aims to create artificial ‘breast milk’

INFANT MILKSINGAPORE

MyCuisine Qube Sdn Bhd, a small player in the spices/sea-sonings segment in Malaysia, has ambitious plan to spread its wings in the highly competitive domestic market after making its mark overseas with its Aydeen seasoning cube brand. Owner Siti Rahayu, who is also the Executive Director of the company, said the company also produces curry powder, how-ever the domestic market is very competitive as it is dominated by multinational players. Interestingly, MyCuisine Qube’s initial focus was not on the domestic market but on Saudi Arabia, thanks to an offer from Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) or the local pilgrimage fund, for the firm to supply food to Malaysian pilgrims in the Holy Land. That laid the foundation for the company to expand in Saudi Arabia and later to Australia, Brunei and Japan. In Japan, the company exports some 21,000 cubes (216 cartons) which is now available at several supermarkets in the country. Siti said the response has been good as the cubes do not use preservatives and are made from natural dried ingredi-ents. In 2020, MyQuisine will return its focus to Malaysia where currently, its products are only available in selected Halal marts and through agents in several provinces in Peninsular Malaysia. MyCuisine produces 9 types of cubes - rendang, curry (chicken and fish), stock (chicken, beef and fish), tom yam, asam laksa and yellow curry, with the last 2 being especially popular. The company is set to develop more variants in the near future. Apart from strengthening its domestic market, MyCuisine is also looking at expanding its overseas markets to Sri Lanka, US, Vietnam, China and neighboring Singapore. MyCuisine is looking for distributors in the US where demand for Halal food is on the rise. Currently, MyCuisine has 2 small processing plant in Ayer Keroh, Malacca and another in Gurun, Kedah with less than 10 workers as the operations are mostly automated. MyCuisine is also looking at further modernising its plant to meet stringent quality and safety standards overseas.

Small Seasoning Cube producer shifts focus from foreign to domestic market

SPICES/SEASONINGS

Nestle aims to transform Indonesia into its Top 3 market in Asia, and to achieve this, it plans to invest into manufacturing and human resources. PT Nestle Indonesia President Director Dharnesh Gordhon said, “For sure, In-donesia can be a top 3 Nestle market in Asia, and that will be our future mission.” The company has recently expanded its factories in Karawang, West Java; Ke-jayan, East Java; and Bandar Lampung, Lampung, with an investment of US$100 million. Gordhon added that Indonesia still accounted for only 1% of Nestle’s total global business, partly because the company has also made many mergers and acquisi-tions around the world. The majority of the company’s factories in Asia are located in the Greater China Region with 32 factories, followed by Thailand (8 factories), and India and Malaysia with 7 factories each. The ASEAN market accounted for 30.8% of Nestlé Asia, Oceania and sub-Saha-ran African sales in 2018, second only to Japan with 43.6%. Nestle reported solid growth in ASEAN with double-digit growth in Indonesia and Vietnam, led by Nestle chocolate milk brand Milo and Bear Brand milk. Nestle is the world’s largest food and beverage company with sales revenue of US$94 billion in 2018.

Nestle to invest and transform Indonesia into its Top 3 market in Asia

FOOD(GENERAL)INDONESIA

Malaysia’s premium chocolate producer, Benns Ethicoa Choc-olate Factory Sdn Bhd is now planning to tap new markets, par-ticularly Japan and South Korea, while further strengthening its product and brand presence in its domestic markets Malaysia and Singapore in 2020. Benns Ethicoa Director Jerome Penafort said the company is also looking to explore strong markets in Europe, the US and Australasia as consumers there appreciate premium chocolates. Jerome mentioned that Asia however is still the fastest growing market for chocolate products driven by countries like India, Chi-na and Japan. He aded that local cacao production is not enough to catch up with the strong demand for chocolates. This has led Benns Ethi-coa to source for cacao beans from other countries to produce premium chocolates. Benns Ethicoa Executive Director Wilfred Ng said Malaysia cacao production is on a downtrend due to local cacao farmers’ switching to better cash crops like palm oil and durian. As a result, it has to source its materials from other neighboring Asian countries like India, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Wilfred said, “Many people have the misconcep-tion that good chocolates come from European countries like Belgium. But in reality, no cacao is grown there... it is only grown in tropical countries. Asia has good quality of cacao beans for premium chocolates.” In Malaysia, Benns Ethicoa has been the leader in bean-to-bar chocolate, producing a variety of cacao-based products from premium chocolates to beverages, cakes and snacks. The company has invested more than RM1 million (US$247,000) to upgrade its chocolate-making facility in Balakong, Selangor, and is looking at expanding its product offering in 2020. Wilfred added that Benns Ethicoa aims to open its own trade-mark bean-to-bar cafe in Kuala Lumpur by the end of 2020. It is part of the company’s plan to expand product outreach while continuing to focus on marketing and consumer research and development. It may also consider listing in the next 2 to 3 years once the company has established strong footing in Malaysia, as well as Southeast Asia.

Premium Chocolate Maker to tap new markets in Asia

Investment News


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26 – 30 MAY 2020 IMPACT MUANG THONG THANIBANGKOK, THAILAND

TRADE SHOWS

COFFEE & TEA

DRINKS

FINE FOOD

FOOD SERVICE

FOOD TECHNOLOGY

FROZEN FOOD

FRUITS & VEGETABLES

MEAT

RICE

SEAFOOD

SWEETS & CONFECTIONERY

JOINTLY ORGANISED BYCONTACT

11 trade shows under 1 roof

T W O P O W E R B R A N D S , O N E G R E A T E X P E R I E N C E

Lynn How (Ms)

[email protected]

Tel: +65 6500 6712

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TA2020_12x19cmH_anufood-india_A4_V2.pdf 1 4/10/19 2:04 PM


Company News

US-based Impossible Foods, the manufacturer of world-renown Impossible Burger, is now adding pork and sausage to its lineup with the goal of creating the 1st ‘kosher’ bacon cheeseburger. Impossible Foods CEO Pat Brown said, “Our mission is to completely replace animals in the global food system. You cannot achieve this mission without creating delicious, nutritious plant-based pork.” Globally, pork is the most popular meat and Brown said the company’s plant-based pork has 40% less calories, 60% less total fat, 40% less saturated fat, zero cholesterol and higher iron and is missing something found in the world’s pork–fecal pathogens. Brown said the company is interested in introducing its technology in China, where there is not enough land to produce the meat the population needs, which is why China is dependent on im-ports. Brown added, “We would love to work with China to enable China to have a meat supply that comes entirely from Chinese farmers and is produced in food production facilities in China by Chinese workers made entirely from plants.” Brown has asserted that the company will not release its ‘bacon’ product until it has been proven successful in producing something close to the real ‘stuff’. Apart from pork, the company is also looking at fish and seafood, with its R&D team working to deliver a delicious, sustainable plant-based alternative. Impossible Foods’ Brown has made a wild projection that by 2035, ‘animals’ as a food production source will be history.

Major meat and grains supplier, Cargill Inc. has announced that its quarterly profits ended Novem-ber 2019 soared to US$1.2 billion partly due to the ongoing African Swine Fever (ASF) epidemic in China. Cargill reported a revenue growth of 4% to US$29.2 billion in the same period. The group is selling more chicken in China, where the epidemic has led to massive shortage in supply of pork meat which has also led to high prices in pork as well as other meats like chicken and beef. In addition, there is a growing demand for animal feed as livestock producers expand to meet the shortage. Although demand for feed has contracted among China’s pig farmers, this is replaced by growing demand for feed by pork producers in Brazil and the US. Cargill said its poultry and beef operations helped drive a 61% increase in quarterly profits. Part of the gains also arose from divestures of Cargill’s malt business and an asset-management unit. Cargill’s meatpacking operations in the US benefited from rising consumer demand for beef.

Impossible Foods diversifying into plant-based Pork

Cargill Inc saw profit surge due to growing Meat Businesses

MEAT SUBSTITUTE

MEAT

GLOBAL

French food giant, Danone SA is eyeing a big-ger presence in China. This positive desire can be attaributed to its 3rd quarter fiscal report, which showed that Early Life Nutrition sales grew more than 10% globally while the figure in China alone soared by over 20%. In addition, more than 30% of Danone’s Early Life Nutrition business revenue now comes from China. Bertrand Austruy, Executive President and Secretary-General of Danone said, “With the new momentum, we will beef up our presence in China to promote a healthier, more scientific and properly structured diet, as well as eating and drinking habits in China.” Danone now boasts of 8 manufacturing plants in China, which is now its 2nd largest market, contributed roughly 9% to its global sales in 2018. Bertrand has also given credit to China’s improving business climate as the reason for

Danone to continue focusing on Nutritional Products in China

CHINA FUNCTIONAL/NUTRITIONAL FOOD

Prices for beef trim, used to make hamburgers and other ground-beef products, have jumped about 28% over the past year, according to the USDA statistics, as China ramped up imports to offset its dwindling pork supplies brought by the ASF epidemic. Cargill’s China-based poultry processing busi-ness also benefited from growing number of Chinese consumers who switch to buying more chickens as a result of soaring pork prices.

Company News

After the success of the pioneer edition of The International Processing and Packaging Exhibition for the Philippines – ProPak Philippines 2019, which boasted 386 exhibitors from 30 countries, 9,229 trade visitors from 28 countries, and 9 country pavilions, will once again stage its 2nd edition at the World Trade Center Metro Manila from 5 to 7 February 2020. ProPak Philippines aims to be the only processing and packag-ing trade show in the Philippines that will showcase the latest, innovative solutions and technologies in the field of processing and packaging. Aside from that, ProPak Philippines has also

Total Solutions for Processing and Packaging Industries

For more details, please contact Ms. Danah Isabel F. Castillo at +63 2 8581 1921 or email her at [email protected].

Show Preview

2020

been helping the industry by inviting local and foreign speakers to share knowledge to the people who attends the show and its seminars and confer-ences. ProPak Philippines will be the perfect platform to access a robust and expanding industry in need of new machines and technology. This show will support local industry to expand and innovate its processing and packaging industries especially for the food, beverages and pharmaceutical sectors. Propak Philippines 2020 is expected to attract over 450 exhibitors from across the world, with 11 international pavilions from China, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and UK. It is also projected to welcome over 12,000 industry trade visitors looking to source for new products, latest technologies and potential business partners that will help generate and support growing business. ProPak Philippines is supported by the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Packaging Institute of the Philippines, Association of Laguna Food Processors Inc., Association of Small & Medium Enterprises, Australian Institute of Packaging, Confederation of Danish Industry – Dansk Industri, Dairy Confederation of the Philippines, Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association, Philippine Association of Food Technologists, Inc., Philippine Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associa-tion, Philippine Printing Technical Foundation Inc., Processing and Packaging Machinery Association, Production Management Association of the Philippines, Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry.

Visitor pre-registration is now open at www.propakphilippines.com.


After the success of the pioneer edition of The International Processing and Packaging Exhibition for the Philippines – ProPak Philippines 2019, which boasted 386 exhibitors from 30 countries, 9,229 trade visitors from 28 countries, and 9 country pavilions, will once again stage its 2nd edition at the World Trade Center Metro Manila from 5 to 7 February 2020. ProPak Philippines aims to be the only processing and packag-ing trade show in the Philippines that will showcase the latest, innovative solutions and technologies in the field of processing and packaging. Aside from that, ProPak Philippines has also

Total Solutions for Processing and Packaging Industries

For more details, please contact Ms. Danah Isabel F. Castillo at +63 2 8581 1921 or email her at [email protected].

Show Preview

2020

been helping the industry by inviting local and foreign speakers to share knowledge to the people who attends the show and its seminars and confer-ences. ProPak Philippines will be the perfect platform to access a robust and expanding industry in need of new machines and technology. This show will support local industry to expand and innovate its processing and packaging industries especially for the food, beverages and pharmaceutical sectors. Propak Philippines 2020 is expected to attract over 450 exhibitors from across the world, with 11 international pavilions from China, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and UK. It is also projected to welcome over 12,000 industry trade visitors looking to source for new products, latest technologies and potential business partners that will help generate and support growing business. ProPak Philippines is supported by the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Packaging Institute of the Philippines, Association of Laguna Food Processors Inc., Association of Small & Medium Enterprises, Australian Institute of Packaging, Confederation of Danish Industry – Dansk Industri, Dairy Confederation of the Philippines, Italian Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Association, Philippine Association of Food Technologists, Inc., Philippine Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associa-tion, Philippine Printing Technical Foundation Inc., Processing and Packaging Machinery Association, Production Management Association of the Philippines, Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry.

Visitor pre-registration is now open at www.propakphilippines.com.

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Import-Export News

Thai Preserved Food Factory Co, the manufacturer of Wai Wai instant noo-dles, is optimistic on the domestic instant noodle market in 2019 and beyond. It has earlier projected growth of more than 5% in 2019, much higher than the average 1-3% growth that the industry experienced in the past 3 years. Its Marketing Director, Yossarun Thamkongka has attributed this growth to Thai government’s Taste-Shop-Spend programme and the rise of the premium instant noodle segment. In addition, the aggressive expansion by convenience stores is also helping to boost consumption of premium instant noodles. Yossarun added, “Demand for premium instant noodles has grown by dou-ble digits for several years, driven by the launch of Korean products 4 years ago. Growth in this segment has continued, as it matches Thais who prefer ready-to-eat meals and chilled food. We have re-entered the premium instant noodle market after withdrawing from this segment 15 years ago.” Recently, the company had launched Wai Wai premium instant noodles in Wai Wai Pad Char Baby Clam and Wai Wai Tom Yum Shrimp flavours in bowl packaging to the market. Wai Wai is also developing a new premium product under the Wai Wai Quick brand, scheduled to be launched in 2020. Thailand’s instant noodle market is estimated to be worth Bt 17 billion (US$559 million) in 2019. In terms of packaging types, 80% of the market is in plastic package format; 18% in cup packaging and 2% in bowl packaging. Thai President Food Plc is the market leader with its Mama brand, followed by Thai Preserved Food Factory’s Wai Wai with (23%), Ajinomoto’s Yum Yum (21%) and other brands making up the rest. Thai Preserved Food expects its Wai Wai brand to increase its market share to 25% in the near future.

Thai Preserved Food sees robust growth for ‘premium’ instant noodles in Thailand

THAILAND NOODLES/PASTA

Financially-troubled candy producer Khee San Bhd has been ‘saved’ from possible bankruptcy, after major snack food player, Mamee-Double Decker (M) Sdn Bhd offers to take up to 45.1% of its shares. Mamee will assume control of Khee San after the proposed share purchase and be obligated to make a mandatory general offer for the remaining shares it does not own as it plans to keep the candy maker’s listing status. Mamee was established by Datuk Pang Chin Hin in 2012 and was taken private by the family in 2012. The company was listed on Bursa in the 1990s until it announced a selective capital repayment in 2011. By 2012, Mamee had been taken private and delisted from the stock exchange. The company was privatised as its major shareholders felt its stock was undervalued. Post-privatisation, Mamee continued to grow in terms of revenue and net profit. It posted a net profit of RM28.85 million (US$7.11 million) in 2018, up 10.3% from RM26.16 million (US$6.45 million) in 2014 while revenue grew 25.8% to RM767.34 million (US$189.2 million) from RM609.78 million (US$150.4 million) in the same period. The purchase of Khee San might require Mamee to relist on Bursa. Upon the approval from shareholders and regulators, the 45.1% stake purchase will cost Mamee up to RM61 million (US$15 million). Most of the proceeds will have to go towards the payment of Khee San’s outstanding debt obligations. Financially-distressed London Biscuits Bhd, which was Khee San’s largest shareholder with 20% share has exited the company by disposing its shares in the open market. In the 3rd quarter ended September 2019, Khee San reported a net loss of RM44.65 million (US$11.0 million) on revenue of RM18.54 million (US$4.57 million).

Mamee-Double Decker saves Khee San Bhd from bankruptcy

MALAYSIA SNACKS/CONFECTIONERY

In Vietnam, several associations relating to the Poultry Industry have voiced concern over the potential impact on farmers if the Ministry of Finance proposal to reduce import tariffs for chicken, pork and their by-products is approved. The Finance Ministry proposed lowering the import duty of chick-en meat and chicken by-products from 20% to 18% and tariffs on fresh or frozen pork to 22% from 25%. Nguyen Tat Thang, General Secretary of the Vietnam Animal Husbandry Association said that the drop in pork tariffs will not have a deep impact, however poultry farmers are expected to run into trouble. Vietnam’s government plan was to boost consumption of beef, poultry and fish as alternatives to pork and as a result, many farm-ers and households have already upsized their chicken flocks, re-sulting in the rise in supply of poultry. With the proposed reduction in import tariffs for chicken, this will negatively affect farmers and make them suffer losses. Nguyen Thanh Son, Chairman of the Vietnam Poultry Associ-ation, said that the ministry’s proposal had caused concern for poultry farmers and the association. In 2019, prices of chicken on the local market sometimes dropped to half the production cost at Dong 15,000 (US$0.65) per kg, as a result the reduction in import tariffs for chicken will negatively affect local production activities. Prices of chicken remain high in Vietnam due to small-scale pro-duction, limited high-tech applications and high costs. As a result, domestic chicken has difficulty competing with imports from the US and Brazil.

Vietnam currently exports coffee to more than 80 countries and it has an ambitious target of reaching US$6 billion in annual ex-ports by 2020. Presently, the industry has recorded a steady 8.2% growth in exports annually and the coffee industry contributed 15% to Vietnam’s total agricultural exports. Presently, Vietnam has 14.2% share of the the global coffee export market, 2nd only to Brazil. Most notably, roasted and instant coffee has gained a 9.1% share, ranking in 5th position after Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia and India. Vietnamese coffee products have bright prospects as the country sign more free trade agreements (FTAs) in the near future. The EU is currently the largest consumer of Vietnamese coffee, making up 40% of the total volume and 38% of total export turnover, followed by the ASEAN region. As Vietnam gains preferential tariffs from FTAs, many businesses have now ventured into further processing to add value to their coffee products. Vietnam has set a target of increasing the ratio of processed coffee from the current 10% to 30-40% by 2030. Dr Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director General of the Ministry of Agri-culture and Rural Development’s international cooperation depart-ment, said Vietnam is the world’s 2nd largest coffee exporter and tops in robusta production and export, with about 1.5 million tonnes of coffee exported each year, fetching a revenue of US$3.5 billion. Unfortunately, exports remain in the form of unprocessed beans. To add value, the industry is planning comprehensive measures such as expanding processing, building brands for its products and strengthening linkages in the value chain. Luong Van Tu, Chairman of the Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa As-sociation said that exports of roasted, soluble and mixed coffee accounted for only 8%, however more and more local and foreign firms are venturing into this. Presently, there are over 620 roasted coffee factories in Vietnam with a capacity of over 73,000 tonnes a year. Meanwhile, soluble coffee factories have a capacity of over 47,000 tonnes a year, with some new ones being set up by com-panies like TATA Group (India), Tin Nghia Corp and Intimex, Luong added. Foreign investors are increasingly investing in processing to take advantage of the abundant availability of high quality coffee in the country; a healthy 5-10% growth in domestic coffee consump-tion among Vietnam’s large 97 million population; and tax breaks through 40 free trade agreements that Vietnam has signed.

