Food & Beverage Trailblazers

Ready-to-cook (RTC) pastes can tap the rising at-home cooking boom in Asia by including a combo of heritage and convenience in their innovations.

Singapore’s Petale Tea believes it has found a unique niche in the market for premium, personalised consumption in the shape of blooming tea balls.

Australia-based The Calmer Co believes that kava-based drinks are well-positioned as part of the second generation of low-to-no alcohol (NOLO) beverages, providing relaxation functional benefits in addition to being an alternative to booze.

Singapore-based children’s food firm HaruPlate is looking to tap on mediums of gameplaying as well as cultural influences to get kids in the APAC region to first eat at all, then eat healthier.

Australia’s Tummy Buddies believes that healthier product innovation for children needs to focus on bright colours and visual appeal in order to secure that crucial first purchase.

Singapore-based Flojo believes that it has found a sweet spot in Asia's beverage market with an AI-powered ‘productivity drink’ targeting consumers who regularly use a lot of brain power.

Tempeh chips brand Mamame has highlighted the multiple nutritional benefits of black-eyed beans as a key factor behind its success in the APAC healthy snacking sector, fuelling its upcoming growth into the UK and US markets as well.

New Zealand nut butter specialist Forty Thieves believes that its flexibility in providing smaller packaging options as well as a dedicated keto range is driving growth across the region.

Singapore cultivated seafood firm Umami Bioworks believes that strategic mergers are crucial to overcome doubts about the sector and achieve buy-in from major brands which can help the category scale-up.

Focusing on flexitarians and doubling down on the perceived health benefits of consuming less meat and dairy is the best way for APAC’s sluggish plant-based sector to secure significant growth.

The APAC tea sector need to focus on functionality and format innovation and not just increasing blend varieties if it is to enjoy sustained growth, according to Sri Lanka and Europe-based tea specialist English Tea Shop.

Singapore-based plant-based products firm Thoughtful Food believes that the sector needs to look more closely at dry and ambient innovation as a key driver, particularly for brands seeking to solve ultra-processing challenges or go more clean label.

Affordability is emerging as the main driving factor for insect-based foods in the APAC region, possibly even more significant than its often-lauded protein or sustainability factors.

The cultivated meat industry in APAC needs to focus on localisation and realistic pricing strategies to avoid repeating past alternative protein ‘pitfalls’, says pioneer Aleph Farms.

Singapore-based Curated Culture has big plans to enter the ‘sports and wellness’ space in the APAC region with its probiotic tea products, which the firm has stressed is ‘not kombucha’.

Better-for-you beverage trends and ingredients are starting to see a convergence between markets in the Asia Pacific and United States as comsumer awareness grows, according to energy tea brand YATE.

Children are the ‘toughest food critics’ meaning that healthy snack firms have to pay equal attention to taste and nutrition if they are going to attract mass appeal and help improve the diets of young people.

Singaporean plant-based firm Vitality Foods is targeting the still-active seniors demographic in APAC with its all-natural, clean label products, believing it has found a gap in the industry that is as-yet underserved and full of unmet needs.

Plant-based brands in South East Asia need to step up their game by integrating unique health and localisation features to stand out in the increasingly crowded market, according to a Philippines brand blazing a trail in the sector.

The rise of new ingredients and innovations in the better-for-you confectionery space is shifting candies and other sweet treats into a guilt-free indulgence space, and has to the potential to progress further into the functional foods realm.

The interest in cleaner and better-for-you snacks shown by big food and beverage brands, including Mondelez, Nestle and Vitasoy, is paving the way for a new specialised area of plant-based proteins to enter the market, namely the RuBisCo leaf protein.

Ensuring that brand focus is maintained after joining a larger company is crucial to sustain and boost growth, according to sugar replacement start-up Swiftlet which has become part of Vietnamese conglomerate Senix Health Group.

Increased consumer demand for premiumisation and alternative protein products, as well as inflation-driven price hikes, are driving the need for technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) in traditional ‘commodities’ that have so far not been exposed to such advances.

Flavour localisation is a crucial strategy for healthy snacking brands to win over Asian consumers’ ‘sophisticated tastebuds’, according to Vietnam’s Lecka, which is rapidly expanding across the region.

Sesame’s nutritional and sustainable properties could make it Asia’s best option for traditional milk replacement, despite it being a relative newcomer in region’s plant-based dairy alternative space, claims a Thai firm seeking to pioneer the sector.

