APFI January/February 2015

EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ON OUR WEBSITE @ APFOODONLINE ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

MCI (P) 027/11/2014 • PPS 1566/05/2013 (022945) • ISSN 0218-2734 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 VOL. 27 NO. 1

TOP 2015 CONSUMER TRENDS Find out the top trends that will influence consumers in 2015.

PUTTINGTHE SWEET INTO SUGAR-FREE

Reduce sugar content without compromising mouthfeel. p32 Cover (Final).indd 1

MAKING SOY CONVENIENT

Achieve homogeneity with the right emulsifier and stabiliser. p48

FOOD LABELS —THE CLAIM TO SUCCESS

Discover how food label may influence purchase decisions. p70 20/1/15 11:50 am

Schaefer Systems International Pte Ltd P: 65/6863 0168 路 regionalmktg@ssi-schaefer.sg 路 www.ssi-schaefer.com

3807 Schaefer Systems.indd 1

Enquiry Number

As a full range supplier of warehouse and logistics systems we support our customers in a comprehensive and straight-forward way. Irrespective of whether you decide in favour of a manual, partially or fully-automated solution. For more than 75 years, we have been designing concepts for all kinds of industries. We customise every solution to the particular requirements of our clients in a cooperative partnership. Using our many years of experience to your advantage, we will demonstrate how to make your processes more efficient.

3807

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Much more than simple technology

Melbourne - Australia 24 - 27 March

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CONTENTS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

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volume 27 no.1

Putting The Sweet Into Sugar-Free 35

Reducing Glycaemic Response With Inulin Carbohydrates are an essential food in our daily diets. More studies are now supporting the importance of reduced glycaemic response and the use of inulin and oligofructose can help achieve that as well as other health benefits.

By Diederick Meyer, Sensus

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HEALTH & NUTRITION 38

‘Discretionary fortification’ refers to the addition of vitamins and minerals to foods at the discretion of manufacturers for marketing purposes, but not as part of a planned public health intervention. As it turns out, regulating the process has been a challenge and consumers are often left to determine the benefits on their own.

By Tarasuk Valerie, University of Toronto

Discretionary Fortification— A Public Health Perspective PACKAGING & PROCESSING 24

Case-Study: Achieving Higher Output Through Sealing Technology LOTTE Wedel, a Polish confectionery has been making its best-selling Ptasie Mleczko since 1936. By investing in traysealing technology, the company was able to expand to its markets through higher output and better shelf life. By Marcel Veenstra, Sealpac

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Taking The Heat Applications in the food and beverage industry are well suited to the use of heat transfer fluids, but improper maintenance can cause a myriad of issues for process engineers. With the food and drink industry’s strict regulations, preserving the quality of heat transfer fluid is now more important than ever. By Clive Jones, Andy Burns and Dr Christopher Wright, Global Heat Transfer

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Putting The Sweet Into Sugar-Free It is no easy task to reduce sugar content while maintaining shelflife and mouthfeel. Advances in sweetener technologies have helped pave the way to healthier products that the new generation consumers crave. By Melvin Yap

Fortification Challenge In Developing Countries Despite strategies employed to tackle micronutrient malnutrition, limited progress has been achieved in developing countries. Evidence shows that the most cost-effective approaches to address symptoms of micronutrient malnutrition are targeted supplementation and/ or fortification. By Cristiana Berti and Cornelius M Smuts, North-West University, and Mieke Faber, South African Medical Research Council

Case-Study: Achieving Higher Output Through Sealing Technology

INGREDIENTS & ADDITIVES

Discretionary Fortification — A Public Health Perspective

BEVERAGES 48

Making Soy Convenient Soy beverages have been a prominent part of the Asian diet for many centuries and are becoming increasingly popular in other parts of the world as well. Success of a soy drink product depends on its homogeneity during its shelf-life, which can be achieved with the right emulsifier and stabiliser combination.

By Khoreen New, Palsgaard Asia-Pacific

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CC-0727_ConveyDump_Layout 1 6/13/14 1:55 PM Page 1

DUMP FLEXICON® Manual Dumping Stations allow dust-free dumping of bulk material from bags and other containers. Automatic reversepulse filter cleaning allows continuous, efficient operation. Available with integral bag compactors for total dust containment.

FLEXI-DISC™ Tubular Cable Conveyors gently slide fragile foods and non-foods through smooth stainless steel tubing routed horizontally, vertically or at any angle, over short or long distances, dust-free.

Single or multiple inlets and outlets.

CONDITION BLOCK-BUSTER® Bulk Bag Conditioners loosen bulk materials that have solidified during storage and shipment. Variable height turntable positions bag for hydraulic rams with contoured conditioning plates to press bag on all sides at all heights.

FILL SWING-DOWN®, REAR-POST and TWIN-CENTREPOST™ Bulk Bag Fillers can fill one bulk bag per week or 20 per hour at the lowest cost per bag. Numerous performance options.

Available to industrial or sanitary standards.

CONVEY PNEUMATI-CON Pneumatic Conveying Systems move a broad range of bulk materials over short or long distances, between single or multiple inlet and discharge points in low to high capacities.

Available as dilute-phase vacuum or positive pressure systems, fully integrated with your process.

TIP TIP-TITE Container Tippers dump bulk material from drums (shown), boxes or other containers into vessels up to 3 metres high.

Dust-tight (shown) or open chute models improve efficiency and safety of an age-old task. ®

BULK-OUT® Bulk Bag Dischargers unload free- and non-free-flowing solids from bulk bags automatically.

Allows untying, discharging, retying and collapsing of bulk bags—all dustfree. Available with weigh batching controls.

CONVEY FLEXICON® Flexible Screw Conveyors transport free- and non-free-flowing bulk solid materials from large pellets to sub-micron powders, including products that pack, cake or smear, with no separation of blends, dust-free at low cost. No bearings contact material. Easy to clean quickly, thoroughly.

SUCCEED The FLEXICON® Lifetime Performance Guarantee* assures you of a successful result, whether you purchase one piece of equipment or an engineered, automated plant-wide system. From initial testing in large-scale laboratories, to single-source project management, to after-sale support by a worldwide network of factory experts, you can trust your process— and your reputation— to Flexicon.

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CONTENTS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

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volume 27 no.1

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DEPARTMENTS

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Getting Healthy & Natural

FEATURES 52

66

Top 2015 Consumer Trends

Cargill Specialty Asia —The Story Of Success

In just three years, Cargill Specialty Asia has grown into a very profitable business unit. Yusuf Wazirzada and Andre van der Wulp shared the company’s business philosophy and story of success.

Food Labels— The Claim To Success

As the trend on health and wellness continues to grow, the ubiquitous and unassuming food label may be influencing purchasing decisions more than you think. By Sherlyne Yong

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From healthy offerings to products that provide a spicy punch, find out the top trends that will influence consumer behaviour in 2015. By Sam Allen, Canadean

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Hungry For Familiar Foods For multinational companies hoping to capture the India market, it takes more than just pushing their products into the region. Instead, they have to make an effort to package local food ideas. By Sonya Misquitta and Dheeraj Shinha, Grey

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The Food Shackle

Despite encouraging progress over the last few years, the food industry is still very much affected by the deeply rooted human trafficking and child labour epidemic. Is it time to point our finger or work together?