Poultry Industry voices concern over import tariff reduction proposal

Vietnam aims to boost coffee exports while adding value to this industry

VIETNAM

POULTRY

COFFEE

Danone’s continued investment in the country. Danone will also continue to support China’s pursuit of its goals under the Healthy China 2030 strategy with Danone’s expertise in the healthy food business. Danone has plans to bring more advanced and innovative products to Chi-na, and also invest significantly in research in China, including establishing partnerships with local institutions in China to develop products catering to Chinese consumers. Over the past year, Danone has introduced more than 10 SKUs sourced from New Zealand, Poland, France and other countries to the Chinese mar-ket. It is also upgrading its production facilities and supply systems to supply China’s growing demand. Danone is also establishing a new production line in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, in light of huge growth potential of the medical nutrition industry brought by the growing aging trend and the growing number of middle-income earners in China.

Company News


Branding & Marketing News

Brazilian meat processing firm, Marfrig Global Foods is set to export its first shipment of vegetable burger products to China in January 2020. The company produces a burger that simulates the flavour and texture of meat in partnership with US-based Archer Daniel Midland (ADM), and has recently launched a new global strategy to take advantage of the booming demand for such products. The burger is also expected to be exported to Uruguay, whilst in the domestic market (Brazil), it is already available at Burger King restaurants and will soon be available at Outback restaurant chain.

Marfrig to export ‘Vegetable’ Burger to China in January 2020

PLANT-BASED MEAT SUBSTITUTES

Philippines’ Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez earlier said that local food processors are actively seeking for permission to import sugar anytime they need, especially when local sugar prices were much higher than imports. “Sugar Regulatory Authority (SRA) made sure they will make available affordable sugar for ex-porters but I think they should also include the assurance of competitively-priced sugar to food processors even for the domestic market,” said Ramon during a recent Philippine Chamber of Agriculture and Food Inc. meeting. Ramon added that it received assurance from the SRA that it will approve the petition of food processors for import permits. Imported sugar currently costs about Pesos 1,900 (US$37.60) per bag while locally-milled sugar is priced over Pesos 2,000 (US$39.60) per bag. Ramon added that although only a small portion of local sugar goes to food processing, SRA hopes to link processors directly to local sugar suppliers. This will eliminate 3rd party like traders to avoid additional costs and make local sugar more competitive as compared to imported sugar. Philippine food processors would prefer to buy local sugar if it is priced competitively as compared to imported sources. The sugar tariff currently is 5% if bought within ASEAN and 50% if outside ASEAN.

Food manufacturers seek permission to buy cheaper ‘imported’ sugar

PHILIPPINES FOOD (GENERAL)/SUGAR

Despite the ongoing trade dispute between the US and China, beef exporters from the US are looking at China as a major destination for the beef related exports, as they anxiously wait for the conclusion of Phase I trade deal by early 2020, that could significantly increase access of US beef in China. China emerged as a major beef destination in 2013, when imports increased by nearly 400% and topped US$1 billion for the first time. Over the next 5 years, import growth was phenomenal, reach-ing US$4.9 billion in 2018. Recently, with the country’s domestic meat supplies drastically affected by African Swine Fever (ASF), demand had skyrocketed with China importing close to 1.5 million tonnes of beef valued at US$7.3 billion for the first 11 months of 2019. US beef exporters had been sidelined due to China’s restriction on beef imports due to ‘mad cow’ epidemic until mid-2017. Till now, US exporters face major hurdles in exports due to suspected US use of banned substances in livestock farming. This was exacerbated with the US-China Trade War in 2018 which led to the rise in import duties on US beef from 12% to 37%, and then to 47% in September 2019. Despite all these challenges, US beef exporters are looking at the lucrative access to China market and they are all looking anxiously at the details to the Phase I trade agreement. US beef ex-porters are projected to export 9,300 tonnes of beef (US$75 million) to China, a miniscule amount compared to 1.6 million tonnes (US$8 billion) which China expected to import in 2019. US beef major competitor comes from Australian beef which has already built strong market presence for its ‘high quality, grain-fed beef’ in China followed by Brazil and other EU countries. It will be a huge challenge for US exporters to build their presence in China but the rewards will be ‘heavenly’ if they are successful.

In 2019, China’s imports of South Korean instant noodles have jumped 5-fold compared to 2014. According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), China imported US$100 million worth of Korean instant noodles last year, up from US$15.1 million in 2014. Among all instant noodles imported by China, 50% came from Korea at 40.2 billion packs in the January-September 2019 period, followed by Taiwan. It was estimated that about 280 million packs of instant noodles are consumed daily in China, about 3 times higher than in Indonesia of around 90 million packs, according to KOTRA. KOTRA disclosed that the market has expanded significantly due to the growing number of sin-gle-person households in China, demand for diversified, premium instant noodles and the activities of social media influencers. It was reported that Korean firm, Samyang Foods’ spicy chicken noodles ranked among the top 10 products on e-commerce platform Taobao after being frequently featured on social media in China. Approximately 1.8 million packs of spicy chicken noodles are sold in China monthly, according to the company.

China becoming a ‘heavenly’ destination for US beef exporters

China imported over US$100 million worth of Korean instant noodles

MEAT

NOODLES/PASTACHINA

In Malaysia, Anchor Food Professionals Ma-laysia has strengthened its long-term partner-ship with Secret Recipe Cakes and Cafe Sdn Bhd through the ‘Anchor Legendairy 133 Cele-bration’ campaign. Anchor Food Professionals, the foodser-vice arm of Fonterra, has recently celebrated its 133 years of sharing New Zealand’s natu-ral dairy goodness through the Anchor Dairy brand range of products such as cream, butter, cheese and cream cheese products. Fonterra Brands (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd Asso-ciate Director Foodservice, Jack Tan said in celebrating the milestone, Anchor Food Pro-fessionals had joined forces with Secret Recipe to run the ‘Anchor Legendairy 133 Celebration’ from October to December 2019. Jack said, “Our partnership will drive new menu innova-tion, while complement each other through providing good quality products for consumers. Our priority is also to be healthier and more nat-ural in our ingredients.” This campaign has also given consumers a chance to win prizes on bi-weekly basis with a final big draw when they dined at Secret Recipe oulets. Jack added, “As the dairy food service lead-er from New Zealand, we share new ideas and ways of doing business with Secret Recipe so that we can help each other succeed. The un-derstanding of the market is important. At the same time, we want to give customers good products and quality services.” Secret Recipe Business Development Direc-tor Patrick Sim Chee Hong said the collabora-tion was not just about developing new prod-ucts, but also to create a holistic strategy by leveraging each other’s strengths and resourc-es. He said, “Secret Recipe has been working with Anchor Food Professionals for more than 15 years. We really appreciate the collabora-tion as it enables us to deliver better services through our cumulative market knowledge and experience. Examples of these include working together on front-of-house presentation, en-hancing yield and taste and delivering exciting new menu options. Both companies will contin-ue to invest in operations, product innovation and supply chain processes to give value to customers.”

Anchor Food forms branding/marketing partnership with Secret Recipe

DAIRYMALAYSIA

Leading Chinese liquor producer for baijiu, Fenjiu Group has aggressively participated in an array of activities to promote Chinese liquor culture and enhance Chinese liquor’s international reputation in 2019. In October, the ‘2019 Walking Fenjiu Liquor’ festival was launched in Xinghua (which means apricot blossom) village - which is known as the birthplace of Fenjiu liquor - in Fenyang, Shanxi province. The liquor cul-ture promotion tour later moved to Tianjin in

Chinese liquor producer boosts Events activities to place ‘Baijiu’ on the global scene

ALCOHOLIC DRINKSCHINA

Import-Export News


As a global leader for nutrition, ADM has recently unveiled its updated corporate identity, reflecting the company’s recent evolution. Having made numerous portfolio adjustments for growth in recent years – in-cluding divestitures, acquisitions and invest-ments – ADM now provides a full range of solutions to meet the opportunities present-ed by rapidly evolving global trends in ex-isting and new markets, geographies and channels. “ADM’s ongoing evolution provides us with an opportunity to evolve ADM’s purpose and identity aligned to the role we play in an ever-im-portant industry,” said Juan Luciano, ADM Chairman and CEO. “Build-ing upon our history of leadership in agricultural transportation and processing, our exponential growth in human and animal nutrition, and our leading-edge innovation and customer-focused solutions – with an ever-present foundation of nature – we are delivering on a noble pur-pose that is powerful, modern and aspirational. We unlock the power of nature to enrich the quality of life.” This purpose is reflected in an updated brandmark, website and oth-er communications. “Today, we’re proud to unveil an updated identity that reflects the purpose, people and products of ADM,” Luciano said. “Our new brand identity matches our focus on the future – one that remains inspired by our heritage, strongly connected to nature, while propelling us forward.”

PureCircle, the world’s leading producer of great-tasting stevia in-gredients has announced important new developments to support its customers in its creation of zero-added sugar and reduced-sugar prod-ucts. It has recently introduced a new proprietary stevia ingredient, Sigma Syrup, which is an optimised blend of its next generation stevia leaf ingredients, including Reb M. Sigma Syrup provides superior taste and overcomes solubility challenges encountered when using other stevia sweeteners in products which are high in sweetness intensity, such as syrups and liquid tabletop sweeteners. PureCircle has also announced a new proprietary varietal of stevia plants, carefully cultivated by PureCircle. Successfully field-tested, this new stevia varietal naturally yields greater quantities of its great-tast-ing next generation stevia ingredients. This breakthrough enhances the company’s production efficiency and further improves its ability to deliver a sustainable, cost effective supply of these next generation stevia leaf ingredients to food and beverage companies. PureCircle is also opening a new office and innovation lab in Sao Paulo, Brazil to provide formulation support to its F&B customers in Latin America market. PureCircle now holds 214 patents related to stevia globally. The company continues to invest in innovation and seeks new ingredient solutions and applications for stevia.

ADM unveils new Corporate Identity

PureCircle unveils Sigma Syrup & a new high-yield stevia plant variety

FUNCTIONAL/NUTRITIONAL INGREDIENTS

SWEETENER

GLOBAL

Ingredients News

The Coca-Cola Co has earlier launched its spe-cial-edition Coke Zero bot-tles that light up. The bottles featured the Star Wars lightsabre weapons on the labels as well as characters from the movie franchise, which released its 9th series called ‘The Rise of Sky-walker’ on 19 December 2019. According to sourc-es, the battery-powered bottles can light up about 500 times and glow when touched. The bottles were rolled out in Singapore and were only made available in se-

lected locations. The identity of the locations were gradually revealed on social media, Coca-Cola said. In a reference to the powers of the lightsabre-wielding Jedi in the Star Wars uni-verse, the Coke Zero bottles carried the tagline ‘Full Force, No Sugar’. This was part of the ‘Limited Edition Lighted Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Coca-Cola No Sugar Bottles!’ campaign in anticipation of the upcoming movie, in which Coca-Cola would release 5 clues to 5 locations per day on its social media plat-forms like Facebook, Instagram and website over a 3-week period in December. Coca-Cola is a long-time partner of Star Wars producer Dis-ney and has released a number of tie-ins with the franchise.

Coca-Cola launched light-up Star Wars bottles to promote its ‘Low/No Sugar’ image

SOFT DRINKSINGAPORE

October, Beijing in November and Hainan province in December. Earlier in 2018, the festival traveled to 6 cities around the country. As one of the major player for Chinese liquor, Fenjiu has a re-sponsibility to promote Chinese liquor’s unique culture and obtain international recognition, said Li Qiuxi, Chairman of Fenjiu Group. During the Tianjin leg, the organisers set up an apricot blos-som-themed park where people could gain an understanding of Fenjiu liquor’s history and purchase creative products. Attendees could watch the distilling process of Fenjiu liquor while enjoying a traditional Chinese music performance. Fenjiu Group also participated in the 2019 Spirits Selection by Concours Mondial de Bruxelles (CMB) in Xinghua village. The 5-day competition gathered 1,748 spirits from 59 countries and regions around the world. A total of 104 judges engaged in blind tasting and appraisal. As a result, 48 products won the contest’s highest honor, the Grand Gold Medal. Fenjiu Group’s pure and mellow rose Fenjiu liquor was the only top award winner in Shanxi. Besides evaluation, the international experts visited the Fen-jiu Museum and the Fenjiu Taotan Distillery to learn more about Chinese liquor’s history and its brewing process. A UK-based bar-tender tasted Fenjiu liquor and commented that it is different from spirits from Europe with its soft and slightly sweet taste. It also has a nice long-lasting aftertaste. Fenjiu’s brewing process includes a special fermentation pro-cess in underground ceramic tanks. Local sorghum is used as a major ingredient for fermentation and fresh rice chaff as the sup-plementary materials. Baudouin Havaux, President of the 2019 Spirits Selection by CMB said that Chinese liquor-making tech-niques are complex and profound. Following this international competition, Xinghua village has also hosted the 3rd Shanxi World Wine Culture Expo between 19 to 22 September which organised a wine tasting party, the Xinghuacun forum and an investment promotion. The forum focused on how to export Chinese liquor culture and how to advance Chinese li-quor’s internationalisation, said Tan Zhongbao, General Manager of Fenjiu Group.

ADM latest updated brandmark

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Branding & Marketing News


Firmenich has announced ‘Classic Blueberry’ as the flavor of the year for 2020, due to its long-standing association with well-being and its role in helping usher in a new wave of food and beverage options for consumers around the world. “What’s classic is new again,” said Emmanuel Butstraen, President, Firmenich Flavors. “With blueberry we celebrate a flavor that is timeless and enduring, but also increasingly relevant. Blueberry has been a beloved flavor for centuries in many markets and today, with our increasing focus on health and wellness, blueberries are being redis-covered and growing to be one of the most rele-vant flavors in many categories,” he added. Consumer interest in blueberries overall has surged in part due to a strong linkage with well-be-ing. In a recent Firmenich social media study of online discussions around “super foods”, berries were the number one food mentioned, and blue-berry was the number one berry. Products with blueberry flavor are nearly twice as likely to make a functional claim on pack as a typical food or bev-erage according to Mintel data. Blueberry as an ingredient has been growing in food and beverage use each year since 2008. Agricultural production of blueberries in the US has increased 5-fold since 2007 and has more than doubled worldwide in that same time peri-od. As a flavor used in new product development, blueberry has seen 101% growth over the past 10 years globally, with particularly rapid growth in markets such as the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, according to Mintel. Blueberry has also seen growth in nearly all of the food and bever-age categories tracked by Mintel, with particular-ly strong 10 year growth in baby foods (700%), snacks (255%), special drinks (224%), breakfast cereals (145%), dairy (143%), sports & energy drinks (127%), and alcoholic drinks (100%). In a recent survey commissioned by Firmenich on 5,000 consumers across 16 countries, it found that the number one emotion associated with blueberry was happiness, followed by a sense of comfort. “This choice of a more traditional flavor as our ‘flavor of the year’ actually represents a more significant shift in the food industry toward more intentional and emotional design,” said Jeffrey Schmoyer, VP Global Insights for Firmenich. “Con-sumers are more inclined to try something unfa-miliar to them, such as kombucha or a cashew yo-gurt, if it’s flavored in a way they can connect with on an emotional level. We see blueberry playing a bigger role in the coming years in helping product developers introduce new food concepts around the world.” Eric Tang, a flavorist at Firmenich who is behind winning product developments using blueberry said, “Blueberry has stand out floral notes and distinct tanginess, with fresh green and sweet elements woven in. Besides the classic pairings you find with blueberry, I’m also drawn to pairing it with less obvious matches, such as black tea or habanero.” In the culinary world, long gone are the days when berries were relegated to supporting roles in salads or dressings. Blueberries are now found in countless savory items including pizzas, grain bowls and meat dishes. “Blueberries can even be used in noodles as a good source of vitamin C and for color,” added Oana Ocico, VP of Firmenich’s Global Savory Business.

Firmenich chooses ‘Classic Blueberry’ as 2020 Flavor of the Year

FLAVOR/FRAGRANCE

Bunge Loders Croklaan (BLC), the edible oil business of Bunge Limited, has recently unveiled Betapol® Plus, the next generation of premium quality Oleic-Palmitic-Oleic (OPO or SN-2 palmitate) lipids for infant formula. Betapol Plus is the most advanced OPO product of its kind and delivers on BLC’s aim to provide the best solutions for modern-day infant nutrition. OPO is a uniquely structured lipid naturally present in mother’s milk. Recently hon-ored with the Fi Europe 2019 Innovation Award for Functional Innovation, the new Betapol Plus blend for infant formula offers a 60% OPO or SN-2 palmitate level, which is the highest level available on the market, up to 50% higher than current products. This new solution is closer to the levels in mother’s milk fat than any offering available on the market. Benefits of Betapol Plus for babies include improved energy intake, increased bone mineral density, reduced constipation, healthy gut bacteria, less crying and better sleep. “There is a strong need in the infant milk formula industry to get as close as possible to the composition and benefits of mother’s milk, ensuring parents have the best alter-native available when breastfeeding is not possible,” said Dr. Emiliano Rial Verde, Vice President Nutrition at BLC. “With Betapol Plus, we are providing an option that is clos-est to nature. It adds significant value to infant formula brands where premium choices are in high demand and to the growing specialty infant formula market addressing diverse dietary needs.” Dr Wiola Mi, Global Human Nutrition Science Lead of the new generation Betapol said, “We all agree that breastfeeding is important for infant nutrition and bonding. But, when breastfeeding is not an option, choosing the best infant formula, with the best evidence-backed ingredients, is key for babies’ healthy growth and development.” OPO is naturally present in mother’s milk, with 60-75% palmitic acid levels in the mid-dle, or SN-2, position, and oleic acid in the outer SN-1 and SN-3 positions. This unique OPO lipid structure allows babies to absorb more nutrients. Until now, no ingredient supplier could provide an OPO or SN-2 palmitate level that surpassed 40-45% and most commercial infant formulas have mainly POP (Palmitic-Oleic-Palmitic) fats. Not only do the levels of OPO or SN-2 palmitate in mother’s milk range from 60% to 75% of total lipids, palmitic acid is also more favorably absorbed in the OPO structure rather than in the POP structure. Furthermore, clinical evidence shows a dose-dependent response when OPO or SN-2 palmitate levels are greater than 40%, as levels above this threshold show increased calcium and lipid absorption. Thirty years ago, BLC first invented OPO, known as Betapol, which quickly became the recognised standard for infant milk formula worldwide. Betapol was the very first enzymatically processed fat blend bringing infant milk formula closer to nature by mim-icking the lipid structure of mother’s milk. In 2019, BLC further strengthened its dedi-cation to nutrition innovation by launching a global Nutrition Business Unit focused on delivering high quality, innovative solutions in infant, sports and medical nutrition. “This new Betapol product is definitely a milestone in our lipid solutions innovation, but not the end,” said Dr. Emiliano Rial Verde. “Taking advantage of our 30-year ex-perience in specialty lipids for infant nutrition, we are continuously studying the com-position and structure of human breast milk to provide customers and consumers with innovative products that are closer and closer to nature.” Bunge Loders Croklaan is a leading global producer and supplier of sustainable plant-based specialty oils and fats for the food manufacturing industry.

