CP Foods has added Malaysia as its newest market for its plant-based ready meals made with Meat Zero. The ready-to-eat meals are suitable for vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians. They are a source of protein and free from cholesterol. The range comprises Plant-Based Spaghetti Bolognese and Plant-Based Stir Fried Thai Basil And Minced With Rice. Both products are priced at RM 12.90 at AEON Big.
CU Malaysia has some new spice flavors to spice up the Krispy Chickin range. The interesting choices include the following flavours:
Rose has gained prominence lately thanks to the influence of rosé tteokbokki where the Korean street food is mixed with rich and creamy, sweet and spicy rose sauce.
Jian Bo’s signature shui kueh and chee cheong fun are now available at major 7-Eleven outlets in Singapore.
Jian Bo Shui Kueh is a Singapore home-grown heritage brand selling traditional local food. Established in 1958, the brand has delighted Singaporeans from all walks of life with its robustly flavoured shui kueh dish – Steamed rice cakes with preserved radish and dried chilli paste as toppings.
7-Eleven convenience patrons can now enjoy their favourite local food at any time of the day. The convenience store chain, which is currently running its Hawker Fiesta Series, has turned the chain into a neighbour store for local fares.
The chain is also offering two herbal teas under the Haus Brew series during the hot months – Prunella (Xia Gu Cao) tea with Brown Sugar and Honey Chrysanthemum Tea.
Singapore’s Sunbird Brewing has launched the new Mango Bingsu Cold IPA. The latest brew draws its inspiration from the popular Korean street dessert bingsu. Mango Bingsu Cold IPA is brewed with an intermingling of mango, apricots and a sprinkle of spice and vanilla. Now, we are seeing K-food influencing the craft beer segment.
Wyeth Nutrition has recently launched the new and improved ENERCAL PLUS (adult nutrition), which is specially formulated with High Protein Blend to help build and repair muscle tissues to support strength. It is enriched with Prebiotic FOS to support digestion.
The new formula also comes with a less sweet taste, with 26% less sucrose as compared to the previous formula.
Malaysian sauce manufacturer Yakin Sedap has launched a new range of halal-certified Japanese sauces in the local market in collaboration with Japan’s Fundokin Shoyu Co Ltd. Yakin has a joint venture with AFC Co., Ltd., the strategic overseas business subsidiary of Fundokin Soy Sauce Co., Ltd., under the name Fundokin Yakin Sdn Bhd. The joint venture was set up in 2019 with its address in Rawang, Selangor.
The four JAKIM-certified halal sauces comprise the following items:
Click here for other halal-registered sauces under Fundokin Yakin on the JAKIM portal.
AFC plans to use Fundokin Yakin as a manufacturing base in the Southeast Asian market to actively develop and sell Japanese-quality seasonings in the ASEAN region based on the concept of “Made by Japan, Made in Malaysia.”
We have seen Japanese/South Korean companies taking a similar approach of partnering with local Malaysian companies to produce halal-certified sauces/seasonings for the local market and using Malaysia as the springboard to tap the wider Muslim market in other regions.
Vietnam’s TH Group has added two more SKUs under its TH true Juice Milk range. The new juice milk drink (300ml) are Natural Blueberry and Natural Banana.
The TH true Juice Milk Natural Blueberry features fresh cow milk (20%), sucrose, apple juice from apple juice concentrate and blueberry fruit compound (0.5%), natural flavourings. The TH true Juice Milk Natural Banana contains fresh cow milk (15%), sucrose, apple juice from apple juice concentrate and banana puree (1%), natural flavourings etc.
Natural Blueberry delivers 0.6 of protein/100ml, while Natural Banana has 0.5g of protein/100ml.
The existing range comprises Natural Strawberry Juice Milk Drink and Natural Orange Juice Milk Drink.
Mayora’s Le Minerale bottled mineral water has been launched in Malaysia. The company describes the product as ‘volcanic mineral water’ with the source of the mineral water coming from volcanic mountains in Indonesia.
Other positive attributes of Le Minerale include:
As companies push forward with their sustainability agenda, we feel having the shrink-wrapped caps is a move backwards.
In Peninsula Malaysia, Le Minerale 600 ml and 1.5L are priced at RM 1.25 and RM 2.50 respectively, with pricing for East Malaysia at RM 1.50 and RM3.00 respectively.
For comparison purposes, Bleu Mineral Water (1.5L) is priced at RM 1.95 at AEON Big, Spritzer Mineral Water (1.25L) at RM 3.45, Cactus Mineral Water (1.5L) at RM 1.39 and AEON Big private label mineral water (1.5L) at RM 1.05.
Milo Mindvibe, which was launched in Vietnam, is an interesting Milo drink with a peppermint flavour. This shelf stable drink targets youths by providing them with ingredients like green tea, taurine, zinc and B vitamins to help them focus especially for studying. Milo Mindvibe also has malt and protein to provide the energy to fuel their active lifestyle.
Universal Robina Corp (URC) has partnered with Asahi Beverages Philippines (ABP) and a move that marks URC’s entry into the cultured milk segment in the Philippines. The Goodday cultured milk, which contains Lactobacillus Paracasei MCC1849 to help improve immunity, was first launched in the Philippines in 2020. This strain is also known to help prevent the common cold, promote production of antibodies and enhance the effects of certain vaccines.
Having URC on board will accelerate the go-to-market of Goodday cultured milk where the drink will be made available in all of URC’s distribution networks across the country.
Goodday cultured milk is competing directly with Yakult and Dutch Mill Delight, which is distributed locally by Monde Nissin.
Dutch Mill Delight’s market share fell to 18% in 2021 from 26% in 2020 due to supply chain issue as a result of COVID-19-related manpower shortages in the Dutch Mill factory in Thailand. Dutch Mill Delight is still the number two player in the category with a market share of 20.8% in the second quarter of 2022, according to Nielsen data.
