Colorful Consumption

‘Super grains’ might take flight, albeit gradually, in the region. White bread remains largely popular in the market, although unpolished rice is a staple food in some Asian regions.

There has been a growing focus on health and wellness issues that are driving trends and developments in Asia Pacific’s food industry. Despite current economic uncertainties, consumers in the region generally continue to have higher disposable incomes; lead hectic lifestyles; live in crowded conditions; and put on more weight.

Rising affluence and increasing sophistication have also led to more health conscious consumers who are willing to purchase products that are beneficial to their health. They seek food and beverage that contain vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

According to Euromonitor International, the global fortified/functional soft drink market in 2007 reported a 10% growth in current value terms. This could be the result of high penetration rates in many developed and developing countries. Here are some trends today.

Super fruits and grains ‘Super fruits’ has been a buzzword in the industry for two to three years now. They refer to common and rare fruits with high levels of nutrients (typically antioxidants). The growing list of super fruits includes blueberry, cranberry, wolfberry, acai, noni and more recently, pomegranate, mangosteen and seabuckthorn.

Generally, the super fruits trend was slow to pick up in the Asia- Pacific region. When compared with the US and the UK, the hype about cranberry, pomegranate and mangosteen, for example, is muted and slower to attract consumers here. While pomegranate juice was the rage in the West two years ago, it was only in 2007-2008 that Asia Pacific saw increasing consumption of similar products.

In Thailand, ready-to-drink (RTD) green tea manufacturer, Oishi Group, launched Seiki Pomegranate in April 2007. In Singapore, a range of beverages incorporating pomegranate such as Fruit Tree Pomegranate Cranberry Apple juice and Pokka Pomegranate juice drink was launched during the same period.

One reason for the slow rate of product launches with super fruits is that these fruit are native to the region. The Chinese, for example, are well acquainted with the health benefits of the super fruit wolfberry.

Consumers’ familiarity with these super fruits has, therefore, resulted in a lack of ‘exoticism’ in such fruit. In addition, many Asian countries have rich cultures that subscribe to traditional remedies that utilize herbs, fruit and other natural ingredients. These factors challenge food and beverage manufacturers in their efforts to hype the ‘super’ nature of such fruit.

However, ‘super grains’ might take flight, albeit gradually, in the region. White bread remains largely popular in the market, although unpolished rice is a staple food in some Asian regions. In the West, and even in Australasia, the waning popularity of the Atkins diet fad (of meat), and the popular low glycaemic index (GI) diet, has resulted in consumers being more aware of the benefi ts of lightly processed grain. Such grain diets are considered healthy and nutritious. More slimming centers in Asia indicate a trend for healthy bodies. In such a scenario, manufacturers could drum up characteristics of alternative, healthy grain such as amaranth, buckwheat, kamut, millet, quinoa and spelt.

Color, functional ingredients
Natural ingredients such as epigallocatechins, lutein, and betacarotene are usually extracted from plants and marketed as

“possessing an array of health benefi ts”. This indicates the current “nutritionism” trend that views food as vehicles for “healthy” or “unhealthy” substances for the body.

Unless armed with a degree in biochemistry, the average consumer would be overwhelmed with information on what constitutes “a healthy diet”. Nutritionists are therefore promoting a back-to-basics approach by advising consumers to eat “foods of many different colors” (i.e. a wide variety of fruit and vegetables) daily.

Fruit and vegetables obtain their colors from pigments such as the carotenoids, lycopene and lutein. These pigments are commercialized in dietary supplements, but are not as successful in packaged food as functional ingredients. This is because despite extensive research, there is no conclusive evidence that a plant pigment taken in isolation in large amounts would result in health benefits. Legislators are therefore not generally in favor of permitting health claims for such products.

Fruit and vegetables obtain their colors from pigments such as the carotenoids, lycopene and lutein.

Research suggests that the protective properties of plant compounds could only come to the fore if they are consumed with their “host” fruit or vegetable. When eaten whole, this natural cocktail of plant chemicals posts more nutrition than consuming an isolated compound. Plant pigments such as carotenoids tend to survive well during processing, and they become more bioavailable once the cell walls of the plant are broken down by cooking.

This prompted Heinz to market its tomato ketchup as rich in lycopene, for example. In Asia, there have been a series of product launches centering on tomatoes and their lycopene content following the SARS outbreak in 2003. Asahi Breweries and Kagome launched Tomate, a canned tomato-based cocktail (5% alcohol by volume [abv]) in September 2007. Tomate uses Lylyco tomatoes from Kagome that reportedly have high lycopene content. Kagome’s reverse osmosis technology is used to help retain taste and nutrition content of the tomato juice obtained.

In that same year, Unilever launched a new range of Knorr Eat in Colour dehydrated soups in Western Europe in a bid to rejuvenate the ailing dehydrated soup sector. The fi ve variants with key ingredients are:

• Red soup – tomato, red pepper, red apple and beetroot,
• Yellow soup – pumpkin, sweet corn, apricot, curry spices,
• White soup – caulifl ower, asparagus, leek, onion,
• Green soup – spinach, green beans, peas, and
• Orange soup – pumpkin, carrot, orange.

Super fruits such as the mangosteen refer to common and rare fruits with high levels of nutrients (typically antioxidants). The growing list of super fruits includes pomegranate and seabuckthorn.

As consumers generally perceive chilled and UHT soups to be fresher and healthier than dehydrated soups, Unilever emphasized on the colors and nutrient content of its range of dehydrated soups.

Japan has seen a series of product launches, particularly for beverages, centering on the color theme. Kagome, for example, has the Yasai Seikatsu 100 range of red (berry mix flavor); yellow (mango flavor) and purple (grape flavor) vegetables juice products. Japan and South Korea have also seen the popularity of “black food” such as black soybeans, black rice and black sesame biscuits with claims of lowering cholesterol and weight control.

Manufacturers in the Asia Pacific region could likewise consider incorporating colors as part of their marketing strategies for their products. However, it will be necessary to ensure that these colors remain natural in their products as consumers usually frown on synthetic colors as being artificial.

Outlook
Healthful ingredients resulting from the development of fortified products is expected to grow in the Asia Pacific over the next five years. Coca-Cola, for example, launched a new variant in June 2008 – Coca-Cola plus Vitamin – in Japan. This Japanese counterpart of Diet Coke Plus or Coca-Cola Light Plus in the West is said to have no calories and claims to contain vitamin C that meets 81% of one’s required daily intake. Such product innovation could fuel consumer demand for healthier and beneficial products.

www.euromonitor.com

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More 'Super' Ingredients

Besides super grains and fruits, manufacturers could consider two ingredients – citrulline and omega-3 – to produce fortified and functional foods.

Citrulline
Derived from the watermelon, citrulline is an amino acid that could help to reduce muscle fatigue. Citrulline is already used in Japan’s sports drinks (Asahi’s Citrulline Water) and gum (Lotte’s Citrulline Gum).

Omega-3
Omega-3 remains largely confi ned to health supplements in the Asia Pacifi c region. With an ageing population in developed markets such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, manufacturers could incorporate Omega-3 into their products and market them as ‘brain’ food and drink.

In the West, dairy products and spreadable oils and fat contain Omega-3. Unilever’s Rama Idee! brand of spreadable oils and fat was launched in Western Europe in 2006. Rich in Omega-3 and claiming to boast a fat content of only 39%, it contains Vitamin B. A similar product would do well in Asian markets, coupled with an appropriate educational campaign.