Beyond Meat Sausages now at S&R Membership Shopping
S&R Membership Shopping in the Philippines has made available Beyond Meat Sausage. Beyond Meat Sausage are plant-based and gluten-free and are available in Hot Italian and Original flavours.
Lay’s now has Pizza Hut as its collaborative partner in Thailand
After partnering with KFC in Thailand, Lay’s is now collaborating with Pizza Hut to launch a new range of co-branded potato chips. The new Lay’s x Pizza Hut potato chips comprise 2 variants – Cheese Pizza and Seafood Cheese Pizza. The packaging features the iconic Pizza Hut logo accompanied by the pizza chain’s famous hotline number 1150.
To celebrate the launch, Pizza Hut has announced a special surprise for 99 lucky winners to try the new collaboration before the official launch on 22 October 2020.
We have seen how Lay’s has teamed up with KFC to launch Lay’s Chicky Chips. The Pizza Hut x Lay’s pizza – Pizza Hut’s “Lay’s Crunchy Triple Crust” – will likely to be an interesting combination.
New Sealect canned tuna with Japanese soup
T-Holding’s Sealect brand has recently introduced canned tuna in Japanese soup. T-Holding is the producer and distributor of Sealect’s shelf stable tuna under Thai Union.
This Sealect Large Tuna Flake in Japanese Soup can serve as an inspiration for other canned seafood producers to incorporate more gourmet-type base for tuna flakes as an alternative to oil, spring water or brine.
However, Sealect Large Tuna Flake in Japanese Soup also came under criticism by some consumers who claimed the Japanese soup is full of oil. The broth does contain healthy sunflower oil.
DyDo transferred loss-making DyDo DRINCO Malaysia to third party
Japan’s DyDo Group Holdings announced on 15 October 2020 that it has transferred its shares in its consolidated soft drink subsidiary DyDo DRINCO Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (DDM) to a third party. DyDo cited the poor performance of DDM as the key reason for divesting DDM to Singapore-based Lingua Franca Holdings Pte. Ltd., a company with a successful track record of investment in Malaysia and Singapore. Lingua Franca operates an M&A consulting and trading businesses in Southeast Asia.
DyDo bought a stake in the soft drink maker DDM from Mamee at the end of 2015. In 2019, DyDo dissolved the joint venture in Malaysia to make a fresh start. DDM currently produces BeFine yogurt drinks and Vida carbonated soft drinks.
Despite the best efforts by DyDo to restructure DDM, DDM as a business has not been performing to expectation.
As part of the share transfer to Lingua Franca, DyDo will forgive all loans and uncollected interest owed it by DDM amounting to JPY 370 million. DyDo expects to post an extraordinary loss of about JPY 120 million in its consolidated statement of accounts for the fiscal year ending January 2021.
DyDo mentioned COVID-19 as part of the reason for the sale slump in Malaysia. Based on anecdotal evidence, the yogurt category including drinking yogurt has not been performing well in Malaysia. Moreover, carbonated soft drinks in general has been on a retreat in line with consumer shift to healthy beverages. Vida does play in the sugar-free segment but it does not have the reach and competitive pricing.
Our suggestion is to look at potential in functional water eg vitamin-enriched drinks and functional shelf stable dairy products with a mass market appeal.
The world’s first Somersby hard seltzer debuts in Singapore
Somersby has launched its first-ever Hard Seltzer range in Singapore. The launch is the brand’s first foray into Hard Seltzer worldwide. The new beverage range comes in two refreshing fruity flavours – Somersby Hard Seltzer Lime and Somersby Hard Seltzer Mango & Passionfruit; to provide a blend of coolness on a hot, sweltering day.
Image by Carlsberg SingaporeThe introduction of Somersby Hard Seltzer in Singapore is in line with the rising trend of wellness locally. Globally, the product category has garnered a loyal band of following due to a growing demand of fitness-conscious millennials, seeking alcoholic alternatives with the same indulgence but with minimal guilt for every occasion.
“We observe the increasing consumer demand for lower-calorie, lower-sugar content in consumption choices, which is why our research and development (R&D) team has come up with this innovation. Carefully crafted, Somersby Hard Seltzer combines great taste with just 99 calories and a low sugar content,” said Mr Olivier Dubost, General Manager, Carlsberg Singapore Pte Ltd.
Somersby Hard Seltzer is an alcoholic sparkling water that contains 4.5 per cent alcohol by volume (ABV) content. Each 330ml can contains not more than 99 calories and only two grams of carbohydrates, resulting in no heavy aftertaste, making it easier to drink for a longer period of time compared to usual alcoholic beverages.
