Salt key ingredient in light beverage trend in China

By

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29th May 2016

With aversity towards sugar gaining momentum, salt is now back in vogue. In Japan, Pepsi Salty Watermelon is a classic example of how salt is used in beverage as a limited edition 2012 summer refreshment. The reason for adding salt in watermelon is to use salt to bring out the contrasting taste of the sweetness of watermelon.

In China, salty carbonated drink (盐汽水) is traditionally consumed during summer to replenish lost sodium. However, the drink is only popular in eastern China in Shanghai, Zhejiang province and Jiangsu province but the drink has since passed its heydays in early to mid-2000. Even though salty carbonated drink can still be found in the market, it is now known as a nostalgic drink rekindling old memories.

The launch of Uni-President China’s Haizhiyan (海之言) in April 2014 has set in motion the beginning of the ‘light beverage’ (轻饮料) trend in China. There is no clear definition for ‘light beverage’ but the understanding is the taste is light with a ‘near-like’ water property (low in calories) and functional with added ingredients to replenish key body nutrients. Salt is a key component in ‘light beverages.’ The bestseller Haizhiyan is made using Mediterranean sea salt.

The key words normally attached to ‘light beverages’ with a hint of salt are refreshing, relaxing and cooling. Products with salt not only cover juice and sports drink but also yoghurt drink and ice cream.

Refreshing

Guangming Changyou Yoghurt Drink with Sea Salt (光明畅优海盐) launched in April 2016.

Guangming salt — Guangming Changyou with Sea Salt (光明畅优海盐). ‘Those who has salt gets the refreshing feeling’

Mengniu Youyi C Yogurt Drink with sea salt (优益C海盐) and lemon flavour made its debut in January 2016.

Relaxing

Mizone Suiyue with Sea Salt (脉动随悦) introduced in May 2015 and now comes in a slimmer bottle. It contains gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) to help in relaxing.

suiyue 2 — Mizone Suiyue with Sea Salt (脉动随悦) for relaxing

Cooling

Haizhiyan (海之言) juice with lemon & grapefruit flavours were first rolled out in April 2014, followed by the calamansi flavour in January 2015 and blackcurrant and peach flavours in February 2016.

haizhiyan 2 — Haizhiyan (海之言) helps you to cool down

Light sport

Xiaoyang Yoghurt Drink with Salt (小样乳酸盐) was launched in December 2015. The drink claims to be a ‘light’ sports drink helping to quench your thirst.

Xiaoyang 2 — Xiaoyang Yoghurt Drink with Salt (小样乳酸盐) . The drink claims light sports will make you happier

Thirst quenching

Mengniu Ice + Xuan Cai Sea Salt Ice Cream with Pineapple (冰+绚彩冰海盐菠萝口味雪糕) helps to quench your thirst.

mengniu ice cream — Mengniu Ice + Xuan Cai Sea Salt Ice Cream with Pineapple (冰+绚彩冰海盐菠萝口味雪糕)

Launch timeline

Some of the products such as Haizhiyan, Mizone Suiyue with Sea Salt and Guangming Changyou with Sea Salt were launched to coincide with the summer season.

Here to stay

‘Light beverage’ will continue to stay, thanks to the rising demand for healthier food and drinks as consumers move away from sugar-laden food and drinks. The use of salt improves the product’s refreshing taste and lowers the sugar intensity, thus approaching ‘water-like’ property, which is seen as healthier for you.

Jayce Izumi-endorsed This is Water takes the social responsibility route

By

Tan Heng Hong

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25th May 2016

The pH level of mineral water is gradually moving towards the 8-8.5 pH level as alkaline water is believed to be beneficial to health. Indonesian packaged water has embraced water with higher alkaline level with examples of Pristine 8+, Total 8+ and Hygio 9+.

In Malaysia, packaged mineral water continues to come with the 7+ pH level but some of the water filters at home now allows users to select their own pH level.

Recently, a local enterprise Bewater Sdn Bhd has introduced a water with a pH level of 8 to 8.5. The water is treated using the alkaline ionize process utilising technology certified by the Japanese Ministry of Labour and Health.

The Japanese-themed water features the Japanese-American actor and singer Jayce Izumi as the founder. “This is Water” carries the taglines – Alkaline, Hydrate, Energize, Cleanse and Purify.

Socially responsible to justify for premium pricing

The bottles are 100% free from BPA and are hand packed. No preservatives and chemicals are used. The company also claims it bottles locally everywhere to minimise the carbon footprint. This makes “This is Water” a socially conscious product.

