Here is an update of the ready-to-drink (RTD) herbal tea scene in Southeast Asia.
Thailand: Ichitan Yen Yen Gold
Ichitan Group released an upgraded version of Yen Yen Herbal Tea called Yen Yen Gold featuring 11 herbs and other ingredients. The existing Yen Yen contains 7 herbs (Grass Jelly, Chrysanthemum, Bael, Luo Han Guo, Mulberry Leaves, Safflower, and Jiao GuLan).
Image above: Yen Yen (left) and Yen Yen Gold (right)
Indonesia: Mony Botanical Drink
In Indonesia, Monysaga Prima, the company that produces Sunkist and Mony beverages, has introduced Mony Botanical Drink in 2016. The drink is the latest entrant to the Indonesian RTD tea category. It competes with OT Liang Cha, Ichitan Yen Yen, Cap Panda Liang Teh and Zhenzhu Liang Teh.
Mony Botanical Drink adopts the same positioning as the other RTD herbal tea, which is to cool down the body after doing outdoor activities, when eating spicy food or suffering from internal heat.
Ichitan Yen Yen vs Mony Botanical Drink
The Ichitan Yen Yen range appears to contain more herbal ingredients than Mony and OT Liang Cha. This possibly reflects the different labelling regulation or the sophistication and demand of consumers in the two markets.
The traditional trade channel is still the focus of FMCG companies in Indonesia that are aiming products at the mass market. The latest news on Wings and Singa Mas Indonesia’s new products have shed light on how much emphasis they have put into the traditional trade channel and into the modern trade channel when they sell products for the mass market.
The 70-30 ratio
The ratio used by Wings for the distribution of its new Isoplus isotonic drink and Singa Mas for its RTD tea drink is 70% devoted to the traditional trade channel (pasar tradisional) and 30% for the modern trade channel (pasar modern or ritel modern).
This ties in with the current domination of the traditional trade in the Indonesian retail market. According to the latest Kantar finding, the traditional market still has around 80% share, followed by minimarket and hypermarket/supermarket with a combined share of 21%.
Image above from Kantar FMCG Monitor Q2 and July 2016
Affordable price
The new Wings Isoplus is aimed at the 25-to-35-year old segment with the 350ml drink in PET packaging selling at an affordable price of IDR 3,000 (USD 0.23).
For Singa Mas, a unit of Charoen Pokphand Indonesia, the new Teh Serrr dan Fruitamax comes in the plastic cup format. Teh Serrr is in 200ml cup, Fruitamax Pop (orange and strawberry flavours) in 200ml cup and Fruitamax Jelly in 150ml cup. Both Teh Serrr and Fruitamax are aimed at children, said Santo Kadarusman, Public Relations & Marketing Event Manager PT Singa Mas. Products in plastic cup typically comes with an entry-level price usually at IDR 1,000, making it accessible to children and lower-income consumers.
Image above shows children sampling Teh Serrr and Fruitamax. Image from Singa Mas Indonesia Facebook page
Marketing important factor in the success of plastic cup packaging
The entry-level plastic cup packaging does serve its purpose of reaching out to the mass market. However, this has to be backed by marketing that resonates with its core consumers. Power F, an energy drink from Wings in plastic cup, is a good example. This product is experiencing 150-200% growth in sales each year since it was introduced in 2013, thanks to the focus on dangdut. Dangdut is a genre of Indonesian folk and traditional popular music featuring scantily clad female singers with a predominately male audience. The blue-collar working class who keen on dangdut is also the key target for Power F.
The traditional trade channel still attracts the largest grocery spend in Indonesia. Companies can maximise the traditional trade channel with products with prices and packaging sizes that suit the buying power of traditional trade consumers. However, success also boils down to marketing that is in sync with the target audience.
In Thailand, Thai Beverage (ThaiBev) is adding the Healthier Choice logo on the 100Plus packaging and in its advertisements, reported The Nation newspaper. The reason for adding the logo is to covey the message that 100Plus is the healthiest product of its type. In Thailand, 100Plus is sweetened with stevia and sugar whereas in Malaysia, it counts glucose and sucrose as sweeteners.