Bunge launches Betapol® Plus, the next generation OPO for Infant Formula

INFANT FORMULA INGREDIENTS

Bunge Betapol Plus wins Fi Europe 2019 Innovation Award for Functional Innovation

Ingredients News


A new report by Grand View Research Inc highlighted that the global L-carnitine market is expected to reach US$233.8 million by 2025 with a CAGR of 4.8%. Growing consumer awareness regarding product benefits, along with increas-ing demand from end-use industries such as pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and animal feed, is projected to drive the market over the forecast period. L-carnitine and its derivatives are used for numerous applications including male infertility, kidney treatment, cardiovascular diseases, weight reduction, and bone mass. It is also used in various products including animal feed, health sup-plements, functional drinks, medicines, and other nutraceutical products. The report showed that growing preventive healthcare in countries like US, Chi-na and India have led to rising consumption of functional drinks, which indirectly propel demand for L-Carnitine. Major players in the L-Carnitine market include Lonza Group, Northeast Phar-maceutical Group Co., Ltd, Biosint S.p.A, Merck KgaA, Tokyo Chemical Industry Co., Ltd and Kaiyuan Hengtai Chemical Co., Ltd amongst many others.

A new report by Global Market Insights, Inc., highlighted that the global yeast extract industry is expected to surpass US$2 billion by 2026 with a CAGR of 5%. Rising demand for clean labelled products owing to some health risks posed by synthetic ingredients should fuel product demand. Yeast extracts play a vital role in the manufacture of various products in food & beverages, animal feed and pharmaceutical applications owing to its ability to partially replace salt, taste enhancers like MSG and creates savory flavor. Many companies like Angel Yeast, DSM and Kerry are engaged in expanding their manufacturing capabilities to improve productivity. In October 2019, Angel Yeast, a global producer of yeast and its derivative have opened its first yeast extract production facility in Egypt to cater growing demand in Middle East and Africa region. In China, growing demand for food & beverages products in China has strength-ened the need for multiple taste properties in the production of different food stuffs including sauces, soups, bakery items, snacks, noodles and seasonings. Growing production capacities in China by major global players like Lesaffre, AB Mauri and Angel Yeast Co Ltd will generate opportunities for the market.

L-Carnitine market to reach US$233.8 million by 2025

Yeast Extract Market to reach US$2 billion by 2026

Brief Research Highlights

Parabel USA Inc has recently announced the discovery of a natural plant-based source of Vitamin B12 in its water lentil crop. Independent 3rd party laboratory testing has confirmed that Parabel’s water lentil crop and the ingredient LEN-TEIN® plant protein contain the natural bioactive forms of Vitamin B12 adenosylcobalamin, methycobalamin. The water lentil, or duckweed as it is commonly called, was shown to contain approximately 750% of the US recom-mended daily value of the bioactive forms of Vitamin B12 (per 100g of dry plant). Dramatic shifts in the adoption of plant-based diets cou-pled with an aging population means this critical vitamin is receiving increasing levels of attention. Although natural bioactive forms of Vitamin B12 can be found in meats and dairy products, some diets require supplementation of the vitamin, as it is typically absent in plant foods. The most common supplemental form of Vitamin B12 is synthetic, which has had some consumers concerned. This could be a game changing event for the plant-based food community as it allows one to consume bioactive, nat-ural, whole food plant-sourced B12. In addition to Vitamin B12, the water lentil has been re-ferred to as the world’s most complete food source as a result of the high levels and quality of protein, vitamins and minerals in the plant. The rapidly growing water lentil crop can double its biomass in a matter of days, which leads to high yields and a scalable option for the exploding plant-based movement. Dr. Matthew Van Ert, Parabel’s Chief Scientific Officer said, “Parabel’s hydroponic systems represent a scalable and potentially revolutionary platform to produce highly nutritious plant foods that contain bioactive vitamin B12 forms. Along with partners, we will begin conducting bio-availability studies to determine the effectiveness of water lentils as a natural, plant-based solution to address vitamin B12 deficiencies.” Parabel USA Inc., based in Vero Beach, Florida, grows and processes water lentils into LENTEIN® plant protein.

Parabel unveils 1st natural plant source of Vitamin B12 in LENTEIN®

LENTEIN (PLANT-BASED INGREDIENTS)

The Takasago Group, a leading global player in the flavor & fragrance segment, has officially opened its first plant in Indonesia in November 2019 with a combined investment of US$25 million. This investment is its largest commitment in Indonesia, which is also the world’s 4th most populated country. Takasago chose Indonesia due to its stable economy, good infrastructures coupled with its strategic location making the country the most promising market in ASEAN.

Takasago expands in Indonesia with the opening of its 1st plant in November

FLAVOR/FRAGRANCEINDONESIA

The facility is located on a 16,000 sq.metre site, making it Takasago’s 12th plant for flavours and fragrances production worldwide. This factory will also serve the Southeast Asian market with up to 14,500 metric tonnes capacity annually, and is expected to be one of the most modern flavours and fragrances plants in Indonesia that will boost Takasago’s competitive edge in the industry. Takasago is also committed to sustainable practices and will provide job opportunities for the local community. The commencement of the PT Takasago International Indonesia factory gives Takasago a big leap in the Asian marketplace especially for Indonesia. By having this state-of-the-art factory, Takasago will be able to provide better services to its clients in terms of shorter lead time, and support the fast growing FMCG market in Indonesia. The factory construction phase went smoothly starting from its ground breaking ceremony in August 2018 to its completion in 2019. The opening of the factory was officiated by the presence of Takasago’s senior executives from its headquarters in Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia, as well as representatives from the Indonesian government. Takasago International Corporation was established nearly 100 years ago, and has successfully become one of the leading companies in the flavours and fragrances industry; with some of the world’s most renowned manufacturers in its customer portfolio. The Takasago Group maintains offices, production sites, and R&D centres in 27 countries and regions; and this year marks its accelerated expansion in the Asian region. For the financial year ended March 2019, Takasago reported sales revenue of Yen 150.5 billion (US$1.37 billion).

Ingredients News


The top 3 trends in the ASEAN region are a better quality of carbs which have lower/no sugar and calories, healthier products such as fibre fortification, and plant-based products. Consumers are becoming better informed about nutrition and healthy eating and are increasingly looking for healthier options, such as low/no sugar or reduced calorie products, as well as prod-ucts fortified with fibre. We expect to see a trend towards rare sugars like our DOLCIA PRIMA® allulose, a sweetening ingredient with all the taste and func-tionality of sugar with only negligible calories and no impact on blood sugar. It provides not just the sweetness, but the texture, mouthfeel, caramelisation, freezing point depression and many other benefits of sugar without the downsides. This ingredient is opening up sugar reduction solutions that have until now been very difficult to solve us-ing high-intensity sweeteners alone. Allulose also has synergies with low calorie sweeteners such as sucralose and stevia, making it even more useful to the formulator when developing new sugar-reduced foods and beverages. Fibre continues to play an important role in reducing sugar in foods and beverages in response to consumer demand and calls from regulators and health authorities. The food and beverage industry is using fibre more for its sugar replacement capability than its enrich-ment properties; however the growing consumer awareness of fibre’s health benefits is driving demand for enriched products, and brands are responding. Our focus is on helping customers to understand the science behind fibre, and how to use different fibre variants to enrich products and reduce sugar and calories. Through our customer support, including nutrition education seminars, Tate & Lyle provides helpful guidance for consumer brands to consider when communicating these benefits to their consumers, including on company websites and via on-pack information, including health and nutrition claims. Demand is also increasing for natural, sustainably sourced ingredients. We are proud to be working with our partners Sweet Green Fields to provide a portfolio of stevia solutions driven by our intent for best-tasting stevia ingredients at an acceptable cost in use. Tate & Lyle’s global footprint and local applications know-how, cou-pled with Sweet Green Fields’ deep stevia knowledge from seed to product, make this an impactful partnership. The partnership has also invested in a project with Earthwatch to fully review our stevia production, and will deliver a full report and action steps to ensure that our supply chain is fully sustainable for stevia production now and in the future. We intend to ensure that stevia not only improves consumers’ lives, but also supports sustainable livelihoods and farm-ing practices in the supply chain, with minimal impact on the envi-ronment.

Yes, the trends are relevant to the F&B industry in this region. Health concerns such as diabetes and obesity are increasing and sugar taxes have been implemented in many ASEAN countries. At the same time, consumers still love the sweet taste of certain types of product and expect this to remain. On top of that, Asia’s population is large – about 60% of the world’s population lives here, and it’s growing. This means there is a huge market for innovative sugar-re-placement ingredients that make tasty foods healthier and healthy foods tastier. We believe we can make a difference here and that’s why we’re committed to the region and investing in new application, technical and commercial capabilities. Sugar price is relatively low in Asia compared with other regions, so here there is a particular need for cost-competitive solutions.

Our purpose is to Improve Lives for Generations so we continue to focus our innovation pipeline on adding more lower sugar and calorie as well as health and wellness-focused ingredients to our portfolio, thereby helping manufacturers bring down the sugar and calorie content of their products. Tate & Lyle offer a wide range of solutions, including sweeteners, fibres and texturants. New sugar replacers like allulose, Tate & Lyle’s low-cal-orie sweetening ingredient, could prove to be game-changing, thanks to its sugar-like taste and functionality with virtually none of the calories. Having a portfolio of solutions is key. Whether it be reformulating an existing product or launching a new product, Tate & Lyle’s broad port-folio of ingredients and solutions, and technical expertise, enables us to give consumers the healthier products they want, while maintaining great taste. For us, it’s also really important to be close to our customers, espe-cially since taste is local. We develop local solutions for local needs. That’s why we’ve expanded our application and technical capabilities in Shanghai and Singapore and will continue to build on our presence in the region.

We are partnering with customers and providing formulation expertise, using our complete toolbox of sweeteners, fibres and texturants to meet the challenges of sugar taxes and regulation, without compromising on taste or consumer acceptance. Our unique combination of ingredients and expertise make us a trusted partner to deliver on the formulation challenges our customers are faced with every day. We have recently launched our flavor modulation solutions specific to countries such as China. These new solutions improve consumer expe-rience in stevia-sweetened products, while doing so at an acceptable or improved cost in use vs existing solutions. In addition, our stakeholders in the region (industry, consumers, gov-ernment bodies, etc.) are becoming more aware of the importance of clinical data for the Asian population in order to understand the effec-tiveness of these new ingredients. Tate & Lyle is continuing to identify and foster meaningful scientific partnerships with research organisations and academic institutions in the region to collaboratively develop clin-ical trials on topics such as metabolic health and glycemic responses. This research then feeds into our product innovation and strategic deci-sion-making.

Sugar reduction is a key focus for us as a business. At Tate & Lyle, we care deeply about finding practical and effective solutions in beverages and foods to allow consumers, food producers and governments to ad-dress the worrying lev-els of obesity and as-sociated diseases like Type 2 diabetes, and we can make a positive and lasting difference thanks to our toolkit of ingredients and reformulation expertise. We believe people should be able to make healthy food and drink choic-es by having access to low calorie, low sugar and high fibre options - that’s why we have a range of ingredients that food and beverage pro-ducers can use to make the products that, ultimately, could help prevent or manage incidences of Type 2 diabetes and obesity around the globe. Our business in Asia Pacific represents around 10-15% of the sales of our global Food & Beverage Solutions division, and together with Latin America is delivering strong growth. Having seen attractive growth over the last few years, we are investing in Asia Pacific to grow the busi-ness, building on the already extended application labs in Singapore and Shanghai. Asia is a key market for us and we are looking forward to expanding our presence further, staying close to our customers and their consumers to provide innovative solutions in line with our purpose of improving lives for generations.

Can you describe what are the 3 top trends/innovations that relate to creating better ‘next-generation’ sugars which will have an impact on the ASEAN region in the next 5 years?

Are these innovations beneficial to an F&B manufacturer in this region ?

What can Tate & Lyle offer to the F&B industry as the region strives to introduce new/existing products with less sugar to meet growing regulatory restrictions and rising consumer health awareness ?

What is Tate & Lyle plan for the Asian region relating to the sugar replacement/sweetener industry? Any new invest-ments/product innovations on the drawing board?

Can you describe how important is the sugar replacement/sweeteners category for Tate & Lyle business in Asia?

SWEETENER/SUGAR REPLACEMENT PRODUCTSASIA Asia Food & Beverages Report has the op-portunity to interview Harry Boot, President,

Asia Pacific, Food and Beverage Solutions at Tate & Lyle to find out more on the lat-

est trends relating to the development of next-generation sugars in Asia.

Tate & Lyle is a leading global ingredients and solutions provid-er, and the following are excerpts of the interview:Harry Boot, President, Asia Pacific, Food &

Beverage Solutions, Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle Lab in Singapore

Ingredients News


Cargill has recently launched RadipureTM, a pea protein devel-oped and manufactured in Asia, to support the ever-increasing Asian consumer market and demand for plant-based proteins. Radipure™ pea protein

offers the solubility and flavor profile that customers need for food application development. Radipure™ pea protein also has label-friendly, low allergenic, and non-GMO fea-tures. It is a highly versatile ingredient that can be used in dairy, RTD beverages, bakery, and meat alternatives. Using Cargill’s proprietary technology along with its food ingredients expertise, Radipure™ pea protein was developed to enhance its diverse portfolio of high-quality ingredients already available to the Asia market. Cargill partners with its customers to create and reformulate products to meet changing consumer trends. “More consumers are seeking the benefits of a high-pro-tein diet. We are on the forefront of this trend and inno-vation with our latest offering, Radipure™ pea protein. It augments our ability to work with Asian customers to de-velop winning products in increasingly important market segments,” said Franck Monmont, Managing Director of Cargill Starches, Sweeteners & Texturisers Asia. Disposable incomes have grown all over Asia and the appetite for protein has also grown. Consumer interest in alternative proteins has seen especially strong growth, driven by Asia’s large vegetarian population and in-creased consumer health and environment interests. As a result, the market for plant-based proteins in Asia has grown at a CAGR of 27% over the past 5 years. “We are only at the beginning of a long-term trend. We are committed to providing our Asia customers with a solution that helps them capture and grow in this new-ly created market space while enhancing our diverse portfolio of high-quality ingredients,” added Jerry Liu, President of Cargill China and Managing Director, Cargill Starches, Sweeteners & Texturisers, China. Radipure™ pea protein broadens Cargill’s portfolio of plant-based proteins available in the Asia market, which include GluVital™ vital wheat gluten and soy protein, to meet its customers’ dietary preferences.

Cargill launches Radipure™ pea protein for the Asia market

PLANT-BASED PROTEIN

Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has approved the use of Triton Algae Innovations’ algae strain as a food ingre-dient in the island nation. The algae is Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii, and is pro-duced in the form of dried biomass powder. In early 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accept-ed the edible algae as safe to eat and it falls under GRAS status. Singapore will act as a launching pad and platform for Triton Algae’s access to the ASEAN region and neigh-bouring countries, due to its advanced logistic network and the country’s important role as a centre for food in-novations, particularly in the area of nutrition and sustain-ability, for the region. There is a growing number of food companies look-ing at alternative protein sources and ways to fortify their products, and this new ingredient will fit into this profile requirement. This algae is also grown in the laboratory as such, it does not require an agricultural land or subjected to varying weather conditions. It could even be cultivated productively in a tiny island state like Singapore. With the world projected to have more than 10 billion people by 2050, alternative protein sources are urgently needed as existing livestock, grains and agriculture are not able to fulfill this huge protein demand. Interestingly, this new algae ingredient has high protein with essential nutrients compared to traditional sources such as soybeans. Its nutritional contents include essen-tial amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin A (beta carotene) and iron. In terms of food applications, this new ingredient can be applied into a variety of food products like pasta, infant formula milk, butter, bread, snacks to dairy products.

Singapore to be a launch pad for new algae ingredients from Triton Algae Innovations

ALGAE INGREDIENTSSINGAPORE

The Second Construction Co Ltd of China Construction Third Engineering Bureau, a key enterprise of China State Construction Engineering Corp (CSCEC), has shown interest in ASEAN’s 1st Halal Gelatin Industrial Park which will be developed by Sanichi Technology Bhd in Malaysia. CSCEC is ranked 21st on the Fortune Global 500 with US$181 billion in revenue and is also rated A by Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch. The Halal Gelatin Industrial Park will be sited on a 85.8 hectare land in Kuala Linggi, Alor Gajah in Malacca and will house a Jakim-certified Halal Gelatin Plant, together with relat-ed downstream industrial activities for applications across diverse industries and sectors, from the food sector to pharmaceutical, cosmetic and health products amongst others. This project has been given strong support by various government agencies like Jakim, Halal Industry Development Corp, Department of Veterinary Services, Malacca Chief Min-ister Office and many others. The development will be completed in 2 phases over the next 5 years with the Halal Gel-atin Plant expected to commence operation by mid-2021, and completion of the industrial park by 2025 with a total investment value of RM1.3 billion (US$430.2 million). The Halal Gelatin Plant will have a production value of up to RM250 million (US$82.7 million) per annum for this niche lucrative market.