For every purchase of This is Water, 10% will be donated to humanity (5%) and sustainability (5%) to support The Human Earth Project.

This is water thank You — Thank you (ありがとう)

More expensive than Evian

The 500ml This is Water sells for RM 5.90, while the larger 1,000ml is retailed for a price of RM 10.90 at Cold Storage. As a comparison, the 500ml Evian mineral water comes with a price of RM 4.80 and Volvic at RM 4.49.

Social enterprises

What makes This is Water interesting is it shows there is a growing trend among local/international companies tapping into the socially-responsible theme to give back to society. TLC is one of the social enterprises in Malaysia making eco-friendly home care products, while Thankyou in Australia produces water, body care and food products donating funds to safe water, hygiene and sanitation programs.

Fun, hype and real for Indomie

By

Tan Heng Hong

-

24th May 2016

Indonesia’s Indofood knows if it wants to effectively engage fickle-minded young consumers, it has to come up with something really unique.

In early 2016, the Chitato Rasa Indomie Goreng made a huge splash in social media. Indofood Director Axton Salim first hinted of the new Indomie x Chitato in a Twitter post in January 2016.

“New limited ed @indomie x @chitato out of factory for my birthday. Teased much? 🙂 Coming to a store near you real soon.”

Back then, the company said the distribution of the product would only commence in February 2016. This novel approach created curiosity and once confirmed a hunger for the new product. During this period, the company was monitoring the response of consumers.

The marrying of Chitato potato chips with the flavour of the country’s top instant noodle Indomie Mi Goreng created a lot of buzz in the cyberspace. Consumers were sharing their reviews online and there was a huge demand for it due to the initial limited availability in other outlying cities.

Review Chitato — Reviewing Chitato Rasa Indomie Goreng and Indomie Rasa Soto

Indofood is marrying Indomie once more with snack with the launch of the new snack noodle Indomie Bite Mie in May 2016. The round-shaped Bite Mie comes in three flavours – seaweed, BBQ pizza and prawn tempura. Each pack weighs 42g.

Apart from crossover, Indomie is taking up the challenge of Mayora’s Bakmi Mewah Rasa with real chicken pieces with its own intepretation called Indomie Real Meat. Real Meat as the name implies featuring real chicken pieces.

Real Meat Indomie — Indomie Real Meat – Image from Indomie Twitter

What we are seeing in the Indonesian instant noodle category is the move towards fun and novel concepts to excite the senses of young consumers who are compulsive social media users. There is also a push towards the use of real ingredients such as real meat pieces to project a healthier image. At the same time, the use of real ingredients is a key factor in the premiumisation of the instant noodle category.

Nestle Tradisi ice cream potong for Ramadan

By

Tan Heng Hong

-

23rd May 2016

Ice cream potong or ‘cut’ ice cream has been around in Malaysia and Singapore since the 1970s. Ice cream potong is made using coconut milk and pandan leaves as the base ingredients. The ice cream comes in the form of a rectangular ice cream with a wooden stick. Ice cream potong is often positioned as a comfort food bringing back memories of the good old days.

ice potong — Images of ice cream potong from Mysabah.com

There are a lot of ice cream potong choices in the market ranging from those produced by small manufacturers to established ice cream producers such as F&N Foods (King’s Creameries).

King's Potong Multipack Durian — King’s Potong Multipack Durian

Joining the fray in the ice cream potong category is Nestle Malaysia’s new Nestle Tradisi, a new range of Ice cream potong with three flavours – Bandung Syrup, Coconut & Gula Melaka and Red Bean.

The launch of Nestle Tradisi is done to coincide with Ramadan. Muslims in Malaysia tend to eat ice cream as dessert during buka puasa (breaking the fast). This makes Ramadan the best time to launch ice cream with flavours and ingredients that suit the local taste.

Image from The Star 10 July 2015 — Aiskrim Goreng Durian. Image from The Star – 10 July 2015

Nestle Aiskrim Goreng (fried ice cream) chocolate and vanilla flavours were launched in early 2014. The limited-edition Aiskrim Goreng Durian version was introduced in July 2015 for Ramadan. Nestle Tradisi is therefore a continuation of Nestle’s effort to localise its ice cream range.

