The citrus-flavored soft drink Kickapoo has two new limited edition flavours in Malaysia. The two new flavours are Pink Grapefruit and Citrus Burst. The drink in a 320ml can comes with a promotional price of RM 2.30 and is available at 7-Eleven outlets nationwide. The promotional period is from 31 December 2019 to 26 January 2020.
Whey To Go is a low-sugar, low-calorie bubble milk tea outfit that has garnered a lot of attention in Indonesia in recent months. Located at Lippo Mall Puri in West Jakarta, Whey To Go offers consumers with a healthier bubble milk tea that is sweetened with stevia and high in protein thanks to the addition of pure whey isolate.
To allay consumer concern about calories, Whey To Go has adopted full disclosure of its calorie, sugar and protein content in the menu. The company is uniquely positioned to attract weight watchers and consumers who need the protein boost.
At Whey To Go, consumers have a choice of four toppings from calorie-free shira-bites made from konjac yam to the decadent Oreo that comes with 93 calories.
Whey To Go uses V-Soy Multi Grain Soy Milk as its non-dairy option and Diamond Milk Full Cream and Frisian Flag Purefarm Coconut Delight as its choice of milk.
As of 28 November 2019, the company has sold 4 out of 10 franchise slots as it aims to expand its footprint.
Whey To Go has the potential to grow. It has so far achieved a balance between taste and health with a low calorie, fat and sugar formulation without sacrificing taste.
Taokaenoi Food & Marketing Public Company Limited has introduced in Thailand the new Good Day Fried Seaweed with 50% less salt and no MSG. Available in Classic Sea Salt and Spicy Sea Salt flavours, the new fried seaweed is aimed at offering consumers with a low-salt option. The use of bran oil also gives the fried seaweed snack a stronger health credential as the word fry does give a negative connotation.
Competitor Masita has already launched MSG-free seaweed snacks in the first quarter of 2019.
Meanwhile, Taokaenoi announced it would launch Bubble Milk Tea Crispy Seaweed and three mala snacks – Big Roll Grilled Seaweed, Mala Bing Bang and Mala Crispy Seaweed in Singapore. Both bubble milk tea and mala flavours resonate with consumers not only in Singapore but also other consumers in the region. Singapore contributed 2% towards Taokaenoi’s annual revenue in 2018.
Singha Corporation, which sells Masita seaweed snacks, has introduced Masita Fun extruded snack as the brand moves beyond the competitive seaweed snack segment. The flavours of the new Masita Fun corn snack rings are Korean Style Seaweed and Extreme Cheddar Cheese.
The seaweed snack market is competitive and faces high production cost. Even market leader Taokaenoi Food & Marketing Public Company Limited has developed non-seaweed categories like My Whey and Hinoya Curry. For the first nine months of 201, Taokaenoi reported a mere 2.5% year-on-year increase in domestic revenue with a fall of 0.5% year-on-year recorded during the third quarter of 2019. Taokaenoi’s sales can be quite dependent on Chinese tourist arrivals.
To compete with Taokaenoi on health, Singha introduced 0% MSG formula for five of its Masita flavours – original, spicy, spicy Korean barbecue, larb and tomyum in early 2019.
Now, the entry into the non-seaweed snack market allows Masita to capture opportunities in other snacking categories.
Thailand’s Vichwai Group, the maker of Taste’n Time ready-to-eat nutritional pudding, milk pudding and fruit smoothie, has launched the ready-to-drink (RTD) version called Nutridrink. The RTD Nutridrink flavoured milk drink is available in two flavours – strawberry and chocolate.
Taste’n Time Nutridrink Chocolate contains omega 3, DHA, choline, calcium, vitamin D, fibre and MCT oil to provide the essential nutrients for children to support growth.
Taste’n Time Nutridrink Strawberry is aimed at women as a meal replacement drink for weight control. The drink in a pouch contains white kidney bean extract, chitosan, green tea extract, calcium, fibre and vitamin A and E.
Meal replacement is a category to watch in 2020 as it is a portable and convenient option for an on-the-go meal as well as control the calorie intake and lose weight.
30 December 2019, Singapore – Janice Wong is celebrating Chinese New Year with an exciting collection of festive treats available exclusively from now until the end of January 2020. To welcome in the auspicious year of the rat, Wong and her team have created an array of new year confections, many of which have a twist on the much-loved classics of this festive new year holiday.
Perfect for the season of giving, this year’s offering sees the return of Janice Wong’s Chinese New Year Hampers. Filled with an assortment of cookies and treats, the hampers are available in three limited-edition options. The 6 Cookie Jars (S$168) and 9 Cookie Jars (S$238) features items such as Chocolate Pineapple Tarts, Kueh Bangkit and Shrimp Rolls, while the 5 Cookie Jars & 4 Teas set (S$238) includes cookie jar items, Pineapple Flower Tarts, Pineapple Balls, and four selections of tea such as Rose Marzipan and Crème Brulee.