By Wong Tsz Hin

EXHIBITION REVIEW 78 80

Editor’s Note Advertiser’s List Business News Product Highlights Calendar Of Events Reader’s Enquiry Form Subscription Information

Getting Healthy & Natural As a 2015 resolution, food manufacturers should look into getting healthy and natural to answer to consumer demands.

By Jane Barnett, Mintel

Driven By Concerns Despite consumers switching to cheaper groceries during the economic recession, the global functional foods market continues to grow. How much of this growth has been driven by more people seeking out functional foods to address nutritional deficiencies, and what does the future horizon of this sector look like? By Jonathan Thomas, Leatherhead Food Research

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Cold Chain Intralogistics: The Key To Reliability And Efficiency With increased consumer demand for frozen food products and a highly competitive market with low margins, food processors, distributors and retailers are shifting away from manually operated sub-zero facilities and turning to high-bay deep-freeze warehouses, equipped with streamlined logistics processes.

By Koh Seng Teck, Swisslog

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MCI (P) 027/11/2014 • PPS 1566/5/2013 (022945) ISSN 0218-2734 • Co Reg No: 199908196C

Cover Picture Courtesy of Amazing Almonds; Tarique Sani, Nagpur, India; Rachel Tayse, Ohio, US• Printed by Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd

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EDITOR’S NOTE

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SAY WHAT

NOT

AS we enter the new year, many of us would attempt to commit to resolutions such as exercising more regularly and maintaining a healthier diet.

In the past, that would probably mean eating more greens and indulging in fewer snacks. However, these days, consumers are often bombarded with abundant, and sometimes contradicting, food science information. What is good and what is bad? What should be avoided and what should be looked out for?

It does not help that with more consumers switching over from nutritional to dietary supplementation, more and more products available in the market are fortified with functional ingredients to deliver certain desired health benefits.

The massive amount of information available on food packaging has made it difficult for consumers to understand the true value of the products in their hands. This has naturally led to some of them purchasing items that they thought were ‘healthier’ but are actually not.

The effective regulation of product packaging and labelling information to prevent confusion would be a big challenge for the industry and authorities.

It is encouraging to see more and more government authorities recognising the need to improve the population’s diet at the fundamental level. Initiatives such as encouraging food producers and service providers to use cooking oil with less saturated fat content is a nice touch.

The irony is that such initiatives are often faced with the challenge of lacking publicity. As consumers pick a restaurant for dinner, how can they identify the one that uses healthier ingredients?

It seems that information control and management will be the next vital step going forward.

editor Wong Tsz Hin

wongtszhin@epl.com.sg

editor - special projects Sherlyne Yong

sherlyneyong@epl.com.sg

editorial assistant Audrey Ang

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publication manager Peh Sue Ann sueann@epl.com.sg

circulation executive Nurulhuda Suhaimi

nurulhuda@epl.com.sg

contributors Andy Burns Dr Christopher Wright Clive Jones Cornelius M Smuts Cristiana Berti Dheeraj Shinha Diederick Meyer Jane Barnett Jonathan Thomas Khoreen New Koh Seng Teck Marcel Veenstra Melvin Yap Mieke Faber Sam Allen Sonya Misquitta Tarasuk Valerie board of industry consultants Dr Aaron Brody Managing Director Packaging/Brody, Inc Dr Alastair Hicks Adjunct Professor of Agroindustry Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand Professor Alex Büchanan Professional Fellow Victoria University Dr Nik Ismail Nik Daud Head, Food Quality Research Unit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia/ President Malaysian Institute of Food Technology Kathy Brownlie Global Program Manager Food & Beverage Ingredients Practice Frost & Sullivan Sam S Daniels Consultant World Packaging Organisation

Wong Tsz Hin

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ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY ADVERTISING INDEX ENQ NO

ADVERTISERS

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BRADY CORPORATION ASIA PTE LTD

3808

CAMA GROUP

0183

CARGILL SPECIALTY ASIA

3812

CLEARPACK SINGAPORE PTE LTD

3813

CLEARPACK SINGAPORE PTE LTD

3809

EXXON MOBIL INDUSTRIAL LUBRICANTS

3804 3803 3814

ENQ NO

ADVERTISERS

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11

3724

FLEXICON SINGAPORE PTE LTD

3

1

3801

IPACK-IMA SPA

31

60-61

3806

KHS ASIA PTE LTD

15

5

3810

MULTIVAC PTE LTD

19

23

3805

PROPAK VIETNAM 2015

27

OBC

3807

SCHAEFER SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD

IFC

FI ASIA-CHINA 2015

47

0180

SWISSLOG

FI CHINA 2015

43

6053

TCP PIONEER INCORPORATED

73

FI VIETNAM 2015

55

3802

THAIFEX – WORLD OF FOOD ASIA 2015

IBC

52-54

This index is provided as an additional service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.

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BUSINESS QuickBites

Asia Pacific’s Top News at a glance

Tetra Pak Launches Benchmarking Service The new benchmarking service will help companies assess their environmental performance and identify opportunities for improvement.

Naturex Opens Chilean Subsidiary Part of a network of three sales offices and two factories in Latin America, the office is in line with the group’s expansion strategy in emerging markets.

Olam Acquires ADM’s Cocoa Business With the acquisition, the company’s combined capacity will be approximately 700,000 MT. DSM Collaborates On Nutrient Mapping Building on an existing partnership with UMCG, the company will determine how nutrient status is connected to phenotypes.

Cargill Opens Cocoa Processing Facility Creating over 3,000 jobs, the US$100 million facility will have a 70,000 MT processing capacity.

Yili Invests RMB 3 Billion In New Zealand In addition, the Chinese company has also signed a scientific cooperation with the Lincoln University to develop strategies for the dairy industry.

Ingredion Launches Innovation Centres Providing ways to create innovative, profitable products, the centres are dedicated to fostering science-based collaboration and problem solving.

Heinz Opens Infant Cereal Factory In China Addressing Chinese consumers’ concern about food allergens, the facility will completely isolate allergens from raw material storage to production.

Singapore Offers Supplier Subsidy The scheme enables food ingredient suppliers and their distributors to sell healthier oil and whole grains at a price comparable to that of regular ingredients.

NEWS 4.indd 10

Tetra Pak Launches Environmental Benchmarking Service LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND: Tetra Pak, a global provider of food processing and packaging solutions, has launched a new environmental benchmarking service to help food and beverage companies assess the environmental performance of their production operations and identify opportunities for improvement.

The service provides an audit of the entire plant, including both the processing and packaging lines, assessing performance in areas such as water efficiency, waste water treatment, energy efficiency, product yield and waste, and carbon footprint.

Based on this audit, the company’s technical service team will then provide specific recommendations on opportunities for improvement, helping customers not only to reduce their environmental impact, but also to lower cost.

Pilot projects have been carried out in the US and Europe, delivering average costs savings of around 20 percent. For example, with Pacific Foods, a US based producer of organic foods and beverages, opportunities were found to reduce the carbon footprint by approximately 3,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and to cut water consumption by some 31 million litres, every year.

“Environmental performance is rising ever-higher on the agenda of our customers. They are constantly looking for solutions to lower their carbon footprint while reducing operational costs,” explained Johan Nilsson, VP of Tetra Pak Technical Service. ________________________________________ Enquiry No: 0100

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BUSINESS NEWS

ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

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Naturex Opens Chilean Subsidiary

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NEWS 4.indd 11

______________________ Enquiry No: 0101

FOOD SAFETY Starts with Workplace Safety

For 100 years, Brady has provided Workplace Safety & Identification Solutions that help make the world a safer and better place to live in.

