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Vitasoy gets Filipinos to enjoy soy with new Vitasoy Plus Milky

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Vitasoy Plus Milky has been launched in the Philippines in early 2020. The extra milky taste is to win the hearts of non-soy milk drinkers. In the social media postings, Vitasoy Plus Milky is described as “can’t believe Vitasoy Plus Milky is soy milk? That’s how deliciously creamy it is.”

Vitasoy’s approach is clever as it uses the deliciously creamy and milky taste approach to win existing and new consumers wary of the taste of soy to the plant-based category.

Nestle Malaysia gives Nescafe coffee in chilled cup a new look

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Nestle Malaysia has upgraded the packaging of its Nescafe coffee in chilled cup with a stronger focus on single origin. On the side of the new packaging comes the map of Brazil and the word “single origin” accompanied by an asterisk. Unfortunately, the brand misses the chance to explain in depth what is single origin or pinpoint the province or exact location where the coffee beans come from.

Image credit: Minimeinsights.com

Nescafe describes the drink as “coffee beans, grounded, blended and brewed to make a perfect espresso balanced with rich creamy milk. Not too strong, not too creamy, made just right with love.” Nescafe Smooth Cappucino and Caramel Machiato are crafted for indulgence.

Nestle adopts the strategy of selling different variants exclusively at different convenience store chain. The Barista-styled signature cup made from selected single origin Brazilian coffee beans Nescafe Caramel Machiato is available at myNEWS.com, while the Nescafe Smooth Cappucino is sold at 7-Eleven at RM 6.90 per cup.

Nescafe Smooth Cappuccino at myNEWS.com. Image credit: Minimeinsights.com

Taro mala + salted egg fish snack is an interesting flavour combination

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Taro, the fish snack brand in Thailand, has combined two popular flavours salted egg and mala to create its latest Mala Salted Egg Taro Fish Snack. Also launched is the Hot & Spicy Grilled Squid Flavoured Fish Snack. The combination of the spicy mala with the savoury salted egg is something a few other snack brands such as Signature Market and Crusty’s are doing but is still not widely adopted.

Chitato potato chips delivers the crunch in popular martabak

By
Tan Heng Hong
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The mashup concept is a growing trend in Indonesia as consumers want brands to deliver more excitement to the eating experience. To position Chitato potato chips as a crunchy and savoury topping in the popular Indonesian street food martabak, Indofood has recently collaborated with Martabakku Menteng.

The new Chitato Time Spicy Chicken and Chitato Time Beef BBQ creations are martabak or stuffed pancake filled added with a layer of melted mozzarella cheese topped with Chitato chips.

Various sweet ingredients from leading brands such as Oreo, Ovomaltine and Nutella have already become popular martabak toppings in Indonesia. With the new Chitato Time menu, Indofood hopes to showcase and encourage more foodservice players to incorporate Chitato chips as foodservice ingredients.

Indofood recruits agents to sell Singapore ice cream sandwich in Indonesia

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Indofood is recruiting individuals to become their Espressia Agent in Indonesia. The business model is simple, Espessia Agent just need to sell Espressia Es Potong. The Singaporean styled ice cream sandwich is an ice cream wrapped in a piece of bread. Consumers can enjoy the iconic Singapore ice cream sandwich without having to travel all the way to the island nation.

Espessia Agent sets Indofood apart from the other ice cream players where Indofood’s ice cream vendor is mobile, which means the vendor can reach out to consumers wherever there are. As a comparison, the business model of Aice is stationery. Aice vendors only sells ice cream from the freezer. However, Espessia Agent appears to sell only one type of ice cream but this could possibly change.

Image from Indofood Ice Cream Instagram

Indofood is also reaching out to more consumers by focusing on home party to sell its Tam Tam ice cream in a cup. The freezer is included as part of the package.

Image from Indofood Ice Cream Instagram

Ichitan 2019 performance improved, outlines plans for 2020

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Thai RTD tea producer Ichitan has reported a 2.5% year-on-year rise in revenue in 2019, signalling the company has reversed the decline in revenue sustained in the past. This comes following the recovery of RTD tea sales in Thailand.