Healthier Choice
The Healtheir Choice logo is owned by the Thai Food and Drug Administration. The symbol’s use was assigned to the Nutrition Promotion Foundation of the Mahidol University. The use of the new front-of-pack logo programme was launched by the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand on 31 August 2016. The logo can be applied to cover all food products with 56 products already certified in phase one. The aim of the health logo is to reduce non-communicable diseases such as overweight and diseases.
100Plus has received the Healthier Choice logo in Thailand and Singapore.
Drink a 100Plus anywhere campaign
ThaiBev has recently launched the new ‘Drink a 100Plus anywhere’ campaign to broaden the consumption occasions beyond workout and sporting activities to include having 100Plus for meals or everyday activities like shopping.
This is the same positioning adopted in Malaysia, the brand’s biggest market globally, where 100Plus is embraced as a healthier choice and is consumed in all occasions as a refreshing drink.
Captured 30% share in the healthier CSD market
Thai Drinks Co senior vice president Jesdakorn Ghosh said 100Plus had captured a 30% share in the healthier carbonated soft drinks market after 18 months in the market. The drink was first launched in Thailand in February 2015.
Key takeaways
The embrace of the Healthier Choice front-of-pack logo will help to strengthen the position of 100Plus as an everyday drink. This positioning will potentially enable the drink to secure a larger share of throat in the competitive Thai beverage market.
However, the positioning of 100Plus as a functional sports drink must not be neglected. Sports enthusiasts are increasingly looking for sports drink or performance enhancing beverages that can meet their needs and this means there is an opportunity for 100Plus to extend its brand into more specialised niche area.
Nestle Malaysia Sdn Bhd has recently unveiled a new packaging for its UHT milk range. The company is also among the last UHT milk player in the country to refresh its UHT milk packaging. Even though it is among the last, the new design does look unique.
Clean design
Much thought has gone into the redesign of the new packaging. The result of the revamp is a packaging that is clean and crisps. It features a transparent glass milk bottle design that conveys a sense of purity. The nothing-but-milk message is reinforced with the adoption of a new name Nestle Just Milk.
The bottle on the new Nestle Just Milk Low Fat is slimmer compared to the full cream milk version, which features a larger bottle with the word ‘Full Cream Milk’ in bold font.
Journey from farm to table
Unlike the old packaging where there is no mentioning of the source of the milk, the front of the new packaging clearly states the use of ‘100% imported ingredients’. The back of the packaging describes the entire journey from farm to table. The story starts in Australia and New Zealand where the milk comes from. The milk is handled gently to ensure the calcium and protein is retained. It is then sealed and packed for delivery. The key word is ‘safe and clean.’
Nestle Just Milk back packaging compared with Dutch Lady PureFarm
How Nestle Just Milk compares with rivals
The story about FrieslandCampina’s Dutch Lady PureFarm is heritage. The company focuses on the farming heritage showing it takes ‘generations of expertise and farming passion’ to ‘make delicious and nutritious milk.’
The marketing message is less pronounced for the other players – Goodday, F&N Magnolia and Malaysia Milk’s Marigold.
Nestle Just Milk is comparable to F&N’s Farmhouse, which is proud of its Australian heritage but the price is much higher for Farmhouse selling at RM 7.99 for a 1 litre pack compared with Nestle at RM 6.29.
Stand out in the crowded shelf
The red-white packaging of Nestle Just Milk ensures stronger visibility in the sea of blue-white packaging.
Key takeaway
In the past, Nestle UHT milk has appeared to have been pushed to the side by the strong marketing efforts of Goodday and Dutch Lady PureFarm. With the new packaging, Nestle Just Milk might probably regain some lost ground, attracting new consumers who are keen on the new clean packaging to fit their contemporary lifestyle. The emphasis on the use of imported milk will also attract consumers who are interested in imported milk.
Aje Thai, a unit of the Peru-based soft drink company Aje, has unveiled two new flavours BIG Lime Soda and BIG Coconut, new BIG logo and BIG Aqua. BIG Aqua, formerly Cielo, is part of the move to group all products under the BIG banner.
New BIG logo with hummingbird
The new BIG logo features a hummingbird to ‘to communicate the personality of the brand – that it is fearless among the soft-drink brands in the market, while being highly flexible and capable of rapid growth, according to the company as reported by The Nation newspaper. The logo also features the eye-catching yellow background.