We continue to put our customers’ experience at the centre of our efforts and aim to be better each day in delivering top notch solutions to ensure that you never have to worry about what matters most: delivering food safe for consumption.

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beverages or by acting as a natural emulsifier in flavour or colour emulsions and beverages.

These specific extracts address different markets according to their final applications by either reinforcing natural foaming in

Enquiry Number

S A N T I A G O , C H I L E : N a t u re x is strengthening its position in Latin America in response to growing local demand for natural ingredients. Following the January 2014 acquisition of Chile Botanics and its factory in Linares, the group is now opening a sales office in Santiago, Chile.

The Chilean branch provides current and future customers with the full product portfolio and the latest innovations from the group, combined with local service. Part of a network of three sales offices and two factories in Latin America, the Chilean office is fully in line with the group’s expansion strategy in emerging markets.

Chile is a very dynamic country with one of the highest GDPs per capita within the Latin America region. “This indicator confirms the potential of the country. Combined with the fact that Chile has the most free-trade agreements in the world, we think there is an exceptional opportunity for Naturex to grow our business in this country and facilitate the development of our presence in neighbouring countries,” said Guillaume Levade, sales director— Latin America, who is heading the sales office.

The richness of Chile’s natural e n v i ro n m e n t a l s o o f f e r s a n opportunity for the group. The company sources quillaja saponaria, a native tree rich in saponins from the Chilean forest. Sustainably harvested in partnership with local authorities, the wood is extracted to obtain quillaia extracts with different levels of purity.

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BUSINESS NEWS

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

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Olam Acquires ADM’s Cocoa Business SINGAPORE: Olam International, an agri-business operating across the value chain in 65 countries, has announced it has agreed to acquire the global cocoa business of Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) at an enterprise value on a cash and debt free basis of US$1.3 billion, comprising fixed assets of US$550 million and a working capital of US$750 million, subject to closing adjustments.

One of the world’s largest processors and suppliers of cocoa liquor, powder and butter, ADM’s worldwide cocoa business comprises cocoa processing assets made up of eight factories with a total capacity of 600,000 MT, 10 warehouses, two usines, four innovation centres and a m a r k e t i n g n e t w o r k a c ro s s 16 countries.

The acquired business does not include assets under the company’s chocolate business.

Over 1,500 employees from the company’s cocoa business, including 30 research and development professionals, will join the combined cocoa entity as part of the transaction.

The proposed acquisition will make Olam International one of the world’s top three cocoa processors. The company’s combined capacity will be approximately 700,000 MT with eight mainstream processing facilities from AMD in the Netherlands, Germany, Brazil, Singapore, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Canada contributing to this output. ___________________ Enquiry No: 0102

NEWS 4.indd 12

DSM Collaborates On Nutrient Mapping Project KAISERAUGST, SWITZERLAND: As part of an existing partnership, DSM has announced the collaboration with the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) on new research to determine how nutrient status is connected to phenotypes.

The project will then map nutritional status against health outcomes in certain populations, in order to further establish why some people develop chronic illnesses early in life, while others remain healthy into old age.

Typically, surveys or food diaries are used to determine vitamin intake, but such data are often flawed due to inaccurate reporting.

Biochemical assessment of vitamin status and intake through plasma or urine samples provides far more realistic data.

The findings of these assessments can then be connected to phenotypes like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), obesity or exposure to air pollution.

UMCG’s research programme focuses on healthy ageing. The LifeLines cohort study plays an important role in the healthy ageing approach of the institution. The cohort study aims to investigate multifactorial, age-related diseases and the interactions between environmental, phenotypic and biological factors over a period of 30 years.

Participants span three generations and data collected include anthropometry, blood pressure, lung function, cognition and urine samples. The partnership will assess micronutrient status in 1,600 people aged 60-75 years. ____________________________________________________________ Enquiry No: 0103

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BUSINESS NEWS

ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

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Did you know?

“McDonald’s Japan has to ration its French fries due to a shortage in potato supply.”

ADM & Unilever Sign Joint Business Development Plan

Cargill Opens Cocoa Processing Facility

ROLLE, SWITZERLAND: Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM) has signed a joint business development plan (JBDP) to continue to grow its relationship as an oils and fat supplier for Unilever in Europe, North America and Africa.

The JBDP defines the long-term strategy and goals for the relationship and provides a clear framework for how both companies will work together to achieve those objectives. It also sets measurable goals around volume, new product development, growth, innovation and sustainability.

The JDBP will help advance existing cooperation between the two companies, such as the ADM/Unilever Soybean Sustainability Program in the US, through which the former sources and processes sustainable soy beans and supplies the latter with oil for Hellmann’s Mayonnaise; and the companies’ partnership with Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) in Europe, which promotes sustainable agricultural practices at the farm level to produce sustainable rapeseed oil.

The JDBP will also strengthen ADM’s existing European sustainability initiatives, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe, enhancing the company’s supply chain to provide Unilever with more sustainably-produced oils and fats products.

JAKARTA, INDONESIA: Food and beverage manufacturers seeking to meet the growing demand amongst Asian consumers for chocolate and cocoa products will benefit from a greater availability of high quality cocoa powders following the inauguration of Cargill’s cocoa processing facility in Gresik, Indonesia.

Creating over 300 new jobs, the US$100 million facility will have a 70,000 MT processing capacity and will produce the company’s premium brand Gerkens cocoa powders, as well as high quality cocoa liquor and butter.

Its blending capability will leverage the company’s broad and in-depth cocoa knowledge to enable customers to benefit from consistent and tailor-made solutions that meet Asian consumers’ taste profiles.

The cocoa beans processed at the plant will be supplied primarily from Sulawesi, where cocoa farming is the principal income for hundreds of thousands of families and where the company has been sourcing cocoa since 1995.

The company is strengthening activities to support sustainable cocoa production in Indonesia as part of the Cargill Cocoa Promise, the company’s global commitment to improving the livelihoods of farmers, their families and their communities.

Cargill plans to train 4,500 cocoa farmers in newly created farmer field schools in the Bone and Soppeng regencies, and aims to enable 2,000 of them to gain independent sustainable certification.

It is supporting the Sustainable Cocoa Production Program (SCPP), a partnership that includes Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH), the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), Swisscontact and private sector companies to provide training and technical assistance to Indonesian cocoa farmers in South Sulawesi Province, Bone and Soppeng Districts.

________________________ Enquiry No: 0104

______________________________________________________ Enquiry No: 0105

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BUSINESS NEWS

QuickBites JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

14

Did you know?

“Fruits such as peaches and plums emit a gas that causes vegetables to rot when stored together.”

Ingredion Launches Innovation Centres In Asia Pacific SINGAPORE: Ingredion is launching the Idea Labs innovation centres in Asia Pacific, starting with a flagship centre it has unveiled at its new regional headquarters in Singapore.

Providing ways to create innovative, profitable products, the innovation centres are dedicated to fostering science-based collaboration and problem solving for food, beverage and industrial customers in four key areas: consumer insights, applied research, applications know-how and process technology.

From cereal chemists, food scientists and culinologists to marketers, process engineers and nutrition experts, experts from the company will work on applied science and with customers on specific challenges. They also conduct basic research and are connected with key global universities conducting carbohydrate research.