The Somersby Hard Seltzer range – Somersby Hard Seltzer Lime and Somersby Hard Seltzer Mango & Passionfruit, is now retailing at $11.90 (3 x 330ml pack) at all major supermarkets, hypermarkets, convenience stores, petrol marts and online at your preferred e-commerce platforms.
Visit Somersby Singapore’s Facebook page to learn more about the newest member of the Somersby family on www.facebook.com/SomersbySG.
KFC China ready-to-cook KaiFengCai launched
KFC China has unveiled KaiFengCai, a new range of ready-to-cook meals, at selected KFC outlets in China. KaiFengCai is seen as a move by KFC to pivot towards retail offering to capture the shift in consumer behaviour to more in-home meal consumption. The KaiFengCai range features chicken as the key source of protein.
The US fast food giant launched the chicken breast series on 12 October 2020 and the chicken soup range on 19 October 2020. The luosifen noodle products will debut on 26 October 2020. Luosifen (螺蛳粉) is a trending Chinese noodle soup, which is a specialty of Liuzhou in Guangxi, China. Some describe luosifen as the stinkiest noodle. Luosifen is made of snail-based broth, rice noodles and additional ingredients.
KFC will introduce the fried rice series on 9 November 2020.
Malee introduces seasonal juices from Aomori under Malee In Season
The Thai juice maker Malee has unveiled an interesting juice. Malee In Season 100% Aomori Apple Juice taps into the power of provenance to deliver quality Japanese juice to Thai consumers. Aomori is a region in Japan known for the greatest production of the Fuji variety.
To support the launch of Malee In Season, Malee has come up with its first animated commercial film “Aomori no Kitsetsu” to bring back the sweet memories of Aomori. The launch also coincided with Thailand’s rainy season. For some, rainy day does bring out lots of memories and this is perfectly expressed by the tagline “some moments only happen in season.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoWLObeDMg8
Apart from the commercial, Malee also has a special music that delivers the atmosphere and the aura of Japan combined with the picture of the rainy season in Thailand.
https://www.facebook.com/MaleeSociety/videos/351974916222886
The launch of the Malee seasonal juices comes at the right time as travel is disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, there is a demand for things that allow consumers to travel through food. Moreover, the success of Ichitan and Oishi with their Japanese-inspired RTD tea does demonstrate that provenance work given the right marketing.
Thai Union forms new joint venture to produce nutritious food and beverage
Thai Union Group (TU), the seafood processing giant from Thailand, announced on 6 October 2020 that has invested into a new joint venture called Food and Beverage United Company Limited. The joint venture with BevTech Company Limited is to engage in product development, production, and distribution of “nutritious food and beverage products under brand or trademark of Food and Beverage United Co. Ltd.” ThaiBev is the technology and engineer arm of BevTech Co., Ltd.
BevTech Company Limited holds a 51% stake in the new joint venture, while Thai Union subsidiary Thai Union Ingredients Company Limited holds the remaining 49%.
The formation of the new joint venture followed earlier announcement by Thai Union to invest in Alchemy Foodtech Pte. Ltd., a Singapore-based diabetes food tech innovation company and into the Singapore-based investment fund VisVires New Protein (VVNP). Thai Union is also investing into the US-based insect tech company Manna Foods and aquaculture technology company HydroNeo.
Traditional companies are reinventing themselves to focus on alternative protein and generally into the “future food” segment for sustainable food production. This would better enable companies to better respond to future growth drivers.
Try the new Sun Su Jelly Carrageenan Mixed Konyakku
Sun Su, the brand that brought us the canned milk tea, has recently introduced Jelly Carrageenan Mixed Konyakku. The new jelly product comes in two variants. The first product contains jelly in apple and orange flavours, while the other has grape and strawberry flavours.
The jelly product by Bearhouse is free from calories. To consume, just peel off the top part and squeeze the content into the mouth.
Sun Su Jelly Carrageenan Mixed Konyakku is available at 7-Eleven in Thailand.
New Vinamilk fruit flavoured milk for children
Vinamilk has launched a new children’s fruit flavoured milk drink under the name Hero. The drink offers the goodness of milk and fruits. The concept is similar to Dutch Lady Malaysia’s Juicy Milk, which has inulin for the added fibre content.
The key selling point of Vinamilk Hero Fruit Milk drink is the delicious taste and nutritious. Vinamilk Hero contains Calcium & Vitamin D3 for strong bones, Vitamin A for brighter eyes and B vitamins to help children to always be full of energy.
Hero is available in 110ml pack.