Nestle Bliss yoghurt drink experiments with natural flavour

By

Tan Heng Hong

-

21st May 2016

The limited-edition Nestle Bliss low-fat yoghurt drink now comes with the original flavour (asli) for Ramadan 2016 in green colour packaging. Green is the colour associated with Ramadan. In 2014 when the first limited-edition Nestle Bliss came out in Malaysia, it was known as the Caribbean Series with two flavours apple & banana and pineapple & coconut. In 2015, the choice was limited to apple & banana. Both the 2014 and 2015 limited edition was primarily for Christmas and New Year and to a lesser extend for Chinese New Year.

Marigold Natural vs Nestle Bliss Natural

For the 2016 Ramadan, the Nestle Bliss low-fat yoghurt drink is focusing on the natural flavour. Marigold has recently added the natural flavour but not Nestle Bliss. Malaysians tend to find flavoured yoghurt drink for palatable.

New Marigold natural flavour yoghurt drink for health-conscious consumers

Marigold is a 0% fat yoghurt drink, while Nestle Bliss is low fat. Apart from sodium, Marigold scores better in all the key nutritional aspect.

Available all-year-round?

There are two possible reasons why Nestle chooses the natural flavour for the limited edition. First, natural yoghurt is deemed good for breaking fast. Second, it is an opportunity to test the market for natural yoghurt with the possibility of making it available all year round. If the trial is successful, natural yoghurt may become a permanent fixture for Nestle Bliss.

Honey butter chips sweeping Southeast Asia

By

Tan Heng Hong

-

19th May 2016

The honey butter craze has reached Malaysia with the launch of the new Mister Potato Honey Cheese flavour by Mamee Double-Decker in early April 2016. This makes the company the first in Malaysia to tap the honey cheese flavour. Honey butter was first popularised in South Korea by Haitai Confectionery & Foods Co.

According to the South Korean company, sales of honey butter chips rose by more than 3 times in value from 2014 to 2015. Haitai has recently completed a new facility dedicated to the manufacturing of honey butter chips in May 2016 with a daily output of 15,000 boxes. When it is in full operation, the total daily output capacity of honey butter chips will reach 30,000 boxes.

From Pulsenews.co.kr. Haitai sales of honey butter chips set to reach KRW 180 billion in 2017

In Thailand, Lay’s rolled out its own honey butter chips in February 2016. The launch also included the new Lay’s Popcorn Caramel.

In the Philippines, it is Gold Stack that beat the rest with its own interpretation of honey butter for the local market. The honey butter chips was introduced in December 2015.

With Korean influence, through its pop music and dramas, permeating Asia, it no surprise to see Asian consumers developing a liking for honey butter chip, a trend that has its origin in South Korea. Getting the taste right will be very important as consumers will likely be benchmarking the new locally launched honey butter chips with their South Korean equivalents – Haitai Honey Butter Chips or even Nongshim Sumi Honey Mustard.

2015 top snacks korea — First quarter 2015 top snacks in Korea

PepsiCo offers affordable RM 0.99 Revive, Pepsi

By

Tan Heng Hong

-

17th May 2016

PepsiCo’s emoji bottles have reached Malaysia as part of its global ‘Say it with Pepsi’ campaign. The emojis are visually striking and cool. One thing that stands out from the Malaysia version of the ‘Say it with Pepsi’ campaign is PepsiCo has finally strike back at Coca-Cola.

Malaysia say it with Pepsi — Malaysia edition of ‘Say it with Pepsi’. Notice the emoji with songkok and hornbill

Pepsi malaysia 0.99 — Roadside billboard promoting RM 0.99 Pepsi emoji bottle

What is interesting about the emoji bottles are they come in the smaller size 390ml PET bottle with a suggested retail price of RM 0.99 (USD 0.25). Essentially, PepsiCo has at last launced an alternative to Coca-Cola’s 390ml PET bottle, which comes with a retail price of RM 1.00. The RM 1.00 Coca-Cola was first introduced around late June 2015.

Nationwide launch but limited availability

Similar with Coca-Cola, the RM 0.99 Pepsi is available at 99 Speed Mart minimarket and selected provision goods stores (sundry shops) targeting consumers who are more price sensitive.

Coca-Cola does not advertise its RM 1.00 offering. PepsiCo, on the other hand, has made known to the whole of Malaysia through billboards and TV ad of the existence of RM 0.99 in 390ml emoji bottle. The RM 0.99 price tag is now forever associated with the emoji packaging.