The labs will be part of a regional network of sites that serve to apply relevant global technology and insights and develop regionally-specific products and solutions.

In particular, a key aspect of activity at the new Idea Labs would be the company’s culinology capability, an added-value service offered to food manufacturers, retailers and food service providers in the region. Culinology helps customers fast track their product development and reformulation and is now offered via the company’s development centres in China, Australia and Singapore. _______________________________________ Enquiry No: 0106

NEWS 4.indd 14

Yili Invests RMB 3 Billion In New Zealand AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND: Chinese leaders and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key have jointly unveiled Yili Oceania Production Base, the first project in a package of cooperation between the two countries.

The project covering packaging, production, processing and research and development is the world’s largest integrated dairy production base.

Yili has put an investment of more than RMB 3 billion (US$480 million) into the project located in Waimate, South Island, New Zealand, including the previous investment of RMB 1.2 billion and the added investment of RMB 2 billion.

The new investment will feature four parts: a raw milk deep-processing project, a UHT liquid milk project, a milk powder production facility and a packaging facility.

The raw milk deep-processing project and the UHT liquid milk project, with an investment of RMB 200 million and nearly RMB 500 million respectively, will become some of the largest dairy investments in New Zealand.

In addition, the Chinese company has also signed a scientific cooperation with the Lincoln University to develop strategies for the dairy industry. The first step of the cooperation will be focused on innovative technologies in nutritional enhancement and quality assurance in dairy products. ____________________________________________ Enquiry No: 0107

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BUSINESS NEWS

ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

15

China Ban US Poultry & Eggs

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Sensitive beverages have never been safer

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Exceptionally small aseptic zone

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Linear or rotary according to product requirements

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High process reliability thanks to reduced complexity

Learn more at www.khs.com or scan the QR code.

______________________ Enquiry No: 0108

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3806

Aseptic filling from KHS: With its unique room-in-room concept

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GEORGIA, US: The Chinese government has announced that it will ban all imports of US poultry and egg products because of recent detections in the US of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in backyard poultry and wild birds in the Pacific Northwest.

The ban also applies to breeding stock, which includes live chicks and hatching eggs.

The ban is in response to a December detection of a highly pathogenic strain of H5N8 influenza in wild birds and in a backyard flock of guinea hens and chickens in Oregon, along with separate H5N2 HPAI detections in wild birds in California and Washington State.

China is a key export market for US chicken, turkey and duck productions. From January through November last year, US exports t o C h i n a re a c h e d m o re t h a n US$272 million.

China’s nationwide restrictions could also have a negative impact on its domestic poultry industry.

“Since the ban also includes US breeding stock, China is cutting off its industry’s mean source of hatching eggs and chicks, which will curtail the industry’s ability to replenish and maintain its production,” said Jim Sumner, president of the USA Poultry and Egg Export Council.

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Did you know?

“Studies have suggested that tart cherries may be the next super fruit for athletes as it can reduce muscle and joint pain.”

Avocado May Keep Bad Cholesterol Away

Researchers found: Compared to the baseline average American diet, low-density lipoprotein (LDL)—the so called ‘bad cholesterol’—was 13.5 mg/dL lower after consuming the moderate fat diet that included an avocado. LDL was also lower on the moderate fat diet without the avocado (8.3 mg/dL lower) and the lower fat diet (7.4 mg/dL lower), though the results were not as striking as the avocado diet.

Several additional blood measurements were also more favourable after the avocado diet versus the other two cholesterol-lowering diets as well. This included total cholesterol, triglycerides, small dense LDL, nonHDL cholesterol, and others.

These measurements are all considered to be cardiometabolic risk factors in ways that are independent of the heart-healthy fatty acid effects.

According to researchers, many heart-healthy diets recommend replacing saturated fatty acids with

Jaanus Silla

DALLAS, US: Eating one avocado a day as part of a heart healthy, cholesterol-lowering moderate-fat diet can help improve bad cholesterol levels in overweight and obese individuals, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers evaluated the effect avocados had on traditional and novel cardiovascular risk factors by replacing saturated fatty acids from an average American diet with unsaturated fatty acids from avocados.

MUFAs or polyunsaturated fatty acids to reduce the risk of heart disease. This is because saturated fats can increase bad cholesterol levels and raise the risk of cardiovascular disease.

One example is the Mediterranean diet, which includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fatty fish, and foods rich in monounsaturated fatty acids—like extra-virgin olive oil and nuts. Like avocados, some research indicates that these not only contain better fats but also certain micronutrients and bioactive components that may play an important role in reducing risk of heart disease. ____________________________________________ Enquiry No: 0109

www.apfoodonline.com FOR EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW ABOUT FOOD TECHNOLOGY

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Heinz Opens Infant Cereal Factory In China GUANGDONG, CHINA: H.J. Heinz Company’s CEO Bernardo Hees joined Chinese government officials to celebrate the opening of the company’s largest infant cereal production plant in the world.

T h e 8 0 , 0 0 0 s q m f a c t o r y, located in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, ushers in a new chapter for the company’s growth in China, a longstanding strategic location for the company.

The opening and commencement of production at the factory coincided with the 30th anniversary of the company’s presence in China, where the company operates six other

Did you know?

facilities. The factory will create 200 new jobs for the Foshan region and significantly increase production in the country.

Every product that leaves the factory will undergo quality tests, from raw materials through semifinished product to finished products, before being shipped to market.

Additionally, addressing Chinese consumers’ concerns about food allergens, the facility will completely isolate allergens from raw material storage to the production process.

_______________________ Enquiry No: 0110

David McSpadden, San Francisco, US

TUF Acquires Bumble Bee Seafoods

S A N T I A G O , U S : Bumble Bee Seafoods, a North American shelfstable seafood company, has announced that it has been acquired

by Thai Union Frozen Products (TUF).

The latter has entered into a binding agreement to obtain 100

NEWS 4.indd 17

percent of the shares of the former from Lion Capital, a pan-Atlantic private equity firm, for a total purchase price of US$1.51 billion.

Bumble Bee generates annual sales of approximately US$1 billion and estimated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and

“Despite resolutions to cut down on eating in order to compensate for holiday bingeing, research found that people ate most in the period that immediately followed the holidays.”

amortisation (EBITDA) for 2014 of US$145 million.

With a workforce of more than 1,300 people, the company produces and sells canned, pouched and frozen seafood products across the US and Canada. Including synergies between the two companies, the transaction is valued at approximately 8.6 times 2014 estimated EBITDA. The closing of the acquisition remains subject to clearance by the US antitrust authorities and the other closing conditions set forth in the acquisition agreement. ______________________ Enquiry No: 0111

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Did you know?

“A study conducted in Canada shows that men’s food choices are governed by proximity, while women are likely to go the extra mile to get healthier options.”

POMPEY, FRANCE: Novasep, a supplier of manufacturing solutions to the life sciences industry, has announced that it will be expanding its presence in Southeast Asia with the opening of an office in Bangkok, Thailand.

The addition of this new office follows the company’s expansion into India earlier with the opening of its subsidiary in Bangalore. Prior to that, the company has set up its Asia process development and engineering centre in Shanghai, China, in 2012.

This move further into Southeast Asia is another significant step forward for the company, which aims to meet increasing demand for high efficiency processes in the food and feed industries, particularly in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Indonesia and the Philippines.