Two new flavours – Coconut and Lime
1st on the right is the new lime flavour, 2nd on the right is the new coconut flavour (image above)
The new lime and coconut flavours complement the existing line of flavoured CSDs, which include orange and strawberry.
The coconut flavour is interesting because the company claims it is the first of its kind in the world reported by the Bangkok Post. On the contrary, Indonesia’s Sosro has already debuted a similar coconut flavoured carbonated soft drink under the Creso label selling in a 400ml PET bottle.
The new BIG Coconut is tapping into the rising popularity of coconut water. The company will evaluate the performance before deciding whether to export it abroad. BIG Coconut was developed exclusively in Thailand.
Improving distribution coverage
AJE Thai said it will improve its distribution coverage in the country to 60% in 2017 and 75% in 2018 from 50% currently. The current distribution gaps are in northern and southern provinces and in parts of Bangkok.
Sparkling coconut water as a healthier alternative
Sparkling coconut water is a natural progression for the coconut water category as it broadens the consumer base. In the US, Coco Libre Sparkling Organic Coconut Water is positioned as a healthier soda alternative as it contains only 20 calories. It is made with organic coconut water from concentrate, fruit juice with no added sugar. Coco Libre is lightly carbonated and can be consumed as a standalone drink or added into mocktail or cocktail.
As opposed to Coco Libre, Creso and BIG Coconut are carbonated soft drinks featuring coconut water extract and coconut flavour. Creso contains coconut water extract and identical coconut flavour, while BIG Coconut has 1% coconut juice and coconut flavoured. These products are more likely to be positioned as a refreshing indulgence rather than as a healthy drink.
Etika Beverages has intensified its value range trust with the slim down version of Pepsi selling at RM 2.00 (USD 0.48) for the new 1,250ml packaging size at 99Speedmart. 99Speedmart is a minimarket chain with 846 outlets across Malaysia. The new packaging size matches the current Coca-Cola’s pack size of 1,250ml. When it comes to the price, the new Pepsi 1,250ml is 25% cheaper than Coke, which sells at a higher price of RM 2.50.
For the standard 1.5L packaging size, Pepsi is only 3.7% cheaper than Coca-Cola, which sells at RM 3.10 compare with Pepsi’s RM 2.99. This makes the RM 2.00 Pepsi is a game changer in the value, portion-control segment in the minimarket channel.
The International Taste & Quality Institute (iTQI) Diamond/Crystal/Superior Taste Award 2016 saw around 390 winners from Asia or 28% of the 1,385 winners worldwide.
Why businesses want the award
http://www.itqi.com/en/
The benefits of winning the award is explained on the iTQi website.
Business negotiations (export and local distribution)
External communication (marketing)
Product improvement (challenge R&D team)
The jury team comprises chefs and sommeliars who have worked not only in Europe (iTQI is based in Brussels) but also in other parts of the world including Japan and Thailand. On the website, the non-exhaustive iTQi jury members are mainly Caucasian faces. This raises the question whether these chefs and sommeliars are able to understand the intricacies of Asian food and drinks even though some might have worked in Asia before.
There is also a strong possibility that the award is potentially useful for exporters trying to crack the European market since the chefs and sommeliars are familiar with what European consumers like.
Japan leads award winners
Japan has the biggest share, accounting for nearly 60%, followed by Taiwan and Thailand respectively with 13% and 8%. Japanese winners include a wide range of products such as tea, confectionery, sauces and seasonings, alcoholic drinks and non-alcoholic beverages like coffee.
The winning products reflect country’s category strength or export focus
With Taiwan known for its tea, of the 51 winners, 22 are tea products, which highlights the eagerness of Taiwanese tea producers in getting global recognition.
Thailand is known for its rice, sauces and energy drink. This is reflected in the winning products from Thailand.
Alcoholic drink is a big business in the Philippines. All the winners for the Philippines comprise mainly rum (3 winners) and one cooking wine. The winners from Myanmar and Vietnam are all alcoholic drinks, while the Singapore winners are in the RTD beverage and chocolate categories.
The South Korean winning products comprise mainly aloe vera beverages, makgeolli, soju and seaweed snacks. Most of these products are categories that are the current export focus of Korean F&B exporters.