Alternative meat firm More Meat has cited rising local food ingredient prices and the prevention of food waste as major drivers behind the creation of its ready-to-cook (RTC) range, a format that is still at the early stages of growth within Thailand’s plant-based sector.

A three-pronged marketing approach spanning health, safety and taste is crucial to drive sales in China’s burgeoning plant-based space, both to attract new customers and then retain them for sustained sales growth, according to pioneer of the category.

India’s first ice popsicle brand Skippi is aiming to achieve Nestle-level market penetration in the country within the next 12 months, with plans afoot for a large-scale production plant as well as building up its national distribution network.

Asia has the potential to lead the way in the food and beverage sector’s packaging sustainability endeavours, but retailer red tape and legacy mindsets need to quickly be overcome to achieve maximum impact.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Heidi Peuten, Co-Founder of Ulu Hye, about her pioneering journey to create the world’s first dairy-free mylk bases, and life juggling entrepreneurship with a very young family.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Coco Tse, Vice President of Strategy and Operations at HEROTEIN, about the rise of the ‘New Protein’ movement in China, the need for localised products, and format innovation.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Nicci Clark, CEO and Co-founder of Re:Nourish, about how the rise in demand for foods with functional health benefits are driving the fresh soup category, as well as the link she sees between her previous experience as a nurse and her current role as a food entrepreneur.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Ahmad Syafik Jaafar, Co-founder of Malaysia’s NANKA, about the niche hybrid plant-meat product category and the potential of using these as a ‘transitional’ product for consumers wanting to go fully plant-based.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Michael Fox, CEO of Australia’s Fable Foods, about how his entrepreneurial journey from fashion to food, as well as whether mushroom-based meat products should still be considered ‘plant-based’.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Lisa King, Founder of New Zealand’s AF Drinks, about how the firm is leading the domestic non-alcoholic cocktail category as well as her challenges in making the switch from MNC’s such as PepsiCo and Heinz.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Alex Min, Founder and CEO of Korea’s RE:Harvest about introducing food upcycling to Asia, a market where byproducts are often seen more as ‘food waste’.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Athena Zhu, Co-Founder and COO of Marvelous Foods about her experience as a food industry leader in China, as well as plans to premiumise the local plant-based dairy category.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Christoph Langwallner, CEO of WhatIF Foods about his vision to change the world ‘one meal at a time’ using regenerative crops instead of today’s commercial ones, and the need to redesign food manufacturing to make this work.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Zac Chua, CEO of Singapore popcorn firm The Kettle Gourmet about starting a business right out of school with no prior experience, and working with ‘controversial’ artificial flavours as a base for innovation.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast we speak to Nalin Sood, CEO of Indian tea specialist firm Teamonk about defying traditional procurement norms and his experience moving from beverage MNC PepsiCo to a start-up.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to the co-founder and director of Singapore biotechnology and healthy noodle firm KosmodeHealth about her journey from pharma to food, and why pragmatism is just as important as sustainability.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to the CEO of Singapore-based sugar innovation firm Nutrition Innovation Matthew Godfrey about the challenges he faced when moving from an MNC to a start-up, and why he believes sugar itself is the solution to solving overconsumption.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to the CEO of Malaysian insect-based food firm Ento Kevin Wu about his massive career shift from law to food entrepreneurship as well as how he is tackling consumer fears over insect consumption.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to the CEO of Indian traditional and plant-based dairy firm Epigamia Rohan Mirchandani about his aspirations to contemporise the Indian dairy industry, and the challenges in getting the conventional and plant-based sectors to ‘peacefully coexist’.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to the CEO and Co-Founder of Singapore-based microalgae food firm Sophie’s BioNutrients Eugene Wang about his aspirations to create food for space travel, and why he believes ‘hybrid’ plant-based and meat products are the way forward for Asia.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to the CEO and co-founder of Australia-US fermentation technology firm Change Foods about his journey from aerospace engineering to food tech, and the parallels and differences between the two industries.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to Dr David Kitchen, CEO of better-for-you energy drink Kanguru about his experience juggling both a full-time medical career as an ophthalmologist alongside his beverage entrepreneurial venture.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to Blair Crichton, Co-Founder of plant-based start-up Karana about choosing Asia and Asian-style foods to focus on for its jackfruit-based pork development, and his experience making the jump from finance to food entrepreneurship.

In this episode of our Food and Beverage Trailblazers podcast, we speak to LVL Life co-founders Avinash Aswani and Rohit Nanwani, entrepreneurs and first cousins who have moved from under the wings of a longtime family business to build a superfoods brand based on e-commerce.