These countries are among the fastest growing economies in the ASEAN-10 countries according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

____________________ Enquiry No: 0112

NEWS 4.indd 18

United Soybean Board

Novasep Opens Thailand Office

Healthy Diet More Crucial Than GI Index DENVER, US: New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) demonstrates that the glycaemic index (GI), the basis of many popular diets, may ultimately not be of high importance to those who already follow a healthful diet.

The study funded by the US National Institutes of Health found that eating a low GI diet does not lower blood pressure, improve blood cholesterol levels or increase insulin sensitivity, all of which are known risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins and Brigham’s and Women’s Hospital studied the cardio-metabolic effects of four different diets that varied in GI (either high or low) and carbohydrate content (either high or low) in 163 overweight hypertensive adults.

All meals, snacks and beverages were provided to study participants in accordance with a healthful Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH)-type dietary pattern.

Potatoes which have often been classified as a high GI food to be avoided were included in both the low and high GI diets used in the study. At the end of the five-week intervention period, those following the low GI diets saw no greater improvements in blood pressure, insulin sensitivity or blood lipid levels than those following the high GI diets. ____________________________________________________________ Enquiry No: 0113

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Singapore Offers Suppliers Subsidies For Healthier Options SINGAPORE: Singaporeans are increasingly eating out and in light of that, the country’s Health Promotion Board (HPB) has launched the Healthier Ingredient Subsidy Scheme to increase the availability of healthier dining options.

A key initiative that aims to change the way Singaporeans eat out, the scheme enables food ingredient suppliers and their distributors to sell healthier oil and whole grains at a price comparable to that of regular ingredients.

According to the country’s 2010 National Nutrition Survey, 60 percent of residents usually eat out for lunch and/or dinner, as compared to 49 percent in 2004. Those who eat out tend to have worse diets; for instance, people who eat out at least six times per week typically consume 12 percent more calories, 15 percent more saturated fat and 34 percent less whole grains than those who eat out less than six times a week.

They survey also showed that cooking oil was a key source of fat and saturated fat, which, when contributing to a poor ratio of saturated fat to unsaturated fat, can heighten the development of cardiovascular diseases.

As a result, HPB is focusing on helping the food service sector switch to oils with saturated fat levels of not higher than 35 percent. This is expected to result in a 15 percent reduction in overall saturated fat intake and translate to a three to five percent reduction in cardiovascular heart disease risk among Singaporeans, which is also one of the top three leading causes of death in the country.

Under the scheme, all food ingredient suppliers who meet the stipulated specifications can apply for the subsidy. The application for subsidy of healthier oils will be opened from January 19 to March while the application for whole grains will start later in the year. ____________________________________________ Enquiry No: 0114

Simply pack better.

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Enquiry Number

MULTIVAC Pte Ltd 31 International Business Park #01-12A Singapore 609921 www.multivac.com

3810

The compact R 085 thermoforming packaging machine makes the decision easy for you.

With the technology, which is proven 10,000 times over, its unique Hygienic Design™ and MULTIVAC‘s performance capability, simply opt for the better solution.

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PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS

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Cama: Box Forming Machine

The BTG Compact IF315 from Cama integrates box forming, loading and closing in one frame. The use of the company’s Triaflex Delta style robot as a loading unit broadens the standard configuration usually feasible by Monoblock units equipped with two-axis robots.

The cam system is coupled with a brushless motor: the flat blank picker and the transporter are combined using less space, and improve carton handling through more accurate handling.

The flat blank magazine has been lowered in order to facilitate the carton loading operation. The box closing manipulator also ensures quick and accurate closing while providing greater accessibility.

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Flexicon: Bulk Bag Filler Flexicon has introduced a stainless steel, sanitary bulk bag filler that detects and separates metal as it fills bulk bags by weight dust-free.

The filler frame is a patented TwinCentrepost design that maximises strength, reduces cost and improves accessibility to bag hooks.

The filler is equipped with an integral metal detector/separator that detects metal in the free-fall stream of material entering the filler, and then ejects it through a chute that discharges into a removable drum at the rear of the unit.

Its features include: fill head height adjustment to accept all popular bag sizes; an inflatable cuff forming a high-integrity seal to the bag inlet spout; a blower to remove bag creases prior to filling; load cells for filling by weight; a vent port for dust-free air displacement during filling; pneumatically retractable bag hooks; and an automated vibratory deaeration/densification system to maximise capacity and stabilise the bag for storage and shipment.

_______________________________________ Enquiry No: P121

_______________________________________ Enquiry No: P122

Baker Perkins: Colour Change System

Theegarten-Pactec: Flow-Pack Wrapper

An innovative colourchange system for packs of assorted extruded cereals and snacks has been developed by Baker Perkins.

The ‘Spectrum’ technique enables changeover between colour variations of an extruded product to be made ‘on the run’ with minimal waste.

Conventionally, colours are injected into the extruder barrel to ensure good mixing, but this results in very slow transitions when the colour is changed, leading to considerable waste before a correctly coloured new product emerges.

Introducing the colour at the die should avoid this, but differential flow rates between the centre and outer again leads to prolonged transitions. The extrusion system has minimised this differential, and the transition from one colour to the next is swift.

Separating short products at a high speed represents a challenge. TheegartenPactec addressed this problem with two-track synchronisation for the FPC5—with each track isolating 750 units per minute.

For integration to the packaging machine, the two tracks need to converge onto a single lane and the products need to be grouped. To this end, an upper band with lugs mounted along the width of both tracks was integrated.

Alternating between the tracks, the lugs kick in after the desired number of products. Since the upper band runs slightly faster than the product conveyor tracks, the products are pushed forward into groups.

To generate product chains, the machine can be equipped with a second cross sealing unit. The so-called chain module separates the chain of flow-packs after a defined number of packages. The manufacturer can then either offer the product chains at point of sale as a package or as individual tear-off packages.

_______________________________________ Enquiry No: P123

_______________________________________ Enquiry No: P124

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Key Technology: Hyperspectral Imaging Key Technology has introduced hyperspectral imaging on its ADR 5 automatic defect removal system for potato strips. Featuring the company’s proprietary chemical imaging technology (CIT), a value-added hyperspectral solution that evaluates the chemical composition of objects, the system can detect ‘sugar ends’, an invisible defect that plagues potato processors.

Sugar ends, also referred to as dark ends, glassy ends, translucent ends, and jelly ends, is a physiological tuber disorder caused by environmental conditions. Potato strips made from sugar end potatoes exhibit undesirable dark brown areas after frying, caused by the higher concentration of reducing sugars caramelising.

Upon detection, the system will cut it from the wet strips, along with all other defects, to recover the good product. The hyperspectral imaging system can be used to detect sugar ends prior to frying.

Linx Printing Technologies has introduced an ink that offers good adhesion to polyethylene (PE) and most polypropylene (PP) applications, and is suitable for non-contact food packaging in line with Swiss Ordinance 817.023.021, the European reference for food packaging inks.

Linx Black PE Ink 1130 has been formulated in particular to meet the specific challenges of effective printing onto polyethylene and polypropylene, which are widely used materials in many different end-markets and packaging applications.

In addition, because the ink also offers a durable adhesion profile across many other substrates—including ABS, acrylic, aluminium, glass, HDPE, LDPE, PET and varnished card—it gives manufacturers the flexibility to retain a single ink, rather than multiple types, on site for use across all their package and product coding requirements.