Using award to promote coconut water
Coconut water is gaining popularity in Asia. When it comes to the taste, the jury gave all the coconut water only 1 star, which is the lowest out of 3 stars. Notwithstanding the low point scored by coconut water, the key thing is companies like Coco-Cola Beverages (Shanghai) and All Market Singapore appear to be using the Superior Taste Award to promote Vita Coco and Zico Coconut Water, respectively in Singapore and China and possibly in other markets.
Key takeaways
The analysis of the winning products from Asia shows the iQTi Superior Taste Award is a platform for companies to improve their product taste credential to give them an edge when dealing with suppliers, distributors and end consumers. The winning list also reveals the export thrust of countries such as tea appears as the largest winner in Taiwan and aloe vera drink for South Korea.
Milk booster, a product that enhances breast milk supply, is popular in Malaysia and Indonesia. In fact, according to Google Trends, there has been a rising search for the keyword ‘milk booster’ in Malaysia and ‘ASI booster’ in Indonesia. ASI is the acronym for air susu ibu or breast milk in Bahasa Indonesia.
Google Trends
In powdered/tablet format
Promised to enhance breast milk supply by up to 100% within 24-72 hours.
In Malaysia, most of the milk booster come in the powder/tablet format. The only thing that sets them apart is the ingredients. For example Moeder is made from natural ingredients such as goat’s milk, tomato extract, honey, grape extract, vanilla, papaya, carrot, seaweed, bird’s nest, arabic gum, bilberry and habbatus sauda sweetened with stevia.
Moeder ingredients
MaMom Milk Booster in tablet has the following ingredients including goat’s milk, habbatus sauda, goat’s milk (susu kambing), honey, dates (kurma), spirulina, raisin (kismis) and soya.
ASI booster with herbs popular in Indonesia
Milk booster, commonly known in Indonesia as ASI booster, uses herbs as the base unlike goat’s milk, which is popular in Malaysia. ASI Booster Tea contains habbatus sauda (black cumin/black seed), moringa (malunggay), anise and fenugreek. The drink does not contain caffeine and does not use tea leaves.
Teh ASI by Sidoarjo-based Green Nirmala contains Sauropus androgynus, also known as katuk or star gooseberry. It comes with fennel seed (habbatus sauda) in 20 sachets weighing 2g each.
Habbatus Sauda is the common ingredient
Habbatus Sauda
All the milk booster/ASI booster contains habbatus sauda, an ingredient popular with Muslims. According to tradition, the Prophet Muhammad once described black seed as a healing for every disease except death. Habbatus sauda is found in products targeting at Muslim consumers ranging from shampoo to herbal supplement.
Now in ready-to-drink (RTD) format
https://www.instagram.com/mamanduyasibooster/
In Indonesia, Mamanduy claims to have introduced the first fenugreek milk in RTD format. Mamanduy ASI Booster comes in four flavours – nutella, red velvet, banana dan matcha. According to the company, it is selling around 11,000 bottles per month. Apart from fenugreek, Mamanduy contains organic chia seeds, milk, oat and homemade soya.
Why milk booster becomes popular
Muslims are encouraged to breastfeed until 2 years as stated in the Holy Quran.
“And mothers suckle their children full two years; it is for one who wants to complete the (period of) suckling.” (Surah Baqarah v.233)
For mothers who are able to breastfeed their baby, some would strive to give their infant with breast milk for 24 months. To ensure their breast milk is sufficient, some mothers will turn to health supplement to boost their milk production.
The rising demand for milk booster also reflects growing interest among mothers to breast feed their babies, thanks to education and public health campaigns. This comes despite studies showing a low prevalence of exclusive breast feeding in Indonesia and Malaysia. In Indonesia, the exclusive breastfeeding in babies younger than six month reached 42% in 2012, up from 32% in 2007, according to the Indonesian Demographic Health Survey. In Malaysia, the Ministry of Health statistics reveal only 14.5% of babies were exclusively breastfed below six months in 2006. There is no latest data from the Malaysian government.
The rising demand for milk booster serves as a proxy reflecting the growing interest in breast feeding. This is a positive step towards giving babies living in developing nations a better start in life especially where the health system is still not well developed.