(Above: Assortment of Janice Wong Chinese New Year cookies)
This year also sees the introduction of Chinese New Year exclusive Chocolate 40g Bars in two flavours, Mandarin Orange and Hae Bee Hiam. Each dark chocolate bar has been beautifully hand-crafted and decorated with a splash of festive colour, infused with Mandarin Orange or Hae Bee Hiam bits for texture and a punch of flavour. Additionally, the chocolate bars are packaged with a Chinese New Year greeting card, so customers can pen down a message for loved ones.
Individually packaged seasonable offerings are also available in single cookie jars, which include Chocolate Coated Love Letters (S$18) and Chocolate Coated Pineapple Tarts (S$32). Exclusive to these single cookie jars is the new Hae Bee Hiam Cookie, along with Janice Wong Singapore’s CNY signatures Chocolate Bakkwa Cookie and Pork Floss Bakkwa Cookie, with prices starting from S$18.
Chocolate Coated Nuts and Fruit Jellies (S$58) come in nine different flavours, including Mandarin, Apricot, Cassis, Strawberry, Apple, and Raspberry. The chocolate-coated nuts and crispies are perfect for Chinese New Year gatherings amongst friends and family during the season of giving and reunion.
Finally, to top off the CNY collection in the year of the rat, Janice Wong introduces a CNY Special Mr Rat Chocolate (S$32 a pair) for 2020 – a playful chocolate rat with surprise fillings of cocoa almonds to usher in the Lunar New Year.
All items are now available for orders online and in store.
Wise Cottage Fries by BJC Foods has released what is known as the Tomato Ketchup Prosperity Chips. We wonder since when is tomato is associated with prosperity? Well Wise Cottage Fries is bringing this product into the Malaysian market as a limited time offering for the upcoming Chinese New Year (CNY) in 2020.
The taste of Wise Cottage Fries Tomato Ketchup Prosperity Chips is sweet as opposed to Mister Potato’s CNY range, which is spicy.
Snack manufacturers have started to crack their head to think of the next CNY flavour or even Hari Raya flavour for 2021 that would appeal to consumers.
Let us suggest 3 Rasa (sweet, sour and spicy) for Hari Raya in 2020 and Yee Sang’s sweet, tangy and savory flavour for CNY in 2021?
Spritzer, Malaysia’s top mineral water producer, has revamped its BonRica Fibre drink designed for optimal intestinal functions into BonRica Fibre Day. A bottle of BonRica Fibre Day Yogurt (350ml) provides 38% of the daily need for phosphorus, 12% for magnesium and 18% for potassium. The other flavour in the range is passion fruit.
BonRica’s previous packaging design emphasizes the fibre content with the 6g of fibre message clearly communicated on pack. The redesigned packaging now stresses the word “Fibre Day”, which probably implies the need for a daily boost of fibre. Also included on pack are cues for digestive health including the graphic of the intestine.
Spritzer has also extended the BonRica sub-brand into electrolyte or sports drink. The new BonRica Hydrate Day contains electrolyte to rehydrate and restore lost fluids. The two flavours are orange and lemon-lime. The total sugar is 4g/100ml with sugar and stevia as the sweeteners.
In Indonesia, Nestle has launched three interesting Nescafe RTD latte flavours, which is a stepped up from its previous fruity flavour innovation – yuzu and coconut. The latest Choco Banana Latte, Honey Latte and Eclair Latte flavours are known as the Latte-Licious flavours.
Eclair, an oblong pastry made with choux dough filled with a cream and topped with chocolate icing, is an interesting flavour for RTD coffee.
The new Nescafe RTD latte uses PET bottle (220ml), an ideal packaging format for on-the-go consumption.
Nescafe’s latest choice of flavours show the coffee brand is willing to experiment with unique flavour combinations to reach out to young consumers in Indonesia.
The iconic White Rabbit candy is now available as a flavoured milk and can be purchased from 7-Eleven in Singapore. The Bright Dairy White Rabbit Flavoured Milk first appeared in China in July 2019 and has successfully whet consumer appetite for the nostalgic candy wrapped in the famous white, red and blue wrappers. The milk candy first appeared in the 1940s and is exported overseas as well.
Outside of China, the appearance of White Rabbit bubble tea and White Rabbit ice cream has reignited consumer appetite for the White Rabbit milk candy and related products. This is where White Rabbit flavoured milk launched jointly by Bright Dairy and Guan Sheng Yuan (冠生园) comes into the focus.
Bright Dairy’s competitors Mengniu and Yili have already entered the region but not Bright Dairy. The flavoured milk provides a good platform for China’s Bright Dairy to build a bridgehead into the overseas market particularly into Southeast Asia.