Green House, a major supplier of bakery ingredients, will be exhibiting at FHA Horeca 2020, a biennial mega hospitality and food service exhibition, which will be held in Singa-pore from 3-6 March 2020. Green House will be focusing on its latest range of emulco under the ‘Flavoe Series’ which was concocted through ‘clever’ mixing of herbs and spices with Green House fla-vors. Currently, there are 5 new products under this series with the Pandan Curry Emulco being the company’s key focus product which it often compares to ‘nasi lemak’, a popular signature dish in Malaysia and Singapore. The other 4 variants include Apple Cinnamon Emulco, Strawberry Basil Emulco, Chocolate Cinnamon Emulco and Green Tea Oregano Emulco. Green House has received very positive feedback on its flavoe series from visitors during Fi Asia in Bangkok last year, as such it hopes to promote the existing range to the inter-national visitors at FHA Horeca. Green House will prepare samples of bakery products using its emulco for visitor testing, and at the same time, it will also demonstrate to visitors on how to use its emulco. The new Flavoe series of emulco was launched in July 2019, as such Green House hopes to bring this new iconic series to its next level, beyond Malaysia and Singapore borders, into other Asian markets and eventually to the rest of the globe. Emulco which comes from the word ‘emulsifier’ and ‘color’, is an emulsion of flavor and color combined with gum which is used as a thickener and aroma holding substance. Green House utilises latest technologies and uses premium emulsifier from palm oil to produce its emulco series. Green House foresees a growing trend in favor of ‘savory-sweet’ taste or flavor in the BaResCa segment. This had resulted in the launch of its ‘Pandan Curry’ emulco which is a savory product combined with sweet to create a unique fusion flavor that appeals to the current modern, yet sophisticated consumers. It hopes to create new applications on this new series of products to capture rapid growth in the BaResCa segment in the next 3 to 5 years. Since 2003, Green House has exported to more than 15 countries and its customers focus on the ‘middle income’ BaResCa segment which is expected to continue growing at a healthy pace in the years ahead. In 2020, other than FHA Horeca, Green House will also participate actively in 3 other ma-jor exhibitions namely Gulfood Dubai in February; ThaiFex Anuga Asia in May; and WOF-EX in August building up flavoe emulco brand and applications. Green House has an ambitious but achievable target to be-come ASEAN’s leading emulco producer serving the BaResCa segment. To reach this goal, Green House is actively search-ing for Bakery Ingredient Import-er, Food Additives Importer and Distributors to market Green House Emulco. It is also explor-ing fast growth markets like Afri-ca, Middle East and CIS country and hope to work closely with lo-cal distributors or agents there. To find out more information, please visit Green House booth at 8J1-08 at FHA Horeca.

China shows keen interest in ASEAN’s 1st Halal Gelatin Park

Green House to showcase its popular Flavoe Emulco Series at FHA Horeca

GELATIN

BAKERY INGREDIENTS

MALAYSIA

Green House Flavoe Series of Emulco

Ingredients News


Givaudan, the world’s leading flavour and fragrances company, has recently inaugurated a new extension to its Nantong manufacturing facility aimed to support the capacity on liquid flavour production for beverages, dairy and sweet goods. This move will double the its flavour pro-duction capacity in China. The US$30.85 mil-lion capacity expansion includes an additional 16,000 sq.metre of production space to meet growing demand for healthier food and bever-ages in China. The Nantong manufacturing facility will strengthen Givaudan’s strengths in savoury and culinary flavour blends, snack seasonings, spray dries and liquid flavours. Givaudan’s CEO Gilles Andrier said, “We are delighted to open the new extended space at our Nantong facility. The total investment we have made on the Nantong site supports our strategic goal of increasing Givaudan’s footprint in high growth markets and capturing growth opportunities. More importantly, the larger Nan-tong site will now enable Givaudan to collabo-rate even more closely with our customers to deliver innovative and creative taste solutions to the ever evolving Chinese market.” The manufacturing facility is also certified as “Environment-friendly Green Enterprise” by the Environment Protection Bureau of Nantong Economic & Technological Development Area (NETDA).

Givaudan doubles flavour production capacity to meet growing demand for healthier products

FLAVOR/FRAGRANCECHINA

Swiss-based Bakels, a leading bakery ingre-dients group, has acquired Guangzhou-based Bühler Bangsheng Food Ingredients for an un-disclosed sum, as part of its goal to strengthen its position in China. Bakels Chairman Armin Ulrich said, “Flour in-gredients have been a missing link in our port-folio so far. We are excited to close that gap now by taking over Bühler’s well-positioned business and strengthen our position in China.” Bühler ventured into the flour ingredient busi-ness since 2010, with a main focus on China market, and the business has been highly suc-cessful in meeting the growing demand for high quality baked foods that also meets the coun-try’s high safety requirements. With this agreement, Bakels will partner with Bühler to further develop the flour business and will cooperate strategically to offer flour ingredi-ent solutions to milling and bakery customers. Johannes Wick, CEO of Bühler’s Grains & Food business said, “Bühler has been active in the flour ingredients business to understand the entire value chain in order to provide better con-sulting capabilities throughout the life cycle of assets. Now we can do this even better, thanks to our professional partner who is active in a large array of segments. We are convinced that this business can unleash its full potential on a global scale, with Bakels as owner and Bühler as a strategic partner.”

Bakels acquires Bühler’s China flour ingredient business

FLOUR INGREDIENTS

New ProductsSNACKS

PT Emina Cheese Indonesia has just launched in the 4th quarter of 2019, 3 new in-teresting variants of cheese sticks under the Emina brand. The 3 variants are Chocolate, Sambal (Spicy) and BBQ now available for the Indonesian market. PT Emina plans to launch the new cheese sticks in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam lat-est by March 2020. The company claimed that it is the pioneer for this type of ‘cheese sticks’ which are effectively healthy snacks high in calcium, protein and Vitamin D. Based on the company brochure, one pack of Emina cheese stick contains calcium equivalent to 2 glasses of milk; and Vitamin D equals to 17 glasses of milk. Presently, there are no other companies selling such snack product in the market – a calcium-rich cheese snacks which can be eaten on its own. The 3 new flavors is an addition to its existing range of cheese sticks that include Original, Pizza and Banana Caramel flavors which was launched in September 2018. Sambal cheese stick is an interesting new flavor that is crafted for the Asian palate. According to Michael Hermanto, Marketing Team Leader for PT Emina Cheese Indonesia, “We are providing a new way for consumers to enjoy cheese and for people who don’t enjoy the taste of cheese as much, hence the addition of these new exciting flavors so they can enjoy a high-calcium snack product.” Hermanto said the company sources for its cheese from New Zealand, and its main consumers vary from kids to young adults to even mothers who enjoy snacking. It is a ‘universal’ snack prod-uct. The cheese sticks are sold in Indonesia in a 48g pack which has 4 cheese sticks (12g each) at a retail price of Rp 12,000 (US$0.88). Hermanto added that PT Emina hopes to create more brand awareness for its product as well as promote this new way of eating cheese not only in Indonesia but in the neighbouring countries. Based on a recent survey done by PT Emina, most Indonesians are still consuming cheese with another product for eg. bread, rice or noodles etc with the biggest format being slice and block cheese products. Nevertheless, Hermanto said the company saw good sales and steady growth performance for its cheese sticks, as such it is optimistic of growing this market further. Established in May 2017, PT Emina Cheese Indonesia is a joint-venture processed cheese com-pany between 2 leading Japanese-based firms namely Mitsubishi Corporation and Rokko Butter Co., Ltd.

Consumers in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia are well-familiar with Keropok, a tradi-tional regional cracker usually made from fish, seafood, prawn or vegetables. Cahaya Kenchana, a noodle and snack manufacturer based in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia has recently launched The Munching Queen during SIAL Interfood show in November. It is the first traditional Indonesian onion cracker that comes in bite size RTE format and The Munching Queen comes in 3 flavors namely original, truffle and cheese, and hot & spicy. It is cur-rently sold for US$1 in a 75g packaging. According to Dian Ika Safitri from the Marketing Export Division of Cahaya Kencana, “There is no product like ours yet in Indonesia. Most ready to eat traditional crackers can only last for 3-4 weeks on the shelf. After that, it’s no longer crunchy. Our version can last for 12 months, and it comes in modern aluminum packaging but not forgetting its traditional delicious taste & cultural value. In addition, our crackers contain no whitening, no added MSG, nothing artificial and is prepared using sunflower oil as a healthier option.” The decision to modernise keropok in its packaging and appeal is the result of recent market observation. Dian said, “Keropok is one of Indonesia’s most loved heritages as it contains the rich-ness of our local authentic flavour for years. Recently, We’re starting to notice that a lot of people are starting to forget keropok. One of the main reasons is the trend of healthy lifestyle and that their mindset is that keropok contains a lot of chemicals, artificial ingredients and the production process is not hygienic enough. Secondly, is the influence of imported products that have mod-ern packaging and clean look which sometimes are more attractive to customers. With so many options on the supermarket shelf, social media and advertising, we need to stand out among the crowd. Hence, as one of keropok’s manufacturers, we are very eager to preserve one of our local heritage and by modernising its packaging and using healthier ingredients, we believe that keropok could be easily accepted by current consumers without forgetting its original taste and value. More-over, by modernising the packaging, the shelf life of keropok is enhanced so that it could even reach across the globe.” Cahaya Kencana also manufactures egg noodles, many kinds of raw onion pellets, vegetarian pellets, cassava chips and prawn crackers. Its best sellers be-ing the mini rose onion crackers, prawn crackers & cas-sava chips. These 3 best selling items will be variants of The Munching Queen. The Munching Queen will appeal to the younger con-sumers who like the convenience of RTE snacks, as well as to tourists who are looking for authentic Indonesian snacks to bring back home as souvenirs. Cahaya Kencana will also be launching soon its ultimate prawn cracker series which are gluten-free and come in de-licious selections of rich flavors like Balinese sauteed spices and roasted nori.

New way of eating Cheese from Emina Indonesia

Traditional Keropok modernising its look, appeal to reach global consumers

INDONESIA SNACKS

PT Emina Cheese Indonesia has just

could be easily accepted by current consumers without forgetting its original taste and value. More-

Cahaya Kencana also manufactures egg noodles, many kinds of raw onion pellets, vegetarian pellets,

Its best sellers be-ing the mini rose onion crackers, prawn crackers & cas-sava chips. These 3 best selling items will be variants of

The Munching Queen will appeal to the younger con-sumers who like the convenience of RTE snacks, as well as to tourists who are looking for authentic Indonesian

Cahaya Kencana will also be launching soon its ultimate prawn cracker series which are gluten-free and come in de-licious selections of rich flavors like Balinese sauteed spices

Ingredients News


An interesting new cocoa-based drink, Coco X’tend pure cocoa powder, was launched during

SIAL Interfood 2019 held in Jakarta in November 2019.

According to Ms Juliana Wijaya, Managing Di-rector of PT Natura Inti

Sukses, this cocoa-based drink, branded as ‘Nature’s Su-

perfood’ has the highest concentration of cocoa flavanol, if not in the world, at least

in this region. Flavanols are plant-based nu-trients naturally occuring in many superfoods. She said that there are 300mg of cocoa flava-nols in each daily serving of Coco X’tend. This product is toll manufactured by PT Magnolium Mandiri, however PT Natura Inti Sukses is the owner, seller and distributor. Juliana added that the cocoa used to make this product is sourced from Malaysia. Coco X’tend cocoa powder can be served as both hot and cold cocoa drinks. It can also be added with other beverages like milk or milk-shake etc. Juliana added that the company’s main mar-keting plan is to make consumers understand the 6 health benefits of cocoa flavanols in the prevention of cardiovascular disease, hyper-tension, diabetes, alzheimer’s, aging and cog-nitive issues. PT Natura Inti Sukses has successfully sold more than 900 boxes of Cocoa X’tend during SIAL Interfood exhibition alone. Pres-ently, Cocoa X’tend is sold in Indonesia at Rp 299,000 (US$21.85) for a 210g box packaging which contains 30 sachets.

Cocoa drink with the highest concentration of Cocoa Flavanol

COCOA/CHOCOLATE DRINK

An interesting new cocoa-based drink, Coco X’tend pure cocoa powder, was launched during

SIAL Interfood 2019 held in Jakarta in November 2019.

According to Ms Juliana Wijaya, Managing Di

Sukses, this cocoa-based drink, branded as ‘Nature’s Su

perfood’ has the highest concentration of cocoa flavanol, if not in the world, at least

China’s first lab-grown cell-cultured meat was recently unveiled in Nanjing, in Jiangsu province of China. Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU) announced the development of China’s first piece of cell-cul-tured meat. Zhou Guanghong, a Professor at the School of Food Science and Technology of NAU, led the team to use the 6th generation of pig muscle stem cells and cultivate them in the nutrient solution for 20 days, and were finally able to produce a 5g piece of meat. Presently, there are about 30 companies around the world which have invested in research and development of cell-cultured meat. Among them, 4 companies are preparing to enter the Chinese market. The industry forecast that when the cost of cell-cultured meat falls to around US$10 per kg, then they will become marketable. Key countries that are involved in cell-cultured meat devel-opment include China, the US, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore and Japan. Cell-cultured meat research currently focuses on beef, pork and seafood.

In 2020, the Philippines’ government is planning to conduct a rice consumption survey to deter-mine if there are changes in consumer demand for the staple, according to a spokesperson from National Food Authority (NFA). The survey in needed urgently given the implementation of Republic Act (RA) 11203, or the rice trade liberalisation law in 2019. A Food Consumption Survey is required every 3 years to explore any changes in consumption patterns which will assist the country’s policymakers. The survey should cover most food products and not only essential items like rice, corn, sugar and meat products. The survey is necessary as it is able to track price movements and consumption trend for rice since the industry was liberalised. The last food consumption survey was undertaken by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in 2015-2016. The results of the survey were released in early 2017. In October, the Department of Agriculture (DA) had created a technical working group (TWG) that will formulate a strategy to achieve the country’s food and nutrition security, as part of the depart-ment’s outputs in its National Food Consumption Quantification Study (NFCQS). The NFCQS aims to determine and analyse the major food consumption patterns of Filipinos, and the country’s production of major commodities to quantify the demand of a growing population. The NFCQS is being led by the DA in partnership with the UNFAO, PSA, Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute, National Nutrition Council and the Philip-pine Statistical Research and Training Institute.

Interfood Shareholding CO. has recently an-nounced that Kirin iMUSE Yogurt & Lemon fla-vored drink, a new product developed specifi-cally for the Vietnamese market has achieved tremendous success in the past 3 months since it went on sale in September 2019. According to company spokesperson, it has already reached 70% of its annual sales tar-get within the just the first 3 months of sales. Interfood Shareholding is a subsidiary of Kirin Holdings Co., Ltd. and sells Kirin brand of bev-erages in Vietnam. Available in compact and attractive 280ml plastic bottle, Kirin iMUSE is a health bever-age using plasmid lactobacilli, or Lactococcus Lactic Strain Plasma, to boost immune function against viral infections on consumers in Viet-nam.

In Vietnam, the spread of infectious diseases has become a significant social issue, as such Ki-rin iMUSE will play an essential role to manage one’s health. Apart from its health function, iMUSE has also received positive ratings for its tasty ‘yo-gurt and lemon flavors’, a common flavor found in many Vietnamese drinks. Apart from these, iMUSE accompanied with the Japanese brand Kirin carries a lot of weight in terms of consumer trust and the reliability of this product.

Green Monday, a Hong Kong-based social venture that aims to tackle climate change through promoting a healthier, more sustainable plant-based lifestyle launched OmniMeat in Singa-pore in late-2018 initially focusing on the foodservice segment. To cater to growing demand from customers, Green Monday has recently launched its OmniMeat Retail Pack, thereby mak-ing it more accessible to Singaporeans. Customers can now purchase the vegan OmniMeat hassle-free and create their own healthy dishes with this protein-rich alternative. OmniMeat Retail Pack is now available at FairPrice, ShengSiong, HAO mart, Prime, Yes Natural, Four Seasons Organic & Speciality and Redmart.com. “The name OmniMeat means it is ‘omni-purpose’ in application. In terms of texture, it is succulent, tender and juicy and can be seasoned in many ways. It perfectly caters to Eastern flavors and culinary cultures. The versatility of OmniMeat is a dream to both vegetarians and meat-lovers as they can freely and creatively incorporate it into infinite healthier and more environmental friendly recipes,” said David Yeung, Founder of OmniMeat and Green Monday. From 12 December to 31 January, customers can purchase OmniMeat Retail Pack for the special promotional price of S$6.75 (US$5). Its original price is S$7.55 (US$5.60). A recent study conducted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and Deloitte in 2018 showed that red meats contribute about 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Sub-stituting red meats with plant-based protein is a more sustainable alternative that can help Singa-poreans to reduce their carbon footprint and join the global “green” movement. OmniMeat was developed by food-tech company Right Treat, a subsidiary of Green Monday. It contains 0 mg cholesterol, is antibiotic-free, hormone-free, cruelty-free, and 86% lower in satu-rated fat and 66% lower in calories than traditional pork, while being much higher in fiber, 260% higher in calcium and 127% higher in iron. Since its launch, OmniMeat has won support from renowned chefs across the globe.

China’s 1st Lab-grown Meat debuts in Nanjing

Philippines government to conduct Consumption Survey before devising new food policies

Kirin iMUSE yogurt & lemon flavored drink scores tremendous success in Vietnam

OmniMeat debuts in Singapore grocery retail

MEAT SUBSTITUTES

FOOD(GENERAL)

NUTRITIONAL/FUNCTIONAL DRINK

MEAT SUBSTITUTES

CHINA

PHILIPPINES

VIETNAM

SINGAPORE


Regulations News

New Products


Major developing countries in ASEAN are sprucing up their investment efforts to capitalise on the double-digit growth in the US$3.3 trillion global Halal Food Industry. Top 5 economies in the region namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and even Sin-gapore are scaling up their investments in this industry by setting up dedicated Halal industrial hubs and production centres, while upgrading their Halal certification standards to align with world standards for safety, traceability and hygiene.