The awarding of the Superior Taste Award to Lam Soon Group’s Hershey’s SoyFresh has got me interested in iTQi (International Taste & Quality Institute).
iTQi runs the Superior Taste Award. The following is taken from the institute’s website and explains what the award is all about:
“The Superior Taste Award label is a powerful marketing tool that is used to communicate about the products and the company’s success, in both domestically and internationally. Its visibility of the label brings an immediate differentiation amongst the vast product choices on the marketplace and reassures consumers in their buying decision.”
Essentially, it is a marketing tool and the award is licensed for a period of 3 years.
Hershey’s SoyFresh gets 2-3 stars
Hershey’s SoyFresh Chocolate is considered as “Remarkable,” while Hershey’s SoyFresh Cookies ‘N’ Creme is “Exceptional.”
Chefs and Sommelier decide
The Superior Taste Award is not based on the opinion of the ordinary consumers. In fact, the jury for the Superior Taste Award consists of more than 120 Chefs and Sommelier who are “considered unparalleled opinion leader.” They will be the judge deciding if your product will make it through.
Malaysia has 5 winners in 2016
Malaysia has 5 winners in 2016 with Ace Canning and Torto Food new on the list. Spritzer has won the award for its Spritzer Natural Mineral Water five times.
The iTQi Superior Taste Award does provide a point of reference to consumers on taste. It also works to reassure consumers or suppliers/future business partners on the taste quality, which hopefully can drive sales like all awards operating in a similar fashion.
What the new Cheerios Oat Crisps and the Omega Plus Milk with Oats have in common besides being products of Nestle is the use of beta glucan. There is a growing interest for beta glucan in Malaysia following the launch of Biogrow BG22 Oat Powder in September 2011. Oat beta-glucan is a type of soluble fibre known for its cholesterol lowering properties. Biogrow BG22 has since expanded into the cereal category with Crispy Cereal.
47.7% of adults have high cholesterol
Based on the latest National Health and Morbidity Survey of 2015, 47.7% of adults in Malaysia have high cholesterol. The prevalence of diabetes is 17.5% in 2015, up from 11.6% in 1996. The obesity rate is 17.7% and overweight at 30%, said Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam. There is a pressing need for products that can help control cholesterol level.
Here are some of the new products with beta glucan that were recently launched in Malaysia.
Guardian Mixed Grains & Oats 30
The pharmacy, health and beauty retail chain introduced Guardian Mixed Grains & Oats 30 in July 2016. The powdered drink uses imported Swedish oat bran powder and offers more than 30% oat beta-glucan per serving.
Cheerios Oat Crisps
The new Cheerios Oat Crisps is made with Australian oats ‘offering a combination of crispy and toasted whole oat breakfast cereal flakes and whole grain wheat, corn, rice, and whole oat breakfast rings.’
The product is known as the first ready-to-eat cereal that contains beta glucan. Each 40g provides 1.2g of beta glucan out of the 3g daily recommended intake.
Cheerios Oat Crisps is manufactured in the Philippines by CPW Philippines Inc and is distributed in Malaysia by Nestle Products Sdn Bhd.
At Giant Supermarket
Nutritional values
This is how Cheerios Oat Crisps is staked against Nestle Corn Flakes in terms of nutritional content.
Each 150g Nestle Corn Flakes is retailed at RM 4.70, while the Cheerios Oat Crisps (190g) sells at a price of RM 7.90 (RM 6.90 promotional price) at Giant Supermarket.
Key takeaways
With nearly half of the population suffering from high cholesterol, this has resulted in the high demand for products that can control or reduce the cholesterol levels. The awareness about the benefits of beta glucan is rising and consumers are starting to associate beta glucan with cholesterol lowering benefits, sparking new product innovations featuring the beta glucan ingredient.
Going beyond cholesterol reduction claim
Enfagrow A+ with 360º DHA PLUS
Beta glucan usage is going beyond reducing cholesterol into baby food. MeadJohnson included yeast beta glucan in its latest Enfagrow A+ with 360º DHA PLUS launched in March 2016. The Wellmune Beta-Glucan helps support body’s natural defenses.
Updated on 11 December 2016
The Nestle Cheerios Oat Crisp now has a new flavour – Cinnamon Oat Crisp.
Kuala Lumpur, 2 November 2017 - 7-Eleven Malaysia, the leading standalone convenience store chain in the country, celebrates its third consecutive win in the...
Teh ASI by Sidoarjo-based Green Nirmala contains 