___________________________________ Enquiry No: P125

___________________________________ Enquiry No: P126

Arla Foods Ingredients: Protein Concept

Multivac: Converging System

Arla Foods Ingredients has developed a range of nextgeneration ‘recombining’ solutions that will enable dairy companies to produce specialty cheeses without fresh milk.

The solutions offer dairy companies the opportunity to create recombined white, processed and cream cheeses based on Nutrilac functional milk proteins, water and fat—usually butterfat or anhydrous milk fat (AMF). They work on existing recombining machinery and generate no whey side-stream, maximising output and reducing waste.

Recombined dairy products are particularly common in parts of the world where there is limited or no access to fresh milk.

This is often the case in regions such as Latin America, Africa, Southeast Asia, China and Russia.

Recombined liquid milk and simple yoghurts made from rehydrated milk powder are already widely manufactured.

However, recombined speciality cheeses have traditionally proved more complex and challenging to produce. _____________________________________ Enquiry No: P127

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Linx Printing Technologies: Versatile Ink

Multivac’s MBS 020 converging system can be equipped with the IL 11 inline labeller which labels the top of the packs in line.

This method rationalises the labelling process since the packs are labelled during convergence.

Packaging machines generally produce the packs in several tracks and rows. In order that the packs can be processed downstream without any stoppages, they have to be automatically converged after the packaging procedure.

When equipped with an inline labeller, a thermal transfer printer can be integrated into the label dispenser. The converging system will feed the finished packs to downstream modules, such as quality inspection systems.

The system is designed for up to six pack tracks and can converge at up to 60 packs per minute. The packs should be between 1.5 and 13 cm high and at least 5 cm wide. ___________________________________ Enquiry No: P128

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Hydrosol: Vegetarian Cold Cuts

Rovema: Sealing Jaws

Hydrosol is meeting the rising demand for meatless alternatives with new allin compounds for the manufacture of vegetarian and vegan cold cuts, and alternatives to hot boiled sausages.

The HydroTOP series all-in compounds consist of various hydrocolloids and vegetable proteins.

For vegan cold cuts, soy and pea protein are used, while the vegetarian versions contain pea and egg protein.

The stabilising systems contain no gluten, milk protein or phosphates. The seasoning is completely free of glutamate. For the colouring agent, an alternative to natural cochineal is used since that is harvested from scale insects.

Production is straightforward, requiring only a conventional cutter and a stuffer to fill the finished mass into casings. The functional systems are stirred together with water, salt and vegetable oil. By adding ingredients like herbs, nuts, blanched vegetables, mushrooms or cheese, manufacturers can give their cold cuts an individual note.

Form, fill and seal machines produce bags from films made out of different materials. A key factor for the sealing and tightening of the bags are the heat sealing tools of the machine.

Rovema offers a conversion kit for the cross sealing jaws which increases flexibility and reduces spare parts procurement costs. The sealing jaws, consisting of body and inserts, enable the exchange of the cooled down sealing faces within a few minutes.

The conversion kit consisting of two jaw bodies, four inserts, electric supply with accessories as well as a set of heating cartridges, temperature probes and insulating plates each guarantees more flexibility, less spare part costs as well as shorter changeover times.

______________________________________ Enquiry No: P129

______________________________________ Enquiry No: P130

SIPA: Bottle Blower

Tomra: Sorting Machine

PET packaging technology solution provider SIPA has unveiled the XTREME Sincro that combines a preform compression moulding system with a high-speed stretch-blow moulding unit.

The injection-compression system enables the production of preforms that are up to 10 percent lighter than preforms produced by conventional injection moulding without losing any key properties.

Special features include new designs in the clamp unit and in the cams that help the SFR EVO achieve a maximum output rate of 2,250 bottles per hour per cavity. A blowing valve block is more compact than before, and has 35 percent less dead air volume.

It is also much easier to convert from production of cold-fill to hot-fill containers. This is because, while the heating circuit remains in the shell holder, the cooling circuit is now built into the cavity. Only a simple cavity change is required to switch from production of one type of container to another, while the shell holders remain in place. ______________________________________ Enquiry No: P131 ______________________________________ Enquiry No: P131

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TOMRA Sorting Food, a sensor-based sorting solution provider, has introduced the Nimbus 1200 BSI free-fall sorting machine.

The BSI technology works by detecting the biometric characteristics of almonds and their defects. It scans and compares them to features in its stored database to decide whether almonds should be accepted or rejected.

The module is capable of detecting even smaller defects than conventional spectral technology, which allows it to be used effectively for normal or reverse sorts—the latter involving sound produce, rather than faulty material, being ejected.

A further benefit is the machine’s light source, incorporating the company’s patent pending flyingbeam principle. This enables processors to use scan shields, to counter factors such as dust efficiently and keep the inspection windows clean. ______________________________________ Enquiry No: P132

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Enquiry Number

3813 Clearpack.indd 1

3813

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CASE-STUDY:

ACHIEVING HIGHER OUTPUT THROUGH SEALING TECHNOLOGY LOTTE WEDEL, A POLISH CONFECTIONERY HAS BEEN MAKING ITS BEST-SELLING PTASIE MLECZKO SINCE 1936. BY INVESTING IN TRAY-SEALING TECHNOLOGY, THE COMPANY WAS ABLE TO EXPAND TO ITS MARKETS THROUGH HIGHER OUTPUT AND BETTER SHELF LIFE. BY MARCEL VEENSTRA, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, SEALPAC LOCATED in a historical building in the centre of Warsaw, around 1,000 employees of the Polish confectionery company Wedel put effort into producing and packaging chocolate products for markets as far as the US. In 2013, the company decided to make a large investment in a traysealing technology for its best-selling product: Ptasie Mleczko. Working with packaging solution provider Sealpac and its Polish distributor Premac, the company took up the challenge of designing two highoutput packaging lines for their chocolate covered marshmallows.

T h e h i s t o r y o f t h e We d e l company started in 1851 when Karol Ernest Wedel arrived in Poland from Germany. Accompanied by his wife Karolina, he opened a confectionery shop along Miodowa Street in Warsaw where he began selling sweet delicacies and serving chocolate beverages.

The founder’s son, Emil Albert Fryderyk Wedel, apprenticed in candy and chocolate factories in Western Europe before inheriting and expanding his father’s business.

3pp Sealpac 3.indd 24

Under his command, the company’s first factory opened in Warsaw. His descendant, Jan Wedel, opened a second factory in the Praga district of Warsaw along the eastern bank of the Wisla River.

The company managed to continue production during the first few years of the Second World War, but its buildings were destroyed during the Warsaw uprising. After the war, the company rebuilt its factory in Praga.

Since June 2010, the company became part of the LOTTE Group, a South Korean-Japanese conglomerate.

It was the Asian company’s first investment in Europe although they are the largest chewing gum manufacturer in Asia and the third largest in the world.

UNOBTAINABLE DELICACY These days, Wedel is a globally known confectioner y company that produces many varieties of high quality chocolates, cakes

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and snacks. The brand is often associated with chocolates that have an intense, familiar taste.

The recognisable deep flavour is attributable to the cocoa from Ghana and other ingredients that the company has carefully selected in the making of its products.

The company’s best-selling product is the Ptasie Mleczko, a chocolate-covered candy filled with soft milk soufflé. The name literally means ‘bird’s milk’, a substance somewhat resembling milk that is produced by certain birds to feed their young.