In the Philippines, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez has re-cently advised food companies to venture into the Halal segment. Ramon said, “There is big poten-tial in Halal in the sense that there are many tourists that skip visiting the Philippines because there are only a few places where they can eat.” He said that food companies need to have a change in mindset and view Halal as a ‘lifestyle’ that can be enjoyed by everyone. He added, “DTI is promoting this because Halal certified food products connote positive attributes such as being clean, healthy and pure. We encourage more companies to apply for Halal certifi-cation because it opens more markets, so more consumers can buy their products. Some local companies are already starting by certifying their canned tuna and corned beef products.” Presently, there are 9 Halal-certifying bodies in the Philippines, namely the Islamic Da’wah Coun-cil of the Philippines, Halal Development Institute of the Philippines, Mindanao Halal Authority, Muslim Mindanao Halal Certification Board, Halal International Chamber of Commerce and Indus-tries in the Philippines, Mindanao Halal Authority, Islamic Advocate on Halal and Development, Philippine Ulama Congress Organization, Alliance for Halal Integrity in the Philippines Inc., and Prime Aisa Pacific. DTI-Export Marketing Bureau’s Halal Section hopes to get more companies to come forward for assistance in getting Halal certification

Compared to many other ASEAN countries, Thailand has picked up on the Halal trade boom much earlier, and recently the world-renown Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC) visited Thailand and praised the country’s high Halal standards as it seeks to promote the export of livestock products to the UAE, a strict-muslim nation. UAE officials were invited by the Central Islamic Council of Thailand and the Department of Live-stock Development to visit slaughter houses in Thailand and check on their food safety standards in December 2019. EIAC is UAE’s Halal certification agency, and the check was undertaken in accordance with International Organisation for Standardisation guidelines. The approval by EIAC would mean a potential export revenue of over Bt1 billion (US$33 million) for livestock products from Thailand in the near future.

In Indonesia, F&B companies are now struggling to comply with the mandatory Halal certification regulations particularly those relating to product reaudits for adding new ingredients, halal storage, distribution and means of transportation. Enforced in October 2019 under the Halal Products Guarantee Law, the law mandated that all non-haram products and services must obtain Halal certification. The law also shifts the authority to handle the issuance of halal certification from the Indonesian Ulema Council Assessment Institute for Foods, Drugs and Cosmetics (LPPOM MUI) to the Halal Certification Agency (BPJPH) under the Religious Affairs Ministry, although the former is still as-signed to evaluate, test and approve the products. A spokesperson from the Indonesian Food and Beverage Association’s (GAPMMI) said it is diffi-cult for food and beverage producers to meet the certification requirements as it requires a reaudit every time new ingredients are added. For example, even if they change the flavor of one product, the product will have to be reaudited, whereas previously they only had to verify whether the new ingredients were safe. In addition, many food transporters are still unaware that they need to get Halal certification for their vehicles too. This will be a challenge for those that transport all types of goods. In addition, Indonesia has only 3 Halal-certified warehouses in the country, one owned by a state-owned enter-prise (SOE) and 2 owned by foreign companies from Singapore and Japan.

Malaysia is the market leader for the export of Halal food in ASEAN as well as in Asia. The recent establishment of the International Halal Authority Board (IHAB) has sealed this posi-tion further. IHAB was formed as part of an initiative by JAKIM to safeguard the interests of muslims in halal certifications of food products and services. The IHAB comprises the authorities and halal certification bodies from 45 countries, and seeks to move towards uniformity and harmony in the process of implementing halal certifications in most countries in the world. As of 3 December 2019, Jakim has recognised 78 Halal certification bodies from various coun-tries and the recognitions are given based on the compliance and implementation of the Halal standard which adheres to Malaysian characteristics and models. IHAB indirectly promotes co-ordination at the international level with these Halal bodies accepting Malaysian Halal standards. Malaysia had been appointed as IHAB Chairman and Secretary General for the 2019-2021 term. Malaysia’s Halal certification covers all aspects including ingredients, the process of preparation, the purity of equipment, cleanliness of the premises and the handling that prioritises compliance with shariah in addition to the safety, quality and integrity assurance aspects of a product or service.JAKIM has also done periodic checks to ensure that there was no abuse of the Halal logo in the country. In addition, the country has also established smart mobile (eg. Verify Halal) and web (www.halal.gov.my) applications to check Halal status of a product in the market. Malaysia’s Halal certification expertise has even been ‘exported’ overseas when the country’s Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) partners with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) to offer the latter’s 40 clients in Japan its Halal Industry Expert Development Programme. This indirecty will also promote the entry of more Japanese companies into the Halal industry. HDC is now known as the biggest producer of competent Halal industry talents in the world as 1 out of 6 Halal trained experts were certified by HDC. Latest HDC statistics showed that Malaysia exported RM2.5 billion (US$614 million) of Halal products to Japan alone in 2018 with Halal ingredients contributing 50% followed by food and beverage products (40%)

ASEAN countries to increase their focus on Halal Food, Certification

HALAL FOODASEAN

Philippines

Thailand

Indonesia

Malaysia

MEAT SUBSTITUTES/HALAL FOOD

In what appears to be a controversial move, Impossible Foods, the manufactur-er of well-known Impossible Burger is now hoping to gain Halal certification for its new products Impossible Pork and Impossible Sausage in ASEAN, where more than 40% of its population are muslims. Although Impossible Pork/Sausage is made up of entirely plant-based materials, to con-vince Muslims to take a bite out of either of these products seems like something of a Mission Impossible in Southeast Asia, as the name ‘Pork’ and ‘Sausage’ could prove discomforting to these consumers. Pat Brown, CEO of Impossible Foods which debuted the 2 new products in the US re-cently, said the products are not specifically designed to target people with religious obli-gations, however seeking ‘Kosher’ and ‘Ha-lal’ certification is “important to us”. Impossible Foods estimated that about 2.5 billion people worldwide refrain from pork and pork-derived products based on the re-ligious practices of Muslims, Hindus, Jews and some Christian sects. The company’s Senior Flavour Scientist Laura Kliman said that with this new innova-tion, everyone could enjoy Impossible Pork “without compromise to deliciousness, ethics or Earth”. It remains to be seen whether it will get the Halal certification from muslim bodies in ASEAN or even from the US for the 2 new products. In Singapore, the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore said it is aware of the new prod-ucts and is “convening experts to determine its suitability for Muslim consumption”. Azmi Abdul Samad, Chief Executive of Ha-lalHub Consultants which helps food manu-facturers and food service operators to get Halal certification in Singapore said that the name ‘pork’ is a major turn off for muslim consumers and will probably make it hard for Impossible Foods to get the Halal certifica-tion in ASEAN countries. “You can call it Impossible whatever meat, but not a name associated with pigs and pork,” he said. “There is a certain require-ment with regards to naming. Jakim (Ma-laysia’s Department of Islamic Develop-ment) would not even let you use the word ham even if it’s chicken ham, and Malaysia doesn’t allow the word ham in halal restau-rant,” he added. In Singapore, the the word ham or bacon is allowed in halal food, but it must have a prefix stating it is made from other animals, such as chicken ham or turkey bacon. There is a high chance that Impossible Pork will be shun by muslims in the same way as ‘non-alcoholic’ beer was shunned despite its zero alcohol content. However, Impossi-ble Pork might still attract a small number of muslim consumers who are curious to try, to know how ‘pork’ tastes like.

Impossible Burger to seek Halal Certification for Impossible Pork/Sausage

Regulations News The 3rd Asia–Pacific edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit will be hosted in Singapore on 30 to 31 March 2020. For the first time in Asia, the executive summit will focus on ethical sourcing & traceability. An update will also be given on sustainability issues, food ingredients, and marketing developments. Ethical sourcing & traceability have become prominent in the food industry. Greater questions are being asked about food origins, since agricul-ture is being linked to deforestation, greenhouse gases, and soil degradation. At the same time, food safety risks are rising, as well as incidents of food fraud, mislabelling and adulteration. The palette of sustainable ingredients for food & beverage applications continues to widen. Details will be given of food ingredients that are adding sustainable value to products, as well as innovations using such ingredients. Another session will showcase best-practices in marketing sustainable foods. Case studies will involve plant-based foods, organic products, retailing, and sustainable consumption.

1. 2. 3. 4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.

Learn how sustainability issues are evolving in the Asia-Pacific food industry.Assess business openings in the global market for organic products.Learn how food & beverage companies can prepare for a circular economy.Get a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour towards biodiversity & ethical sourcing.Gain insights into how sustainable ingredients can spur innovation.Discuss the future direction of plant-based proteins in the food industry. Explore the various analytical tools providing traceability in ingredient supply chains.Assess practical approaches to reduce the packaging impact of products.Debate the various ways blockchain technology could revolutionise food supply chains. Learn how to overcome the hurdles associated with ethical sourcing projects.Assess the growing array of sustainable ingredient for food & beverage applications.Expand your industry network by meeting key executives involved in sustainability in the food industry.

Sustainable Foods Summit Features Ethical Sourcing & Traceability

12 Reasons to Attend the Summit

The Sustainable Foods Summit will take place at the ParkRoyal Collection Marina Bay Singapore. This is the 3rd Asia-Pacific edition of this executive summit. The summit is organised by Ecovia Intelligence, a London-based specialist research, consulting & training company that focuses on global ethical product industries. Since 2009, the Sustainable Foods Summit has been discussing leading issues the food industry faces concerning sustainability and eco-labels, such as Organic, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, etc. The aim of the Sustainable Foods Summit is to explore new horizons for eco-labels and sustainability in the food industry by discussing key industry issues. More details can be found at www.sustainablefoodssummit.com

About the Summit

Show Preview


The 3rd Asia–Pacific edition of the Sustainable Foods Summit will be hosted in Singapore on 30 to 31 March 2020. For the first time in Asia, the executive summit will focus on ethical sourcing & traceability. An update will also be given on sustainability issues, food ingredients, and marketing developments. Ethical sourcing & traceability have become prominent in the food industry. Greater questions are being asked about food origins, since agricul-ture is being linked to deforestation, greenhouse gases, and soil degradation. At the same time, food safety risks are rising, as well as incidents of food fraud, mislabelling and adulteration. The palette of sustainable ingredients for food & beverage applications continues to widen. Details will be given of food ingredients that are adding sustainable value to products, as well as innovations using such ingredients. Another session will showcase best-practices in marketing sustainable foods. Case studies will involve plant-based foods, organic products, retailing, and sustainable consumption.

1. 2. 3. 4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.

Learn how sustainability issues are evolving in the Asia-Pacific food industry.Assess business openings in the global market for organic products.Learn how food & beverage companies can prepare for a circular economy.Get a deeper understanding of consumer behaviour towards biodiversity & ethical sourcing.Gain insights into how sustainable ingredients can spur innovation.Discuss the future direction of plant-based proteins in the food industry. Explore the various analytical tools providing traceability in ingredient supply chains.Assess practical approaches to reduce the packaging impact of products.Debate the various ways blockchain technology could revolutionise food supply chains. Learn how to overcome the hurdles associated with ethical sourcing projects.Assess the growing array of sustainable ingredient for food & beverage applications.Expand your industry network by meeting key executives involved in sustainability in the food industry.

Sustainable Foods Summit Features Ethical Sourcing & Traceability

12 Reasons to Attend the Summit

The Sustainable Foods Summit will take place at the ParkRoyal Collection Marina Bay Singapore. This is the 3rd Asia-Pacific edition of this executive summit. The summit is organised by Ecovia Intelligence, a London-based specialist research, consulting & training company that focuses on global ethical product industries. Since 2009, the Sustainable Foods Summit has been discussing leading issues the food industry faces concerning sustainability and eco-labels, such as Organic, Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, etc. The aim of the Sustainable Foods Summit is to explore new horizons for eco-labels and sustainability in the food industry by discussing key industry issues. More details can be found at www.sustainablefoodssummit.com

About the Summit

Show Preview


On 2 December 2019, State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) in China had released the Catalogue of the Raw Materials of Nutrient Supplement Health Foods (2019 Edition) and Catalogue of the Health Functions Allowed to be Claimed in Nutrient Supple-ment Health Foods (2019 Edition). The 2 catalogues are a revision from the earlier catalogues com-piled in 2016. When making a comparison, the Catalogue of Raw Materials (2019) stipulated 23 nutrients used as raw materials of health foods, compared to 22 nutrients in 2016 catalogue. The 22 nutri-ents include 8 being mineral supplements namely calcium, mag-nesium, potassium, manganese, iron, zinc, selenium and copper; and 14 being vitamin supplements like vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, niacin, folic acid, biotin, choline, vitamin C, vitamin K,pantothenic acid and vitamin E. A new nutrient, β-carotene was added in 2019. The standard, scope of application, functional composition, appropriate crowd, minimum value, maximum value and function of β-carotene were also stated. In addition, the Catalogue of the Raw Materials 2019 is more detailed in the categories and stipulations of 3 nutrients of vitamin supplements. They are folic acid, choline and vitamin K. In the Catalogue of the Health Functions Allowed to be Claimed in Nutrient Supplement Health Foods which includes vitamins and mineral supplements, the “β-carotene supplement” was added to the previous 2016 catalogue. In addition, the health functions of different nutrients are para-phrased. For example, the paraphrase of ‘vitamin A supplement’ is that vitamin A helps maintain scotopic vision and maintain skin and mucous membrane health. Catalogue of the Health Functions 2019 stipulates that the label of health food can contain one or more sen-tence(s) cited from the catalogue.

Thailand’s Future Forward Party (FFP) has recently unveiled a plan to push a law that will open up the country’s alcoholic bever-age industry and ensure fair treatment for new and small liquor and beer producers. If this law is passed in parliament, it could generate an extra Bt 15-20 billion (US$495-660 million) for the segment. Currently, small producers of beer and liquor are barred from entering the business by the current 2017 Excise Tax Act, which im-poses a minimum production volume of 10 million litres of beer per year and a minimum production volume of 30,000 litres of whisky per day, said Woraphop Wiriyarot, a FFP MP. The current law also imposes a minimum investment capital of Bt 10 million (US$330,000) for beer producers. “As such, commu-nity-based producers of alcoholic drinks will never be able to grow and compete with those large manufacturers. That is why we have to come up with this draft (new) law,” he said. There are currently about 2,000 small liquor-making houses and 70 locally made craft beer brands in the country which technically operate outside the scope of the law, which could thrive if this draft law is passed.

New laws guiding Health Food Claims in China

Thailand’s major political party proposes new law for alcoholic drinks

HEALTH FOOD/NUTRACEUTICALS

ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

CHINA

THAILAND

FOOD (GENERAL)

By 2nd quarter 2020, Singapore’s public agency A*STAR will be opening a new research institute, the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI). This research institute will bring together existing efforts and research capabilities within A*STAR under one roof, to build on current collaborations, and bet-ter facilitate economic value-capture for Singapore’s food ecosys-tem. A*STAR’s food research capabilities include food structure en-gineering, nutrition, biotechnology, agri-food technology and food safety. SIFBI aims to help Singapore achieve its “30 by 30” goal i.e. to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030. This includes making its ingredient production and food manufacturing more sustainable, environmental-friendly, cost-efficient and pro-ductive, as well as creating safer, healthier, high-value products and solutions for the industry and consumers. The new research institute will promote partnerships between in-dustry, academia and regulatory scientists, for Singapore to accel-erate the transformation of the food industry, capture new growth opportunities in the market and build deeper technologies. SIFBI’s research partners include local universities like NUS, NTU and Singapore Polytechnic and Singapore Food Agency’s (SFA) National Centre for Food Science (NCFS). SIFBI will nurture talent in niche areas such as food process-ing engineering, biotechnology, and the development of tools and processes that enhance the entire food manufacturing system in Singapore from farm to fork. SIFBI will be staffed by more than 120 research, technical and ad-ministrative roles from Clinical Nutrition Research Centre (CNRC), Biotransformation Innovation Platform, Innovations in Food and Chemical Safety (IFCS) Programme, and Natural Product Library (NPL). The team from Biotransformation Innovation Platform, for example, is currently collaborating with local food biotechnology start-up Eatobe to develop food products that help the body ab-sorb nutrients more readily from whole foods. On the other hand, the team from the Innovations in Food and Chemical Safety (IFCS) Programme is working closely with local and international regula-tory agencies to identify and address key gap areas related to the safety assessment and regulation of new foods and ingredients. The new SIFBI office will be located in Nanos building in Biopolis, with satellite labs in Kent Ridge. SIFBI is established to counter Singapore’s vulnerability to external shocks and developments as it currently imports more than 90% of its food supply amidst growing

New Research Institute to support Singapore’s Food Innovation Ecosystem

global challenges in food supply and safety. The food industry is one of the fastest growing sector in Singa-pore. In 2017, Singapore has close to 950 food companies which contributed to S$3.99 billion (US$2.96 billion) or 1% to the coun-try’s GDP. Interestingly, more than 50% of the output is exported to markets in Asia.

ALCOHOLIC DRINK

Beverage manufacturers or food service operators are advised to be fully knowledgable on the prescribed alcoholic quantities for different types of liquor like beer, wine, whisky and spirits etc before labelling and marketing their products accordingly. In Singapore, the company that produces The Durian Whisky drink has recently been fined S$2,000 (US$1,484) for false label-ling. According to domestic food regulations, a whisky must contain at least 37% alcohol at 20 deg C, however it fails to comply to this requirement. In July, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) received feedback regarding the drink. SFA prosecutor Liow Chin Chog said the drink, made by Durianwhisky, was marketed as a whisky offering a ‘rare blend of unprecedented depth, power and intensity’. However, thorough investigations by SFA found that the drink, which was sold at the Central Perk cafe at Magazine Road, con-tained only 18% alcohol. Durianwhisky and Central Perk Director Lim Jit Min, admitted that he did not exercise full diligence in understanding the labelling requirements of alcoholic beverages here. The drink was listed for sale on the Durianwhisky website at S$198 (US$147) for a 700ml bottle and it claims to be ‘skilfully brewed from 100% pure, delicious flesh of the Musang King durian’.