Consumers who wanted to buy the RM 0.99 Pepsi will find it hard to secure one because the RM 0.99 Pepsi is only available at select channels such as 99 Speed Mart. Hypermarkets, 7-Eleven and KK Mart are not stocking up on this product likely due to low profit margin. The lack of availability effectively reduced the effectiveness of the campaign

New Revive with i-HYDR8 System

In addition to the Pepsi in 390ml, the Revive isotonic drink also features a smaller 390ml PET pack with the same price as Pepsi at RM 0.99. Unlike the existing Revive, the new Revive has a new logo and the new i-HYDR8 System, which is comes with the tagline ‘Cool the Core’ for fast hydration. The 390ml Pepsi and Revive have heated the competition in the RM 1.00 price range as soft drinks makers go after volume to spur sales in a category that is reeling from health backlash.

Alipay accepted at 7-11 Thailand, Chinese tourist seeking virgin coconut oil

By

Tan Heng Hong

-

15th May 2016

7-Eleven alipay — Image from 711fanclub.com

In Thailand, Chinese tourists can now use Alipay app to make payment at 7-11 convenience stores on their smartphone starting May 2016. The new service makes it easier for Chinese tourists, of whom 7.9 million of them visited Thailand in 2015, to make payment without having to worry about not having enough baht.

Alipay accepted at 7-11. Image from Blognone.com

The author had a similar experience in Malaysia where a group of Chinese tourists from Sichuan province wanted to buy something but they were short of ringgit. It was their last day here and they would not want to withdraw money from the ATM. The supermarket did not accept China UnionPay credit card. What they did was asking me if I could exchange some renminbi with them to buy white coffee and coconut milk powder. White coffee remains a favourite must-buy item for Chinese tourists when they visit Malaysia but now they are adding coconut milk powder and virgin coconut oil on their shopping list.

Coconut-related products especially virgin coconut oil have become much sought after by Chinese tourists when visiting Southeast Asia. Retailers in tourist areas need to make sure they stock up on these products and ensure there is convenience in payment.

Maggi Tom Yum noodle upgraded with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass

By

Tan Heng Hong

-

14th May 2016

It has been quite in the instant noodle front. Not anymore, Nestle Maggi has upgraded its Tom Yum range in Malaysia with ‘the taste of kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass, with real herbs & spices for a greater aromatic Tom Yam sensation.’

The improved and upgraded Maggi Tom Yum covers both the 2-minute noodle and the BIG noodle range.

Nestle is currently focusing on improving the recipes of its instant noodle starting with the upgrade of the Royale Penang Seafood Curry in March 2016 with more springy noodles made from real wheat and real parsley garnish. It is not surprise to see existing Maggi instant noodle range being given a makeover with added fresh ingredients and spices.

Coca-Cola China embraces slim can

By

Tan Heng Hong

-

13th May 2016

Slim can packaging is becoming a trend. Coca-Cola China has started introducing slim can for Coke Zero, Coke Light and Schweppes C+ (怡泉+C) in April 2015. The slim can will be replacing the existing cans, which are wider. The volume will be unchanged at 330ml.

The beverage giant describes the move as joining the slimming fad to introduce a modern can that is tall and slim citing the example of the current trend by Chines women of using iPhone 6 to prove how slim they are.

The target audience of the slim can is the 25-39-year-olds with an aim to craft a high-end image for carbonated soft drinks, said Cofco Coca-Cola. The company also introduced a six-pack option for the slim cans.

Coca-Cola’s Aquarius (水动乐) sports drink now in PET bottle has also joined the slim can family in China. The new 310ml can comes with the orange and peach flavours.

In Malaysia, Coca-Cola’s Heaven and Earth has rolled out a new slim can. All the Coca-Cola range in Malaysia now comes with the slim can option.

Unlike China, there is no marketing or hype surrounding the introducing of slimline can in Malaysia, which is a lost opportunity for Coca-Cola Malaysia.

Mini Me Insights

Salt key ingredient in light beverage trend in China

Jayce Izumi-endorsed This is Water takes the social responsibility route

Fun, hype and real for Indomie

Nestle Tradisi ice cream potong for Ramadan

Nestle Bliss yoghurt drink experiments with natural flavour

Honey butter chips sweeping Southeast Asia

PepsiCo offers affordable RM 0.99 Revive, Pepsi

Alipay accepted at 7-11 Thailand, Chinese tourist seeking virgin coconut oil

Maggi Tom Yum noodle upgraded with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass

Coca-Cola China embraces slim can

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