The name is also a Polish idiom which means ‘an unobtainable delicacy’. In Poland, the product

is one of the most recognised chocolate confectioneries.

First developed by Jan Wedel in 1936, the company now supplies the product in high volumes with different kinds of filling, such as chocolate, vanilla, lemon, coconut and caramel, a recently introduced flavour, but all of them are covered with a signature delicious chocolate layer.

INVESTMENT IN TRAY SEALING TECHNOLOGY In 2007, the company invested in a new production line for the product.

At that time, two open trays were stacked on top of each other with a paper insert in between them before they were placed in a cardboard box.

Switching to a fully automated tray-sealing process helped the company to extend shelf life and increase overall production efficiency.

3pp Sealpac 3.indd 25

Not only did it make chocolate covered marshmallows vulnerable to damage, it also meant the use of a considerable amount of packaging materials.

Several years ago, discussions started between the company and potential suppliers on alternative packaging solutions. The company came in contact with Sealpac through Premac, the company’s distributor in Poland.

Also based in Warsaw, the latter suggested the use of tray-sealing technology to optimise the production process. With the new packaging system, the expensive paper insert used would no longer be required, resulting in a more sustainable pack.

In addition, the chocolate covered marshmallows would be better protected by the top film that is sealed to the tray. Furthermore, shelf life can be extended compared to the previous solution and the fully automated tray-sealing process can increase the overall production efficiency considerably.

In 2013, the confectionery maker decided to purchase two double lane traysealers, an A8 and A10, with the supplier providing the installation of the lines as well as the training of the operators and technicians.

For the first few months, both companies put a lot of effort in increasing the output of the lines by gradually optimising the various steps involved in the production process.

PACKAGING PROCESS After the chocolate covered marshmallows were made according to the secret recipe from Wedel’s kitchen, they enter the loading zone where they are picked up by robot arms and loaded six pieces at a time onto the automatically denested trays.

The trays are then transported to the buffer zone where they will be stored until they are handed over to the A8 traysealer. Arriving in a single lane, the machine’s lane divider arranges for a smooth double-lane tray in-feed.

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EACH TRAY IS RELIABLY SEALED WITH A PRINTED FILM THAT REMAINS EASILY PEELABLE FOR CONSUMERS THROUGHOUT ITS ENTIRE SHELF LIFE.

Sealing 10 trays at a time, the sealed trays are converged back into a single lane and then loaded by robots into the secondar y cardboard packaging.

As for the A10 double lane traysealer, both the infeed and outfeed are double lane. The machine sealed no less than 14 trays during each cycle.

Both traysealers are positioned on the first floor of the company’s historical building. As such, the impact of the equipment on the floor had to be calculated to see whether extra floor support would be necessary.

With both lines using ser vo technology, the vibration impact on the floor remained with the boundaries. The use of ser vodriven lifting and gripper systems also allows for gentle handling of the trays and their contents.

Furthermore, ser vo-technology

3pp Sealpac 3.indd 26

re d u c e s a i r c o n s u m p t i o n a n d maintenance costs.

The two traysealers are currently running at over 12 cycles per minute, achieving outputs of up to 175 trays per minute, which is not an easy task when dealing with such a delicate product. For example, heat-resistant protection plates are applied to the sealing station to avoid the risk of melting chocolate.

HIGH OUTPUTS, LOW DOWNTIME With the factory running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it is crucial that downtime of the lines is reduced to a minimum. Special crash detection inside the traysealers automatically check if any of the chocolate is protruding from the tray just before sealing. If so, the tooling will not close, preventing potential crash and cleaning time.

At such high speeds, the top film needs to be replaced quite often.

Therefore, the two traysealers are both equipped with a tandem film arm, allowing for easy film roll replacement when a roll is finished.

The Ptasie Mleczko is primarily packaged with 18 pieces in a tray (380 g). Each tray is reliably sealed with a printed film that remains easily peelable for consumers throughout its entire shelf life. For convenience, the tray is equipped with a large and clearly marked peel tab.

During the sealing process, the company has made use of Sealpac’s InsideCut technology where the film is first cut and then sealed from the inside of the tray. This provides a more attractive presentation than traditional outside cut and reduces film consumption to a minimum.

It also ensures that the trays fit nicely into their secondary cardboard box. Due to the extended shelf life, the company is able to export its products around the globe. The company already sells its products to over 25 countries worldwide, with the US, Canada and UK being its key markets. The company will be looking to expand its global presence in the coming years.

The employees of the company have a slogan of ‘Be like Wedel’, which is their commitment to strive for excellence. For them, it is a way of living just like the brand has significant meaning to the Polish people.

Walking through the city of Warsaw, this can be seen from the many shops that sell delicious handmade chocolates and serve hot drinking chocolate from the company.

As a future project, the company is now looking into a new pack format for its bestselling product. It hopes to develop new tooling for its existing equipment so that a line change would not be necessary.

For more information, ENTER No: 0140

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Enquiry Number

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3805

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

TAKING THE HEAT APPLICATIONS IN THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY ARE WELL SUITED TO THE USE OF HEAT TRANSFER FLUIDS, BUT IMPROPER MAINTENANCE CAN CAUSE A MYRIAD OF ISSUES FOR PROCESS ENGINEERS. WITH THE FOOD AND DRINK INDUSTRY’S STRICT REGULATIONS, PRESERVING THE QUALITY OF HEAT TRANSFER FLUID IS NOW MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER. BY CLIVE JONES, MD, ANDY BURNS, TECHNICAL BUSINESS MANAGER, AND DR CHRISTOPHER WRIGHT, GROUP HEAD OF R&D, GLOBAL HEAT TRANSFER Thermal oxidation is the reaction of the HTF molecules when exposed to oxygen, which decompose to organic acids that are measured in terms of total acid number (TAN) and Ramsbottom carbon residue (RCR).

Carbon residue increases the formation of insoluble particles and sludge, which has the effect of fouling a heat transfer surface, causing loss of thermal efficiency and hot spots, which can become hazardous.

The Ramsbottom test is adopted by the American Society for Testing and Materials as ASTM D-524-10, a standard test method for Ramsbottom Carbon Residue of petroleum products, while ASTM D664-11a is a standard test method for acid number of petroleum products.

TAN is a measure of the concentration of acidity in a heat transfer fluid and is determined by quantifying the volume of an alkaline reagent, for example potassium hydroxide, which is needed to neutralise the acid.

One limitation of monitoring TAN is that it provides a

PressReleaseFinder

HEAT transfer fluids (HTFs) will degrade over time due to operating schedule, operating temperature and system flow. The processes that cause this to occur are thermal cracking and oxidation.

A heat transfer fluid will begin to darken and smell pungent, as acidic carbonaceous sludge is produced.

Eventually, the sludge deposits on all surfaces in the system. Inside the heater, these deposits harden and permanently reduce heat transfer.

One of the easiest problems to ignore is thermal cracking, the process by which HTF molecules break down due to the absence of oxygen. HTF molecules decompose to low boiling fractions known as light ends, resulting in reduced flash and fire points, and high boiling fractions known as heavy ends, which recombine to form heavier polyaromatic molecules, resulting in fouling of the heat transfer surface through carbon deposition.

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measure of the acids generated by both oxidation and by those acids produced as contaminants during the process.