Durian Whisky manufacturer fined for ‘False’ labelling

SINGAPORE

Regulations News


When producing beer and juices, thermal product treatment is a crucial factor for ex-tending the product’s shelf-life. Krones has its range of VarioFlash flash pasteurisers in its portfolio, which particularly excel in terms of low energy and water con-sumption, as well as meeting the stringent requirements for product quality and microbi-ological safety. In order to heat up the product particular-ly gently and safely, the flash pasteurisers are equipped with sliding PU control and an adapted hot-water circuit. This ensures that the buffering capacity is utilised to the full and compliance with the heat-up temperature is monitored. Innovative processes like express pasteurisation likewise ensure improved beer quality: the heat-holding time is substantially shortened, and simultaneously the heat-up temperature correspondingly increased. In the event of production stops, the patented “Eco-hygienic Sleep Mode” guarantees that energy and water consumption are reduced by up to 90% without having to compromise on microbiolog-ical safety. Krones’ VarioFlash B flash pasteuriser ensures microbiologically safe filling of beer. With an output from 18 to 600 hectolitres per hour, it is aimed at both large breweries and craft brewers or breweries running small batches. The VarioFlash B is highly adaptable and can be integrated with bottle or can fillers, and also with lines for filling kegs. The small variant of the VarioFlash B has been designed specifically for small breweries, and is particularly well suited for the output range from 18 to 45 hectolitres per hour. Thanks to its compact size, the entire flash pasteuriser fits inside just one container, thus perceptibly facilitating instal-lation and commissioning. The small dimensions score highly in terms of further advantages: the horizontal buffer tank ensures that the output is automatically adjusted in the event of production fluctuations, thus minimising product losses and media consumption. In addition, the reduced num-ber of components, in conjunction with sturdy engineering ensures reduced maintenance costs.

Compact, Highly-efficient ‘VarioFlash’ Pasteuriser for Beer from Krones

HEAT PASTEURISATION EQUIPMENTGLOBAL

Packaging & Technology News

small variant of the VarioFlash B for small breweries

Scan QR Code To DownloadAsia Food & Beverages Report


The global meat industry is currently facing a major challenge which

comes from both internal and external factors.

The internal challenge is the unabating onslaught on meat supply by the

ongoing African Swine Fever (ASF) and Bird Flu viruses which affect both

pork and poultry supplies, 2 of the most highly-consumed meat products.

The larger threat is ASF which has destroyed more than half of China’s

hog population. As a result, China is importing meat in huge quantities

which will indirectly lead to higher prices of beef, pork and poultry globally.

Domestic pork prices in China have jumped and China’s meat imports

are growing in response, depleting global supplies and sending ripples

across the global economy. Meanwhile, poultry shipments to China from

Brazil have increased by 31% while retail prices for chicken parts have

increased by more than 15% this year.

As a matter of comparison, buyers in Europe are now paying 5% more

for their pork as manufacturers shipped meat in increasing quantities to

China, while in Australia, lamb prices grew 14%. The same goes in coun-

tries like UK and New Zealand which are major exporters of meat to China

– their domestic consumers have to pay more for their meat.

China is currently facing a historic pork deficit, and this is worsened by

its existing trade war with the US, which curtailed US food exports to this

country. Nevertheless, there is ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for US meat

exporters as China authorities could exempt US pork and several ma-

jor agricultural products from tariffs. Major US meat exporters like Tyson

Foods and Smithfield Foods are expected to benefit from higher prices of

meat as growing imports from China reduce global meat supplies.

China is currently facing what we call a major ‘Pork Crisis’. This is be-

cause Chinese consumers are the world’s largest consumer of pork eating

more than 55 billion kg of pork a year, which translates to an average 39kg

per person. In the past, most of China’s pork demand has been satisfied

domestically, however the existing ASF outbreak has decimated China’s

pork production by up to 16.2 billion kg in 2019, nearly double the volume

of pork marketed internationally in 2018. China pork prices have also risen

by 50% and the Chinese government have tried rationing pork or encour-

age Chinese consumers to switch to other meat products.

China’s imports of pork, chicken, veal and sheep have increased by 70%

between May to July 2019, raising worldwide meat prices. Foreign meat

exporters from Brazil, Europe and Latin America are racing to get Chinese

certification for exports as China market offers a more lucrative market as

it is willing to pay higher prices for imported meat, compared to their own

domestic market as well as other countries’ markets.

According to latest Euromonitor report, demand for fresh meat out-

weighs those for processed meat by a factor of 8:1. The following Chart

1.0 showed the growing demand for meat globally from 2013 to 2018.

FUTURE OF MEAT IS ITS GOING TO BE MORE EXPENSIVE

MEAT

GLOBAL

As meat is getting more expensive, it could open up a window of opportu-

nity for meat alternatives, particularly plant-based meat products, which are

equally expensive to fill up the gap in supply.

This forms an external challenge for real meat coming from a new but

growing Meat Alternative segment. In actual fact, this segment is not en-

tirely new as vegan meat has been around for many years mainly to serve

consumers who are vegetarians due to religious obligation. However this

segment has been given a new life with the entry of new players with more

sophisticated technology and able to produce ‘faux’ meat product that truly

imitate the real meat in terms of color and taste.

One rising player is HK-based Green Monday, the producer of plant-based

meat substitute ‘Omnipork’. Omnipork is a plant-based protein that looks

and tastes like minced pork, and it was introduced in Hong Kong last year.

Green Monday is just one of growing number of companies like Beyond

Meat and Impossible Foods that are tapping into a growing market for plant-

based meat. According to Allied Market Research, the global meat substitute

market is projected to reach US$7.5 billion by 2025, up from an estimated

US$4.2 billion in 2017. Another research report published by Meticulous

Research estimated the global plant-based protein market to grow at 8.1%

annually to reach US$14.3 billion by 2025.

Plant-based meat products often promise lower calories but more dietary

fibre as they contain pea and non-GMO soy and other grains and plant-

based ingredients. However, they are not expected to replace the real meat

anytime soon, as there is also a growing ‘negative’ narrative that plant-based

meat, unlike fresh meat, contain too much processed ingredients like iso-

lates of natural ingredients, rather than directly-used plants, meaning that

only 60% of the protein in the plant can be extracted. Apart from losing some

of the plant nutrients, most meat substitutes are not organic. Meticulous Re-

search estimated that on the basis of ingredient type, soy protein segment

is estimated to command the largest share of the overall plant-based protein

market whereas pea protein is expected to witness the most rapid growth

during the forecast period (2019-2025).

Latest Euromonitor report on ‘Driving Forces Behind Plant-based Diets’

showed that meat substitutes sales are yet to catch up with the growth from

meat sales. According to the report, “There seems to be lack of meat substi-

tute suitable for developing and emerging markets, cheap enough to be af-

fordable, yet interesting enough to be a status food item.” In most instances

in these countries, Packaged Tofu seems to be the dominant and affordable

meat alternative. (See Chart 2.0)

Nevertheless, as plant-based meat will become cheaper and its ingredi-

ents refined, we will see this industry playing a bigger role in satisfying global

demand for meat, particularly in China.

Chart 1.0: Global Consumption of Meat

Chart 2.0: Projected Retail Development for Meat & Meat Substitutes

Source: Euromonitor

Source: Euromonitor

Market News

300,000

250,000

200,000

150,000

100,000

50,000

0

2.5

2.0

1.5

1.0

0.5

0

Volu

me

(‘000

tonn

es)

% y

ear-

on-y

ear g

row

th

20132014

20152016

20172018

Processed MeatFresh Meat

Y-o-y growth

VietnamUSA

United KingdomUAE

ThailandSpain

South Africa

Russia

Morocco

Mexico

JapanItalyIndia

Germany

FranceChinaBrazil

Australia

-200300

8001300

23001800

Forecast growth meat, 000 tonnes Forecast growth meat substitutes, 000 tonnes

MCI (P) 033/09/2019

TMAsia's first comprehensive food & beverage report

October - December 2019


Market News

SOFT DRINK

Extensive research and scientific studies in the past 10 years have proven that the main cause

of obesity and diabetes can be effectively linked to the intake of sugar in a person’s diet.

In the past few years, governments all over Asia have implemented or proposed new regula-

tions mainly in the form of new tax laws to curtail consumption of sugary drinks, while some have

even considered implementing a blanket ban on drinks which contain an excessive amount of

sugar. This indirectly motivate soft drink producers to reformulate their products by replacing

sugar with healthier alternatives or to reduce the amount of sugar in their existing products.

All these are expected to impact the future direction of this industry as manufacturers seek to

develop new products which are healthier but taste just as good, not only to satisfy consumers

but also the various regulatory authorities, while at the same time, able to position their products

better in the marketplace against competitors.

Mintel latest research has shown that the average sugar content in sugary drinks is falling in

all regions across the globe from the period 2014 to 2018.

Meanwhile, in the Asia Pacific, there is an overall decline in sugar level in soft drinks from 9.51g

per 100ml in 2014 to 8.72g per 100ml in 2018. The following chart 2.0 looks at 3 countries in

the region which has one of the highest consumption of sugary drinks. Mintel research showed

that Malaysia consumption of sugary drink did not drop much from 2014 to 2018 whereas its

neighbours, Philippines and Thailand had seen quite substantial drop in consumption mainly

due to their newly-implemented tax laws on sugary drinks which took effect in 2018.

At the time of this study conducted by Mintel, Malaysia has not yet implemented the tax law on

sugary drinks, but we expect the consumption level to decline substantially in the following year

(2020) with the proposed implementation of sugar tax on soft drinks on 1 July 2019.

Mintel research however showed that up to 15% of new product innovations in 2018 relating

to soft drink in Malaysia has low/no/reduced sugar claims compared to only 12% in 2014. Some

of the recent product launches in 2018 included F&N 100 Plus (reduced sugar original isotonic

drink) and Yeo’s Winter Melon Drink (25% less sugar than regular Asian beverages) amongst

others. These clearly showed that some manufacturers have already started to reformulate their

products in preparation of the new tax law.

As most governments in Asia seek to curtail consumption of sugar-laden beverages, this might

open a huge market opportunity for sugar substitutes like stevia and other healthier/natural

sweeteners to assist in new product formulations.

SUGAR & ITS IMPACT ON THE SOFT DRINK MARKET

ASIA

gram

s pe

r 100

ml

Chart 1.0: Global change in average sugar content in sugary drinks by region

10 10.17

9.51

7.92

6.58 7.6

9.24

8.72

7.29

5.82

5.63

5

0Middle East & amp: Africa

Asia PacificEurope

North AmericaLatin America

Base: *CSDs, sports & energy drinks, juice drinks and flavoured water

Source: Mintel GNPD

20142018

gram

s pe

r 100

ml

Chart 2.0: Change in average sugar content in sugary drinks * NPD

10

8

6

4

2

0

Asia Pacific

Malaysia

Phillippines

Thailand

Base: *CSDs, sports & energy drinks, juice drinks and flavoured water

Source: Mintel GNPD

20142018

9.51

9.24 9.23

8.83

7.499.77

7.98

8.72

China bakery market is projected to record exponential

growth and is expected to reach US$52.8 billion by 2022.

Major foreign producers are now hoping to capitalise on

this growth and one of them is the world’s largest dairy

exporter, Fonterra which is now no longer satisfied with

just selling dairy and baking material to local vendors and

consumers. It is now looking to deliver a whole range of

products. Irish-based dairy producer, Glanbia is also pro-

jecting a growing contribution from its bakery raw material

Avonmore in China. Stephen Browne, Director of exports

at Glanbia Consumer Food said, “We see a competitive

dairy market in China but also unmet demand, especially

for baking material such as whipping cream.” Marketing

Director for Avonmore Niamh Parlon said it is introducing

butter and cheese to China this year after exploring the

market in the past 2 years while building up brand rec-

ognition. Meanwhile, Cheese is also another category which is

experiencing exploding growth in China, all partly due to

growing popularity of western food culture. Not only that,

the Chinese have also adapted cheese into their tradi-

tional (ethnic) food like ‘cheese hotpot’ and ‘milk tea with

cheese’ among others. This trend is prevalent especially

in 1st tier cities in China. Cheese has tremendous room for growth in China as its

per capita consumption is only 0.1kg compared to 15kg

in the US and 2.4kg in neighbouring Japan. With grow-

ing demand for western-style food like pizzas, spaghetti,

cheesecakes and sandwiches, demand for cheese will

also grow inevitably. Not to mention, the proliferation of

fast food joints like McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut in

China will support its growth. In 2018, China imported 108,300 tonnes of cheese,

which is nearly 3 times higher than that in 2011. Mean-

while, domestic dairy companies produced only about

40,000 tonnes of cheese last year. Foreign players like Royal FrieslandCampina had been

conducting extensive research on Chinese consumers’

tastes and is planning to launch healthier processed

cheese products like ‘natural’, ‘low-fat’ and ‘low-salt’ as

well as premium cheese to the market in 2019. Friesland-

Campina currently sells more than 20 types of cheese in

China, however the scale is small and the company is

hoping to grow its cheese business in the country.

There is also an increasing number of Chinese food

manufacturers that use cheese as part of their ingredients

in their food products. Some examples include vegetable

buns with cheese, seafood cheese fried rice and potato

balls with cheese among others. The industry is now hoping for faster revision of the com-

prehensive cheese production standards in China and the

issuance of licensing for cutting imported cheese. This will

help to enable imports of more high-quality cheese, and

build platforms for the innovation of more cheese products

by domestic companies. At present, the domestic cheese

manufacturers still lack the sophisticated technology and

knowledge to develop high-quality cheese and other va-

rieties. Major domestic dairy companies have witnessed a

faster rate of growth in sales of cheese products than the

overall dairy market and that of liquid milk. Euromonitor

Plc estimated that by 2023, sales of cheese including pro-

cessed and unprocessed cheese, are expected to reach

US$1.44 billion which will be 44.7% more than 2019 pro-

jected figure. Song Liang, a senior dairy analyst said that younger

consumers born after 2000 will be the main consumer

group for cheese as such companies should manufacture

cheese products tailored to this group.

BAKERY, CHEESE ARE TOP PERFORMERS IN

CHINA MARKET

CHINABAKERY/CHEESE

Continue to page 3

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May / June 2019


Market NewsDRINK (GENERAL)

NOODLES

A recent webinar conducted by Kerry on 3 July unveiled interesting developments of ‘Better for You’ beverages in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa regions (APMEA). According to an insights report released by Kerry, the Top 5 bev-erage product launch claims in the APMEA region are ‘Free From’ (19%), ‘Reduced’ (19%), Functional (15%), Fortified (10%) and Halal/Kosher (9%). Apparently such claims revolve around ‘health’ as con-sumers have a growing preference for products which are free from preservatives, reduced or no sugar, or products fortified or filled with functional ingredients or vitamins. Four major key drivers for ‘Better for You’ beverages include the mil-lennials, the digital & connected consumers, the growing middle class and value conscious consumers. It was estimated that by 2035, Asia Pacific will have the largest number of diabetics at 325 million compared to 69 million in Europe and 50 million in USA and Canada. This opens up huge opportunity for beverage manufacturers to capitalise on the ‘healthier’ trends like low/no sugar, with the hope that such alarming estimates will not come to fruition. In the APMEA region, governments have interfered to arrest the growing health issues affecting its populations like obesity and diabe-tes. The following is a chart showing countries in this region which has implemented sugar sweetened beverage tax. For more information on the Kerry webinar and its insights report, please click to https://bit.ly/healthierbeverage.

In Asia, instant noodles have always been a favourite pastime and in many occasions, a convenient replacement for meals especially for the busy lifestyle consumers. With the growing health conscious movement enveloping throughout every corners of Asia, instant noodle manufacturers may now need to reformu-late their instant noodle products into something ‘healthier’ otherwise they might just degenerate into obscurity in the medium term future. Instant noodles have always been a staple food for Asian manual laborers and students as they can be easily prepared in a few minutes and ready-to-eat after pouring hot water in the cup.

With so many brands in the market, we can also safely consider this industry as one of the most fiercely competitive food and beverage segment in this region. In Thailand, there is Mama brand whereas Korea has Nongshim and Samyang Foods; in Indonesia, Indomie dominates the market whereas in Singapore and Malaysia, Nestle dominates the market with its Maggi brand. According to the World Instant Noodles Associ-ation (WINA), 10 of the top 15 markets for instant noodles are in Asia (see Chart 1.0). South Korea leads in per capita consumption at 74.6 servings per year, followed by Vietnam and Nepal. Despite the ongoing huge popularity of instant noodles, many Asian consumers are getting more well-informed to know that instant noodles contain a high amount of monosodium gluta-mate (MSG), a controversial ingredient often associated as being ‘unhealthy’. MSG is basically a stable salt formed from glutamic acid that could complement the 4 basic tastes of sweet, salty, sour and bitter. The neg-ative image of MSG originated from the West in 1968, when New England Journal of Medicine associated MSG with a sickness relating to ‘numbness at the back of the neck coupled with

RISE OF ‘BETTER FOR YOU’ BEVERAGES IN ASIA

INSTANT NOODLES NEED TO BE HEALTHY TO RETAIN ITS POPULARITY

ASIA Chart 1.0: APMEA countries which introduced sugar sweetened beverage tax in the past 2 years

Continue to page 3

Source: Kerry

Source: World Instant Noodles Association (WINA)

Chart 1.0: Top 15 Instant Noodle Markets

MCI (P) 053/09/2018

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July / August 2019


(January/February 2020)



Coca-Cola Philippines has recently unveiled its industry-first initiative by switching from the iconic green Sprite bottles to a clear, recyclable plastic bottles. This is a huge move as Sprite has been known for decades for its green bottle which has a strong relationship with its lemon-lime flavor. The switch to clear, new look symbolises its clear, new mission towards a ‘World Without Waste’ of collecting and recycling the equiva-lent of 1 bottle or can that it sells by 2030. Coca-Cola Philippines Marketing Director Sharon Garcia-Tanganco said, “We are transi-tioning our green Sprite plastic bottles to clear ones as clear plastic is much easier to recycle.” Coloured recyclable plastics are harder to recy-cle and have much more limited use compared to clear plastics. The transition of Sprite to clear plastic packaging ensures that its bottles are easier recycled and reprocessed. Sharon said Sprite will continue to offer the refreshing lemon-lime drink in refillable green glass packaging, and recyclable aluminium cans as the transition from green to clear will take some time. With its 500ml bottles now made from 100% recycled plastic, Sprite is also leading the pack-aging innovation in this industry, and this has made Sprite one of the first soft drinks in the Philippines and in Asia to introduce a bottle made from 100% recycled plastic. This innovation is also a move towards one of the cornerstones of the company’s global World Without Waste vision - to use at least 50% recy-cled content in their packaging by 2030. To fully support this vision, Coca-Cola Phil-ippines has also revealed in 2019 that it is in-vesting in what is believed to be the country’s largest state-of-the-art bottle-to-bottle recycling facility. Coca-Cola Philippines hopes to eventually eliminate hard-to-recycle packaging from its portfolio. The Philippines is the largest Sprite market in ASEAN and is also the 1st market in ASEAN to start with the clear plastic bottle transition. The transition will expand to other markets in Southeast Asia through 2020.