Net profit surged 830% year-on-year thanks to reduced losses from investment in joint venture, which refers mainly to its Indonesia operation, and lower finance cost, distribution cost and a tight lid on cost of goods sold.

Data from Nielsen Retail Audit shows the Thai RTD tea market rose marginally by 3.1% year-in-year in sales value and 2% in sales volume in 2019, the first positive recovery in sales value since 2014.

By sub-category, the market is driven by mainstream (+6.7% in value) and premium (+21.8% in value). Herbal tea and tea+nata coco both fell by over 10% in value, which suggest consumers are going for more premium and lower sugar variants. Ichitan’s Shizuoka premium tea grew by 78%, giving it the pole position in premium tea. International sales fell 26.6%.

The company has disclosed its innovation pipeline for the coming few months in the latest 4Q Opportunity Day presentation.

Ichitan also disclosed it has entered into a new category in January 2020 with RTD coffee priced at THB 10 for Makro and traditional trade. For the OEM market, Cocoburi, debuted in February 2020 is aimed at modern trade and convenience store selling at THB 25 per 350ml bottle. Cocoburi for the China market is priced at RMB 10 per 350ml bottle. Bing Zu is another OEM product for China and comes in two variants – Green Tea Honey Lemon and Green Tea Original.

The company is also moving into the sugar confectionery segment with Yen Yen Cool mint.

In Indonesia, Ichitan forecasts sales to grow by 21% in 2020 (2019: +52%). Sales are expected to be driven by the general trade. By SKU, Ichitan Thai Milk Coffee (TMC), first launched in 2019, saw contributed a significant share of revenue in 2019. Thai Milk Tea (TMT) continues to have the biggest share of sales. The Thai tea series have already surpassed sals of existing Ichitan SKUs like honey lemon. Thai Mango Coconut will be fourth product in the series.

In 2020, Ichitan will expand into three new overseas markets Malaysia, Philippines and Brunei and will enlarge its city coverage in Indonesia to 68 from 31 (2019).

Indonesian president gives credence to jamu to fight COVID-19

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Image from Tempo

Indonesia is likely to be the only country in the world where its top leader President Joko Widodo would dispense remedy during the spread of COVID-19. As reported by the media, he has been consuming a mixture of lemongrass, red ginger (jahe merah), turmeric and curcuma three times a day since the spread of the virus. He made the statement at the opening speech of the 2nd Asian Agriculture and Food Forum (ASAFF) on 12 March 2020.

He also added that prices of red ginger, turmeric and curcuma have increased by 3-5 times and advised Indonesians to grow the herbs themselves.

Jamu, the Indonesian herbal concoction, is the largest winner during the pandemic season. Indonesians are familiar with jamu as it has been consumed for generations to improve health and boost immunity.

President Joko Widodo’s statement has been turned into an advertorial on CNN Indonesia to promote Bejo Jahe Merah, a herbal supplement with red ginger, mint and other ingredients, made by Bintang Toedjoe, a unit of Kalbe Farma.

Following the outbreak of the virus, pharmaceutical company Kalbe Farma has increased production of herbal supplement made from red ginger by around 50% to meet rising demand, said Kalbe Farma’s president director Vidjongtius. Apart from Bejo, other products from Kalbe Farma such as Komix Herbal has also associated itself a supplement to ward off COVID-19 with red ginger as its active ingredient.

At the time of writing, there is still no cure for COVID-19.

Doi Kham launches new HPP juice

By
Tan Heng Hong
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Doi Kham, founded 40 years ago by the Crown Property Bureau of Thailand, has unveiled High Pressure Processing (HPP) juice offering various health benefits. The price is THB 9 per 250ml bottle. There are five variants to choose from.

These HPP juices help to strengthen the immune system, enhance skin complexion, improve the digestive system and slow down cell degeneration thanks to the use of fruits and vegetables containing chlorophyll, fiber, beta carotene, vitamin C , anthocyanin, gingerol and catechin. Among the ingredients are beetroot, mulberry, lychee, celery, pineapple, pomegranate, pumpkin and ginger.