Sprite supports global recycle, sustainability effort by switching from green to clear bottle packaging

BOTTLE PACKAGINGPHILIPPINES

Sprite green to clear packaging

Urban cities across the Asian region are rapid-ly introducing new laws to curtail excessive use of plastic in packaging. In Indonesia, the local Jakarta authorities has recently issued a new regulation banning sin-gle-use plastic bags in traditional and modern grocery stores which will take effect in June 2020. The regulation was passed by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan on 27 December. This new regulation will also promote the use of eco-friendly bags in stores and markets. Here, eco-friendly bags refer to those made from plant, paper, cloth, polyester and its deriva-tives as well as recycled materials. Despite the ban, the regulation allows shops to provide sin-gle-use plastic to accommodate food products that have not been wrapped by any packaging, until an alternative eco-friendly packaging is made available. Jakarta is not the first city in Indonesia to im-plement this ban as a number of cities in Kali-mantan like Banjarmasin and Balikpapan, and Denpasar in Bali have imposed the ban earlier. In Thailand, the ban on single-use plastic bags at major stores kicked in on 1 January 2020, continuing a campaign already launched by the government and retailers towards a com-plete ban in 2021. Thailand has successfully reduced the use of plastic bags by 2 billion or about 5,765 tonnes in 2019, in its first campaign phase to encourage consumers’ voluntarily re-fusal of plastic bags from stores. Meanwhile, Thailand’s National Metal & Ma-terials Technology Centre has partnered with the private sector in Thailand to develop bags made from tapioca starch which will completely degrade in 4 months. This bioplastic bag also helps to reduce manufacturing costs by 20%. Thailand currently produces 500,000 tonnes of plastic bags each year, that have a less than 1% degradable rate. The development of these biodegradable plastic bags started with the making of bioplas-tic beads in a lab, followed by the enrichment of engineering properties to make the beads suit-able to be transformed into biodegradable thin film and then into bio-degradeable plastic bags, intended to be used as containers for food waste. The innovation is considered a game changer, revolutionising plastic bag manufac-turing, and helping solve environment issues in Thailand. Thailand’s plastic packaging firm, Eka Global

aims to become Asia’s largest producer of ‘lon-gevity’ plastic packaging in 5 years following the acquisition of the Asian operation of a US packaging manufacturer. By 2024, Eka Global aims to achieve revenue of Bt 5 billion (US$165.2 million) from 3 plants - two in China, and one in Thailand -- with an annual capacity of 2.5 billion packaging units. Eka’s existing clients include global food MNCs like Thai Union, Nestle and Mars, as well as a number of domestic food producers. Eka was established in 2003 as the first and only rigid barrier manufacturer in Thailand. It also operates a R&D centre in Bang Pakong district, Chachoengsao. In 2019, Eka acquired the Asian operations of US-based Printpack, a similar rigid plastic packaging company for an undisclosed sum. In 2019, Eka projected a revenue of Bt 900 million (US$29.7 million), and this is attributed mainly to strong demand for its innovative ‘lon-gevity’ plastic packaging products that prolong the shelf live of food and beverages to as long as 2 years. Chaiwat Nantiruj, Chairman and Group Chief Executive of Eka said that strong demand for RTE Food, Pet Food and the boom in e-com-merce will boost demand for innovative plas-tic packaging products. Eka hopes its special packaging will replace tin cans, which can be difficult to open and have sharp edges that can cut consumers. Eka has identified China and India as its fast-est growing markets which will contribute about 40% to its sales growth in the future. Present-ly, its 2 China plants export about 65% of its packaging products overseas whereas the Thai

Indonesia’s Bali-based specialty coffee com-pany, Expat. Roasters has recently launched a new packaging range, and is leading the coffee industry in the country in its new sustainability commitment. Expat. Roasters has swapped the traditional 1kg plastic foil lined coffee bag for 2kg reus-able tins for the wholesale sector of their busi-ness. The pilot program has been rolled out in Bali with big plans to expand the coffee chain as well as its new packaging across the entire Indonesia archipelago starting with Jakarta in 2020. Expat. Roasters Founder Shae Macnamara said, “I truly believe it is almost impossible to evolve in business without considering your carbon footprint and the impact on the envi-ronment. With any innovation in our business, we look at quality, consistency and the environ-mental impacts before we go to launch and the new coffee bean packaging for our wholesale coffee customers is something I feel really ex-cited about.” According to Shae, the beans will be roasted and packed as usual in its Bali-based roastery and with each order, the driver will swap the

Japan’s Asahi Group is planning to increase the number of its vending machines in Singa-pore and Malaysia to 10,000 units, through the acquisition of vending machine operator, Ad-vend. Advend is Malaysia’s largest vending machine operator and also the 3rd largest in Singapore. Its vending machines are installed mainly in factories and business offices. Asahi plans to combine Advend’s business with its Malaysian unit, Etika Beverages. Asahi is now actively looking at overseas markets to drive its beverage growth. It hopes to boost sales of its beverage brands such as Calpis sweet lactic drinks. In a related development, the group’s brew-ing arm is also set to acquire Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Australian operations, Carlton & United Breweries.

Regional effort to ban plastic use and the move towards biodegradeable

Eka Global aims to be Asia’s largest producer of ‘longevity’ plastic packaging

Expat. Roasters leading the way in sustainable coffee packaging

Asahi Group to acquire vending machine operator Advend

PLASTIC PACKAGING

RIGID BARRIER PACKAGING

TIN PACKAGING

BEVERAGE VENDING MACHINE

ASEAN

THAILAND

INDONESIA

SINGAPORE/MALAYSIA

tins and replace with new ones. This eliminates all packaging waste for the customer. The tins have also been made with a one-way valve so the quality will not be jeopardised. Latest statistics showed that Indonesia con-sumes about 282 million kgs of coffee per year, which when broken into different forms of pack-aging, represent an average 1 billion pieces of rubbish coming from coffee packaging alone. Expat. Roasters ‘Good Coffee Swap’ cam-paign has replaced the company’s 200g retail coffee bags with a small aluminum tin, in which consumer will receive a Rp10,000 (US$0.73) off their next coffee tin purchase if they return the tins for new orders.

plant exports more than 90%. Eka is currently seeking a partner for investment in India. Chaiwat said, “Eka’s innovative packaging can drastically improve the shelf life of cer-tain Indian and Thai desserts, such as golden drops, to around 2 months. Previously such desserts would go bad in a few days and were impossible to export.” Interestingly, Eka Global packaging products are 100% recyclable, the same as plastic PET water bottles.



Scan QR Code To Download

Asia Food & Beverages Report

igus, a leading global supplier of smart plastic solutions, will showcase 3 smart plastic solutions for the food and beverage industry during the Propak Philippines exhibition which will be held from 5 – 7 February 2019.

According to Carsten Haecker, Head of igus Asia Pacific, “2020 and beyond will be one of the most challenging period this world has ever seen. Not one technology, but everything changes all at once from ‘How we produce and use our energy, to how we move around, live, work, pay, communicate, dress, eat and take care of our bodies amongst others’.” Carsten added that while many people translate these to diffi-cult life challenges, igus views this as a major opportunity and the greatest boom in history. “People will buy or use new low-emis-sion, low-energy cars, and use flying taxis, new energy sources like hydrogen power and others we haven´t even heard about (for example “E-Fuel” – liquid power drawn from the C02 in the air), new money and supply chains with crypto currencies and block chain, new communication devices with holograms and avatars, new smart materials to wear, new bio-health foods to eat, new medicines, robot doctors, healing homes, And of course: everything, digital, smart, intelligent, automated. All of these NEW innovations will have to be manufactured.”

igus hygienic e-chain is an energy chain with FDA material approval. The open design without bolted connections makes it easy to clean. The rounded edges prevents dead spaces and hence resulting in no germs formation. It has good re-sistance to aggressive cleaning agents and chemicals as well as no material on material wear. An obvious choice for packaging machines, food and beverage/filling machines, or wherever hygiene requirements are very high to guide cables and hoses safely and securely.

igus iglidur tribo tape is perfect for lining areas subjected to possible wear according to your requirements. The liners has a very good sliding coefficient and it is lubrication and maintenance free. Once the liner has simply been glued on, surfaces which slide against each other are pro-tected during motion, whereby energy is saved at the same time. The operating noise is reduced by the smooth sliding as well. Being easy to cut to shape – possible with a pair of scissors – and the optional self-ad-hesive backing of the liner open up almost endless possibilities of use, for example in medical equipment, food industry machinery, furniture manu-facturing or in machine tool making.

igus knife edge rollers are maintenance-free, which allows the precise movement of goods and food products at high speeds. The rollers are made of the chemically resistant material iglidur H1 which is suitable for applications with higher transport speeds and exposure to cleaning media. As the machine components are specially developed for moving applications and do not require any lubrication, product contamination is ruled out completely. The rollers are suitable for the packaging, material handling, automation and food technology industries.

igus projects a challenging future with many innovations

igus to continue innovating to ‘improve what moves’

igus to continue to invest in Asia, including the Philippines

igus to showcase 3 smart plastic solutions for the F&B industry at Propak Philippines 2020

SMART PLASTICS

igus knife edge rollers

igus iglidur tribo tape

igus hygienic e-chain

igus will continue to innovate to make machines work better and smarter with motion plastics. In the words of Carsten, “igus mission is to improve what moves. Improve in the one sense of innovative, better plastics for longer life, cost down and technology up. A lubri-cation-free and maintenance-free world. And improve in the other sense of proving it before applying igus motion plastics.”

igus will continue to invest in Asia and it has built 2 state of the art factories in Shanghai, China and in Incheon, South Korea in 2019 to ensure it is close to its customers and provide them fast materials at a click of the button. Philippines has one of the most dynamic economies in the region. With a huge population exceeding 110 million by 2020, it also rapidly urbanising with a growing middle class and a large youth population. Manufacturing is a key component to Philippines’ economic growth with the F&B sector being one of the top contributor. Many domestic food and beverage companies are owned by local sole proprietors who are running with minimal or no automa-tion in their production. Nevertheless, in the past 2 years, there is an increasing interest in factory automation to improve productivity and quality of output, so as to meet strong demand from the consumer market. igus has a wide range of products that are suitable and ready for the food and beverage processing, to support this demand shift. igus has started to look closer into the Philippines market in the last 1 to 2 years and will in-vest into support functions there to provide its customers with igus solutions at their doorstep. For more information, please visit igus booth C10 at Propak Philippines 2020.


(January/February 2020)



From novel farming methods to connected kitchens, the technological and investment potential in the food tech space has grown dynamically in recent years. In Singapore, the government, in building a food tech startup ecosystem as part of the nation’s plan to become an innovation hub for Asian food and agriculture sectors, is encouraging companies, from food and beverage corporations, to agri-food entrepreneurs and start-ups to invest in the development of innovative solutions from food production to distribution. To showcase local capabilities and set an exemplary model for the industry in the region, the new FoodTech Zone at the upcoming FHA-Food & Beverage exhibition at Singapore Expo will underline best-of-breed agricul-ture and food innovations that have been making waves across and beyond Singapore. Visitors at the FoodTech Zone will get to see latest innovations in agri-tech, aqua-tech, food science, process, packaging and automation technologies, refrigeration and air-conditioning technology, transport storage, logis-tics, sustainable packaging and food waste, from exhibitors such as BioPak Sustainable Solutions, Detpak Pack-aging, D-Logic Refrigeration, Epromas International, Japan Seiko Glass, Mill Powder Tech, Multivac, Newtech Machinery, SEPA Korea Corp and TUV SUD PSB, amongst others.

FHA-Food & Beverage exhibition is the platform of choice for industry professionals, including distributors, importers, manufacturers and retailers from Asia to see and source for high quality, new-to-market food ingredients, drinks and fresh produce. More than 80% of the 2,000 exhibitors participating in FHA-Food & Beverage are renowned manufacturers and brands hailing from 70 countries and regions. ProWine Asia (Singapore), a satellite event of the highly successful ProWein in Düsseldorf, Germany, will also return for its 3rd edition alongside FHA-Food & Beverage.

Beyond the exhibits, visitors can stay on to catch additional features such as specialised showcases and seminars to keep engaged throughout. These features include:

To find out more, visit: FHA-Food & Beverage Date: 31 March to 3 April 2020

Venue: Singapore ExpoWebsite: www.fhafnb.com/

Visitor Pre-registration: https://fhapwa.com/

FHA-Food & Beverage spotlights tech innovation and industry transformation in new FoodTech Zone

FoodTech 4.0 Pavilion – showcasing the leading products and services for digitalisation, automation, aquaculture, sustainability, food waste, urban farming and more. Also housed within is the Dreamcatcher Theatre, a creative seminar space for thought leaders from Feed9B, GS1, Impossible Foods, Sustenir, The Good Food Institute, WWF and many others to share their insights and perspectives on agri-tech, blockchain, food tech, invest-ments, start-up ecosystem and market opportunities for the industry.

FoodTech Start-up Village – Located within the FoodTech 4.0 Pavilion, the FoodTech Start-Up Village is a community gathering of innovative and cutting-edge solution providers supported by venture capitalists such as AgFunder, Atlas Ventures, Big Idea Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners, GROW and Innovate360, among others. These young entrepreneurs will get to network with the pioneers in the food tech space and will be invited to pitch new ideas to a panel of experts on the Pitching Floor.

NYP Learning Studio - Aimed at promoting continuous learning and reskill-ing, the NYP Learning Studio will focus on developing manpower capabili-ties, enhancing skills and competencies, and improving productivity for the food & hospitality sector.

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Distribution News

UK-based retailer, Tesco PLC is finally bidding farewell to its customers in Asia as it seeks to dispose its assets here valued at close to US$9 billion. In December, Tesco, one of the world’s largest grocers, had started reviewing its op-tions in Thailand and Malaysia as it plans to focus on its home market, where it is locked in a price battle with discount grocers and online competitors such as Amazon.com Inc. and Ocado Group PLC. Since 2011, Tesco has gradually exited from Japan, US and Korea markets, ceded

Korean snacks are gaining huge popularity in the global retail market as more consum-ers are looking for new innovative flavors and opted to pick up more Korean products in line with the K-Pop culture. According to the Korean Agriculturel Trade Information, exports of local snack products were estimated at US$43.14 million in 2018, up from US$41.6 million a year before. In-dustry experts forecast that 2019 figures will be much higher than 2018. Major Korean confectionery companies have increasingly set their sights on a wider market after seeing robust growth in the US, China and Southeast Asia. Major confectionery producer, Orion Corp said its relatively new flagship snack, Kko-buk Chip, is enjoying huge popularity in the US and China. More than 60 million packs of Kkobuk Chip, 4-layered crispy chips, were sold in China in 2018 after its first debut in 2017. Kkobuk Chip is also being marketed as Turtle Chips in retailer Costco outlets in major cities. Orion has been enjoying good sales not only in overseas market but also in its home turf, with the Kkobuk Chip accumulating sales that exceeded US$85.8 million. Another major player, Lotte Confectionery Co., revealed that its long-time best-seller, Pepero, remained one of the best-selling Korean snacks overseas. In 2017, overseas shipment of Pepero reached US$50 million in 2017, showing strong growth in Singa-pore, China and Russia. In addition, private label snack products by Korea’s major retailers have also gained huge popularity in Southeast Asia. E-Mart Inc., the country’s leading discount chain operator, said its stores, dedicated to selling the company’s competitively-priced private label products, named E-Mart No Brand, will open its 2nd outlet in the Phil-ippines. According to an E-Mart spokes-person, the top 8 best-selling items are all snacks, with snack sales accounting for 40% of the Manila outlet. Another major korean retailer, GS Retail, said it is making inroads into 17 Asian coun-tries after successfully opening its conve-nience store chain GS25 in Vietnam. It said that its PB snacks such as injeolmi, a Kore-an traditional rice cake made with bean flour and tteokbokki, a Korean rice cake in a spicy sauce are best-sellers in the Vietnamese outlets.

Suning.com acquired 80% stake of Carre-four China operations for US$690 million on 27 September, as it accelerates expansion of its brick-and-mortar portfolio. Recently, Jindong Zhang, Chairman of Suning.com said, “This is a key step to Sun-ing’s Smart Retail Plan. Carrefour’s FMCG experience and supply chain capabilities can be integrated with Suning’s full-scenar-io retail model, strong logistics network and advanced technology. With our smart retail capabilities, Suning can transform Carrefour stores into fully integrated online-and-offline supermarkets to meet evolving consumer demands.” Suning has announced 5 long-term strat-egies for Carrefour China, including digital-ising Carrefour physical stores, improving current store models, expanding to lower-tier cities with Suning’s Retail Cloud Franchise Store, integrating with Suning’s convenience store, and opening new stores in the ex-isting market. As a good example, On 27 December, Easy Carrefour, a convenience store was opened in Suning.com’s Shanghai Zhongshan store. Meanwhile, in a related development, Suning.com parent company, Suning Hold-ings has disclosed plan to invest up to Rmb 40 billion (US$5.7 billion) in 2020 to open 10,000 new web stores. It has also revealed plan to open 300 new Carrefour outlets in big Chinese cities as well as 3rd tier cities in the next 5 years. In the first 9 months of 2019, Suning.Com nearly doubled its net profit from the previ-ous year with its revenue grew by 16% to Rmb 201 billion (US$28.7 billion). Carrefour had seen a bleak future before its acquisition, as its French owners failed to respond swiftly to China’s dynamic retail environment.

Vietnam’s retail sector has witnessed many huge mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the supermarket segment in 2019. VinCommerce, a subsidiary of Vingroup JSC acquired financially-troubled Shop&Go, a local convenience store chain with 87 shops in HCMC and Hanoi, for only US$1 in April. In June, major retailer, Saigon Co.op acquired 18 supermarkets of the French international retailer Groupe Auchan SA (Auchan). Later, in August, VinCommerce acquired Queenland Mart supermarket chain which has 8 stores. Interestingly, Vin-group has recently announced its official withdrawal from the retail sector to focus on the industry and technology segments as its 2 subsidiaries VinCommerce and VinEco Agricultural Investment Development and Production Company Limited (VinEco) will merge with Masan Consumer Holdings, un-der Masan Group. Up to the time of reporting, VinCommerce has approximately 3,000 VinMart supermar-kets and VinMart+ convenience stores. While grocery (offline) retailers saw active investments, several e-commerce platforms exit the market and these include Robins.vn of Thailand’s leading retailer Central Group, Adayroi.vn of Vingroup, and Lotte.vn of Lotte. Vietnam’s e-commerce sector may hit US$23 billion in 2025 from its current esti-mate of US$4.6 billion. However, due to the fierce competition, many had to cease oper-ations after suffering huge losses.

Starbucks sees growth in its 2nd most important market, China to trickle down to 1-3% after experiencing a long period of high single digit growth rates. According to Starbucks CFO Pat Grismer, Starbucks is cannibalising its older stores as it aggressively builds new ones. In addition, stiff competition from Luckin Coffee which saw tremendous success over a short peri-od, has impacted Starbucks bottomline. Luckin Coffee’s growth is phenomenal in China as it grew from just 1 stores in October 2017 to approximately 4,500 stores current-ly, making it the largest coffee chain in China.

China National Petroleum (CNPC) has stocked its petrol station retail shelves in eastern Anhui province with own-branded Hulk Power energy drinks to compete with rival China Petroleum & Chemical amid a slump in revenue. CNPC plans to sell the 310ml energy drink cans, made by a local food company, in its network of 20,000 uSmile convenience stores for Rmb 5 (US$0.72) each. For cus-tomers that pump fuel worth more than Rmb 200 (US$28.80), they can buy the beverage for only Rmb 2 (US$0.288). With the slump in petrol sales, companies try to find other source of non-oil revenues, making their petro marts or stores an in-creasingly more important contributor to rev-enue.

Tesco to dispose its ASEAN operations

Retailers capitalise on growing popularity of Korean snacks

Suning.com expects positive swings for Carrefour

Growing M&As in Vietnam grocery retail

Starbucks sees slowing growth while Luckin Coffee sees the reverse in China

China’s Oil Giant CNPC launches Energy Drinks to boost its sales revenue

ASEAN

GLOBAL

CHINA

VIETNAM

some control of its operations in China. This final exit from Asia would mean that Tesco will entirely focus on the European market. Tesco’s recent divestments are in line with its European peers such as Carrefour and Casino which have also exited operations in countries such as Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam in recent years. Tesco entered Thailand in 1998 and Ma-laysia in 2006 with 2,000 and 74 stores re-spectively. It was rumored that CP Group, Central Group and TCC are interested to acquire its Thailand business which could be worth more than US$7 billion. The Malaysian busi-ness, on the other hand, is estimated at close to US$2 billion.

Luckin Coffee is now entering the un-manned retail market with the launch of its “luckin coffee EXPRESS” smart unmanned coffee machine and ‘luckin pop (MINI)’ smart vending machine, further increasing the den-sity of its network and bringing Luckin Coffee closer to customers. Luckin coffee EXPRESS provides fresh-ly brewed drinks with the same quality and taste as in Luckin stores and therefore achieves the “Luckin Coffee, Closer to You” concept. Luckin pop (MINI)’s biggest attrac-tion is “E-commerce Prices in Vending Ma-chines”. Luckin Coffee enables customers to enjoy the convenience of vending machines and low prices comparable to e-commerce at the same time.

Distribution News


Fruitas Holdings Inc., a leading food and beverage kiosk operator in the Philippines has recently acquired a property in Davao City which will initially be used as an office cum warehouse to support its aggressive expansion plan in Mindanao. Fruitas has increased its total number of stores in Min-danao to 20%. It has also completed the acquisition of the assets of Heat Stroke Grill, with 2 out-lets in the Fruitas food parks in Quezon City. The acquisition is in line with the strategy of Fruitas for its food parks, viewing them as in-cubators for new concepts. It plans to make Heat Stroke Grill as an anchor locator in the food parks or food courts it may operate in the future. Fruitas said the recent acquisition is a key addition to its food portfolio, which will com-plement Sabroso Lechon and its rice meals concepts. Grilled food is an integral part of Filipino diet, as can be seen from the proliferation of grilled food stores in key commercial areas. Fruitas projected that the top 3 players in this segment have more than 200 branches. Fruitas started from a single kiosk stand in Manila in 2002, but now it has a total of 1,068 stores making it the market leader in the food and beverage kiosk industry. It plans to expand the network to 2,000 outlets by 2023 using proceeds from its recent IPO. Its stores include well-loved food concepts Fruitas Fresh from Babot’ Farm, Buko Loco, Buko ni Fruitas, De Original Jamaican Pattie Shop and Juice Bar, Johnn Lemon, Juice Av-enue, Black Pearl, Friends Fries, The Mango Farm, 7,107 Halo Halo Islands, Shou Hand

Despite declining sales of carbonated drinks in Indonesia, Coca-Cola Amatil is now slightly optimistic after it signed a 5-year partnership agreement with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) Indonesia to become the lat-ter’s soft drinks supplier after Pepsi leaves the country. Kadir Gunduz, Coca-Cola Amatil Indonesia President Director said, “We will start serving our Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite soft drinks in more than 700 KFC restaurants across In-donesia.” Coca Cola Amatil Indonesia also supplies several other fast-food chains in Indonesia such as McDonald’s, Burger King, A&W, Pepper Lunch and Domino’s Pizza. Indonesian Food and Beverage Associ-ation (Gapmmi) Chairman Adhi S. Lukman said that sales of carbonated drinks in Indo-nesia continued to decline by around 1 to 2% annually over the past 5 years.

Japan’s Mos Food Services Inc., the oper-ator of Mos Burger, has recently teamed up with the US food technology startup, Impos-sible Foods Inc. to offer plant-based burger patties in Singapore in December, making it the first major fast-food chain to introduce them in the island nation. Mos Burger hopes to attract health and eco-conscious consumers who would take plant-based meat. It is also preparing to offer it to its stores in other countries in the near future. The hamburger is competitively priced at S$6.95 (US$5), cheaper than most other non-meat burgers offered at restaurants in Singapore. The firm aimed to sell 20,000 burgers by the end of 2019 at its 39 Mos Burger/Cafes in Singapore, and may add the product to its regular menu depending on its popularity, said Kazuya Inukai, CEO of Mos Foods Singapore. Earlier on, Impossible Foods collaborat-ed with another major hamburger restaurant chain, Burger King Corp., in the US.

Fraser & Neave Holdings Bhd (F&N) has strengthened its e-commerce presence with the launch of its flagship online store, F&N Life, which offers greater convenience, ac-cessibility and value to consumers. F&N CEO Lim Yew Hoe said, “F&N Life provides a platform for consumers to order their favourite F&N products in bulk and have them delivered to their home, especial-ly during festive seasons and special occa-sions. F&N Life is set to complement F&N’s phys-ical distribution network.

Casual dining leader, Max’s Group (MGI’s) has recently opened a dining hub with all the food brands that it owns in Cubao near Que-zon City.Called the Main Avenue, the dining hub is strategically located at the intersection of EDSA Southbound Lane and Main Avenue in Cubao, Quezon City and will house diverse array of MGI’s portfolio including Max’s Restaurant, Yellow Cab, Pancake House, Krispy Kreme, Jamba Juice, and Teriyaki Boy. MGI Group Chief Operating Officer Ariel P. Fermin said the company now foresees massive commercial gain due to increased efficiencies and synergies because of the recent opening of Main Avenue. The build-ing also costs 40% less than having 6 stand-alone brand stores. Aside from flexibility in providing diverse options within the Group’s portfolio, the multi-brand hub also advocates for operating efficiency through its one shared back kitch-en - a first for its multi-brand sites. With a total space capacity of 1,445 sq.me-tres, it has a maximum seating capacity of 281. MGI is planning to put up 2 to 3 multi-brand stores by 2020. It is already eyeing one along Marcos Highway. The concept is also open for franchising. As of September 2019, 43% of the 750 stores under the MGI portfolio are franchise-owned. The company targets a 60:40 mix of franchise-owned and company-owned stores by 2021.

Fruitas to expand south into Mindanao

Coca-Cola takes over Pepsi to offer soft drink in KFC outlets

Mos Burger to offer Impossible Burger in Singapore

F&N launches flagship online store ‘F&N Life’

Max’s Group opens Dining Hub with multi food brands in Quezon City

PHILIPPINES

INDONESIA

SINGAPORE

MALAYSIA

Ryan’s Grocery, a Singaporean brand spe-cialising in organic food, has opened its first store in Vietnam, in HCMC, through its fran-chising partner PM Quynh Lam. With a shop space of over 400 sq.metres, the store sells 600 types of globally-certified organic products, from seasonal vegeta-bles to free-range meats and even gourmet cheese. It also has a support center and an elegant dining area to deliver the best expe-rience to customers. The organic food market holds great poten-tial in Vietnam as a growing number of peo-ple are turning towards clean, organic, and certified food products.

Vietnam welcomes its 1st Halal certified convenience store in HCMC in late Decem-ber, thereby opening up more options for the country’s muslims as well as muslim tourists to buy Halal food from a credible source. The store, located near Phan Chu Trinh Street is run by Saigon Trading Corporation, and it offers more than 300 Halal products.

Two Thai-listed companies PTT Plc and Central Plaza Hotel Plc (Centel) have an-nounced a joint venture (60:40) to operate PTTs coffee shop brand, Cafe Amazon in Vietnam with a combined investment of US$3.5 million. PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc (PTTOR) will proceed through PTTOR International Holdings (Singapore) Pte Ltd while Centel is investing through Central Restaurants Group Co (CRG). CRG plans to use a new subsidiary in Viet-nam to invest in this joint venture. Cafe Amazon has expanded its network to roughly 3,200 branches across Asia, includ-ing outlets in Oman, Singapore and Japan.

Masan Group Corporation, one of Viet-nam’s largest privately-run business groups, expects to earn a revenue of US$105 million from selling its MEATDeli chilled meat only at VinMart and VinMart+ chains, which are under Vingroup JSC in 2020. The figure excluded revenue from pro-cessed meat. According to Masan MEATLife (MML), a subsidiary of Masan Group, pro-cessed meat will contribute 50% of MML’s revenue. After the acquisition of the retail chains, Masan Group will have 3,072 points of sales comprising of 3,000 VinMart and 72 VinMart+ stores, raising the total number to 3,503 points, which will meet Masan Group target by 2021. Currently, MEATDeli contributes 60% of pork market share at Hanoi-based VinMart and 15% at HCMC-based ones.

First Singapore-owned organic food store in Vietnam

1st Halal convenience store in HCMC

PTT forms JV with Centel to operate Café Amazon in Vietnam

Masan targets US$105 million in Chilled Meat sales at VinMart chain in 2020

Pulled Noodles and Sabroso Lechon. These stores are spread across Metro Ma-nila and key provinces like Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, Cebu, Iloilo and Davao amongst others.

Distribution News Show Preview

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1 to 4 April 2020 Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), Kuala Lumpurwww.mihas.com.my

MIHAS – A Catalyst of Growth for the World’s Halal Industry Malaysia International Halal Showcase, or, MIHAS, can be consid-ered a key driving force behind the rapid development of the Halal trade industry worldwide. Incepted in 2004, MIHAS has been making great contribution to the industry for more than 16 years now by gathering the who’s who in the industry from more than 35 countries. The annual event, organised by the Malaysia External Trade Devel-opment Corporation (MATRADE) has now become the world’s largest Halal trade fair attracting more than 8,100 exhibitors from 88 countries, as well as 400,000 visitors cumulatively. In 2019 alone, MIHAS attracted 1,002 exhibitors and 29,946 visitors from almost 90 countries. It was also a momentous event that saw the participation of emerging Halal markets such as Cambodia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Attendees, especially SMEs, comprise of Halal-certified and trade-ready companies, buyers, leading brands, manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers from around the world. Leveraging on MIHAS’ stature as a top halal trade fair, the SMEs from Malaysia and around the region alike use MIHAS as a springboard for them to expand globally. Among the participants of MIHAS are from Indone-sia, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, China, Belgium, Iran, France, India, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey, just to name a few. Over the years, global companies have been looking to the expo to find the latest Halal product offerings and services across the industry’s value chain. Apart from Food and Beverages, other sectors highlighted at the expo include food technology, pharmaceu-ticals and cosmetics amongst others.

Business and Growth Opportunities at MIHAS 2020 MIHAS 2020 not only provides opportunities for business meetings and networking, it also is a platform for learning, done through a wide range of talks by industry-re-nowned experts of the Halal industries. Exhibitors and visitors can expect to benefit from MIHAS 2020 through exposure to strategies in maintaining their competitive edge in view of the ever-evolving global standards. Similarly, newer players can seek to expand their business by capitalising on the high-value networking opportunities offered. Of interest is the International Sourcing Programme (INSP), which facilitates Malay-sian and foreign companies matching. The INSP, which takes place a day before MIHAS event, has attracted the participation of over 40 countries and since 2005, the INSP has recorded over RM17.24 billion (US$4.21 billion) in cumulative trade, making it an attractive feature of the expo.

MIHAS: Fostering Innovation and sustainability In keeping up with industry trends, MIHAS aspires to promote advancement through innovation and sustainability among the world’s Halal businesses. In line with this, MIHAS will feature a series of talks on Industry 4.0 and sustainability. Among the series of talks include the MATRADE Trade Talk, the Islamic Trade Finance Conference, the Halal Innovation Festival, Product Invention for Future Halal Market, IMHalal Conference, and the Muslim Friendly Tourism Forum. Complementing the event’s line-up is MIHAS Awards which pays homage to Halal businesses at MIHAS that have made significant global impact. Over 12 categories are offered for participants to take part in. Introduced since 2017, MIHAS Awards is fast becoming a strong brand-building proposition for companies to add value to their brand asset.

MIHAS 2020


Show Preview

DateVenue

Website

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:

1 to 4 April 2020 Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), Kuala Lumpurwww.mihas.com.my

MIHAS – A Catalyst of Growth for the World’s Halal Industry Malaysia International Halal Showcase, or, MIHAS, can be consid-ered a key driving force behind the rapid development of the Halal trade industry worldwide. Incepted in 2004, MIHAS has been making great contribution to the industry for more than 16 years now by gathering the who’s who in the industry from more than 35 countries. The annual event, organised by the Malaysia External Trade Devel-opment Corporation (MATRADE) has now become the world’s largest Halal trade fair attracting more than 8,100 exhibitors from 88 countries, as well as 400,000 visitors cumulatively. In 2019 alone, MIHAS attracted 1,002 exhibitors and 29,946 visitors from almost 90 countries. It was also a momentous event that saw the participation of emerging Halal markets such as Cambodia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Attendees, especially SMEs, comprise of Halal-certified and trade-ready companies, buyers, leading brands, manufacturers, distributors, and suppliers from around the world. Leveraging on MIHAS’ stature as a top halal trade fair, the SMEs from Malaysia and around the region alike use MIHAS as a springboard for them to expand globally. Among the participants of MIHAS are from Indone-sia, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, China, Belgium, Iran, France, India, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey, just to name a few. Over the years, global companies have been looking to the expo to find the latest Halal product offerings and services across the industry’s value chain. Apart from Food and Beverages, other sectors highlighted at the expo include food technology, pharmaceu-ticals and cosmetics amongst others.

Business and Growth Opportunities at MIHAS 2020 MIHAS 2020 not only provides opportunities for business meetings and networking, it also is a platform for learning, done through a wide range of talks by industry-re-nowned experts of the Halal industries. Exhibitors and visitors can expect to benefit from MIHAS 2020 through exposure to strategies in maintaining their competitive edge in view of the ever-evolving global standards. Similarly, newer players can seek to expand their business by capitalising on the high-value networking opportunities offered. Of interest is the International Sourcing Programme (INSP), which facilitates Malay-sian and foreign companies matching. The INSP, which takes place a day before MIHAS event, has attracted the participation of over 40 countries and since 2005, the INSP has recorded over RM17.24 billion (US$4.21 billion) in cumulative trade, making it an attractive feature of the expo.

MIHAS: Fostering Innovation and sustainability In keeping up with industry trends, MIHAS aspires to promote advancement through innovation and sustainability among the world’s Halal businesses. In line with this, MIHAS will feature a series of talks on Industry 4.0 and sustainability. Among the series of talks include the MATRADE Trade Talk, the Islamic Trade Finance Conference, the Halal Innovation Festival, Product Invention for Future Halal Market, IMHalal Conference, and the Muslim Friendly Tourism Forum. Complementing the event’s line-up is MIHAS Awards which pays homage to Halal businesses at MIHAS that have made significant global impact. Over 12 categories are offered for participants to take part in. Introduced since 2017, MIHAS Awards is fast becoming a strong brand-building proposition for companies to add value to their brand asset.

MIHAS 2020

15 - 17 April 2020Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center, Shenzhen, China

What to look out for

Exciting & Activity-Packed Program

Slated to debut at the brand new Shenzhen International Convention and Exhibition Center – the largest of its kind in the world - on 15 April 2020, ANUFOOD China is dedicated to creating a new platform for the integrated food and beverage market in South China. As a satellite event of world-renowned food event Anuga, ANUFOOD China is backed by robust industry resources and global reach to establish a much-needed high-end food and beverage trading platform in South China. The exhibition, covering an area of 20,000 sq.meters, will have more than 700 exhibiting companies and is expected to draw over 15,000 visitors.

A spectacular event not to be missedBenefit from the expertise and resources from the world-renowned Anuga in Cologne, GermanySee what the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and South China market has to offerHarness the power of a one-stop sourcing and trading platform featuring the world's leading brands and suppliersParticipate in engaging activities, learn about industry trends and explore business opportunities

6 Feature ZonesSnacks, Meat & Meat Products, Alcoholic Beverage, Seafood & Aquatic Products, Baby Food & Organic Food

Flavors from around the worldA convergence of products from 29 countries and regions worldwide

Taste ChinaTop quality food products from cities and provinces across China such as Hebei, Zhejiang, Changchun and Fujian

Hosted Buyer ProgramDedicated match-making sessions divided by buyer categories and product segments will be arranged onsite. 300+ trade buyers will be selectively invited for Hosted Buyer Programmes. Enjoy 1-on-1 pre-show business matching and pre-arranged on-site meetings for the meat, organic food, alcoholic beverage and snack food categories

Competitions12 chef teams will be selected from cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Ma-cau Greater Bay Area in South China to pit their skills during ANUFOOD China 2020

Forums· Global Animal Protein Market Forum· Infant Organic Food and Nutrition Trends Forum· Greater Bay Area Imported Food Retail Market Trends Forum· The Congress of China Imported Food

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For more information, visit www.anufoodchina.com(Contact Cathy Zhang, Koelnmesse (Beijing) Co., Ltd at +86 21 6390 6161-810 or email [email protected])


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Market News - Asia Food & Beverages

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