The HPP technology preserves the vitamins and nutrients in the vegetables and fruits. Doi Kham developed the HPP juice in collaboration with the Department of Nutrition Faculty of Public Health Mahidol University.

The HPP juice comes at an opportune time as consumers are increasingly looking at ways to improve their immunity as the spread of COVID-19 remains unabated.

According to TSUS Febix Foodtech Co., Ltd., the number of HPP machines installed in Thailand has risen from just 2 in 2004 to more than 16 today with most of them concentrating in the Bangkok region and in the coconut district. BEEP is a successful HPP player from Thailand that has found fame in overseas market including in Singapore. Apart from having a standard size drink, BEEP also released a range of nutri-shots in 2019.

Microplus is another player that has recently introduced a shot drink made from sprouted broccoli, wheat grass, red amaranth and sunflower.

Image from High Pressure Processing Thailand

Coca-Cola Thailand brings back ‘Share a Coke’ campaign

By
Tan Heng Hong
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The Coca-Cola system in Thailand has brought back the ‘Share A Coke’ campaign, inviting Thai consumers to share ‘Coke’ products and enrich relationships among friends, family and loved ones throughout the summer. According to the press release, “summer is always special for Thai people – especially during the Songkran holidays, which is an occasion for everyone to share good times and good feelings with each other.”

There will be a ‘Share A Coke Challenge’ to be launched in partnership with the TikTok application on 14 March 2020. ‘Coca-Cola’ has also released a special theme song called ‘Where is My Name?’, performed by the well-known teen hip-hop artist UrboyTJ. The campaign also includes state-of-the-art out-of-home media in the heart of Bangkok along with a daily ‘Light and Sound Show’ at CentralWorld Connect.

Coca-Cola is also working with a number of leading retailers across the country to arrange ‘Share A Coke’ roaming booth activities in which consumers can design and customize ‘Coke’ cans in their own unique ways. In addition, consumers can also order a set of three Coke’ cans printed with their chosen names and personalized messages that come in a limited edition retro ‘Coke’ refrigerator boxset and will be available only through leading e-commerce operators i.e. Lazada, JD, Tops Online and Shopee from 18 March 2020 onwards.

Nielsen Thailand’s Retail Index shows the total value of sparkling soft drink category in Thailand in 2019 was valued at over THB 56 billion, up 11.7% from the previous year. Within this category, the cola segment was the largest with estimated value of around THB 40 billion and a growth rate of 12.9%. Coca-Cola is the leading brand in the cola segment within the sparkling soft drink category share of 35.7%.

The Coca-Cola system in Thailand consists of Coca-Cola (Thailand) Limited as the brand proprietor responsible for marketing activities, and its two local bottling partners – ThaiNamthip Ltd responsible for 63 provinces around Thailand and HaadThip Public Company Ltd serving 14 southern provinces.

New MAGGI Mi Goreng celebrating Malaysian spicy flavours – Sambal Tumis Bilis and Cili ala Kampung

By
Tan Heng Hong
-

In honour of the local spicy flavours, Nestle Malaysia has rolled out two new MAGGI spicy instant noodles featuring the taste of Malaysia. The new MAGGI fried noodle (mi goreng) consists of Sambal Tumis Bilis (Anchovies Sambal) and Cili ala Kampung (Kampung Style Chili). Both comes with fried onions.

MAGGI Mi Goreng Sambal Tumis Bilis (5x75g) and MAGGI Mi Goreng Cili ala Kampung (5x78g) are respectively priced at RM 6.15. Click here to buy Sambal Tumis Bilis and here to purchase Cili ala Kampung on the official Nestle store on Lazada.

Separately, Nestle has made available MAGGI Sambal Tumis paste. According to Nestle, “sambal is a very important part of Malaysian cuisine, and even a staple food (must have) for many. However, the process of making sambal at home requires a lot of work– peeling, chopping onions, garlic, chili and then blending the ingredients together. The challenging part is also the process of sautéing (tumis) until ‘pecah minyak’

So there is a strong opportunity for new MAGGI Pes Sambal Tumis that is already cooked and made with fresh ingredients and tastes authentic like homemade.”

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