It is no surprise that acid by-products are potentially devastating to a heat transfer fluid and its system. In the worst case, the fluid will need to be replaced because the acidic by-products are corrosive to a system’s metal components and will accelerate system wear, as well as lead to concurrent increases in fluid viscosity and deposits.

Oxidation is the main reason for black sludge forming, which deposits on heaters and blocks pipe work. All of these increase the risk of component failures in a system.

New HTFs typically have a TAN less than 0.05, although this does vary by fluid type. Fresh polyalkylene glycol (PAG) will typically have an acid number ranging between 0.1 and 0.5.

PAG is used as a high temperature, thermally stable HTF exhibiting strong resistance to oxidation. Modern PAG’s can also be non-toxic and non-hazardous.

CONDEMNING LIMIT The condemning limit for a heat transfer fluid is widely regarded to be 1.0. However, the negative system effect of rising acid by-products occurs at acid numbers in excess of 0.4.

When fluids reach their condemning limit they need to be replaced. HTF replacement comes with an associated cost depending on the type of fluid selected—mineral versus semi-synthetic versus synthetic.

To prevent oxidation, fluid in the expansion tank must be kept cool. If this cannot be done, consider ‘padding’ the system with inert gas like nitrogen, which is inexpensive and readily available.

A line runs from a nitrogen source to an expansion tank’s head space and the gas should flow from the

4pp Heat 3.indd 29

marc falardeau, Toronto, Canada

William Herron, Arizona, US

To prevent oxidation, fluid in the expansion tank must be kept cool. If this cannot be done, consider ‘padding’ the system with inert gas like nitrogen.

A line runs from a nitrogen source to an expansion tank’s head space and the gas should flow from the source through an alarmed flow meter, regulator and check valve into the expansion tank.

source through an alarmed flow meter, regulator and check valve into the expansion tank. A back-pressure control valve should be fitted to a tank’s vent line, along with a relief valve.

In addition to protecting a fluid from oxidation, inert gas will prevent water from condensing in the fluid due to increased ambient temperature and dew point changes.

Some heat transfer fluids contain oxidation inhibitors: sacrificial material designed to prevent the fluid from oxidising during incidental contact with air.

They are not designed to replace good system design, maintenance and operation.

Disposal of the old fluid will also need to be managed correctly by qualified professionals who operate in accordance with environmental regulations.

Therefore, the replacement with new fluid involves production downtime and lost output, which can be extremely expensive if unplanned. In such cases, planned, preventative maintenance contracts should be considered.

In tr ying to reduce the rate of degradation, manufacturers need to focus on regular preventative maintenance plans to minimise oxidation and thermal cracking and reduce the risk of fire due to closed flash temperatures falling below 100 deg C. Planned, preventative maintenance also enables manufacturers to trend the data that is collected. Regular analysis means that parameters can be plotted against

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PACKAGING & PROCESSING

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Nik Stanbridge, Oxford, UK

SENIOR MANAGEMENT NEED TO IMPLEMENT ADVANCED RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES AND ENSURE THAT THE COMPANY CULTURE AND DAILY ROUTINE ARE DEEPLY ROOTED IN HEALTH AND SAFETY AND FOOD REGULATION LAWS.

High quality food grade fluid is non-hazardous, non-toxic and odourless, which means it requires no special handling and is not considered a controlled substance under most regulations.

time and monitored correctly.

The advantage of doing so is that any changes in the status of the heat transfer fluid can be detected and interventions to correct any deviations can be planned around the manufacturer’s production schedule.

Maintenance contracts can also be tailored to client needs. For instance, in any system, the header tank temperature needs to remain below 60 deg C during normal operation to help to reduce the extent of fluid oxidation.

Therefore, this tank must remain cool enough to touch. However, if the system is running too hot, the rate of oxidation will increase and may require fitting a nitrogen blanket.

ANTI-OXIDANT ADDITIVES A further measure that manufacturers can employ to combat oxidation is the use of smart thermal fluids that work to depress oxidation. Such fluids contain antioxidant additives that help to attenuate the oxidation process at higher temperatures and therefore assist in preventing the build-up of sludge.

The benefit is longer fluid life, which in turn implies less maintenance, less process downtime, less fluid needing to be disposed and thus, less environmental waste.

The use of such fluids would be extremely beneficial

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in helping to prevent oxidation in header tanks and may also be an interim solution to preventing further oxidation until a manufacturer has sufficient time to replace the existing fluid.

A word of caution however: such fluids need to cater for food and non-food manufacturing and particular attention needs to be given to the suitability of some additives in food-grade manufacturing—something that is not new, since all thermal fluids used in food manufacturing should be approved.

This is a regulatory requirement imposed by several bodies including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and NSF International, but it is one that many manufacturers are entirely unaware of.

SCIENCE & COMPLIANCE The industry is littered with regulations that are misunderstood, poorly communicated and acted on incorrectly. There is no application where this statement is more appropriate than oil-based heat transfer, especially in food applications.

Compliance is often seen as another piece of red tape in the way of achieving a business’ objectives.

Independent testing is important, as is using a correct sampling procedure, expert analysis and planned maintenance.

To get an accurate picture, thermal fluid samples must be collected at their operating temperature when the fluid is hot and circulating. Older fluid will naturally be more glutinous, so making sure that the sample is taken with the system running and at the required temperature will make for an accurate reading, ensuring the usual turbulent flow is taking place.

There is a substantial difference in consistency between samples at working temperature and dormant samples, affecting the way the fuel-like light fractions mix.

Where an ‘open’ sample is collected, the most volatile (lowest flash-point) specimens will automatically escape and flash off to the atmosphere, instead of being allowed to cool and condense back into the sample, where it can be decanted under laboratory conditions.

Light ends consist of a homologous mix of hydrocarbons with different boiling/flash points. In the case of open samples, as the lowest flash point material has been vented off, incorrect (too high) flash point values will be returned to give an inaccurate result.

20/1/15 4:45 pm

ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

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Opening time: 10.00 am - 5.00 pm Entrances: East, South, West Gates Pre-register on www.ipack-ima.com

Being part of innovation.

The future is IPACK-IMA 2015 – the most comprehensive, valuable showcase for the food and non-food supply chain.

The global standard-setting exhibition for the Grain Based Food industry and the place to be for health & personal care, chemicals and industrial goods. An innovative meeting place for the fresh food and distribution sector.

A great exhibition of the world’s top production.

Connected events:

An unparalleled, integrated, synergic collection of technology and innovations for processing, packaging, converting and logistics, the extraordinary conjunction with the Expo 2015, a great not-to-miss event.

Be sure to be there.

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This event is being covered by professional packaging journalists from IPPO

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3801

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For more information, ENTER No: 0141

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FOOD GRADE FLUIDS Food regulations are much stricter and, when using fluidbased heat transfer, the thermal fluid must be fully H1 or HT1 certified as a food grade thermal fluid by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the NSF International, respectively.

If there is any possibility for oil or lubricant to come into contact with food products, a certified food grade fluid must be used to safeguard consumer health.

Food grade thermal fluid is extremely important in the food processing industry; if a manufacturer were to use another type of oil, this could potentially put its business at risk. Food grade thermal fluid is designed for incidental contact with food products.

Failure to use food grade fluid in a food application can result in the loss of the manufacturer’s top tier accreditation, should the European Food Safety Inspection Service (EFSIS), part of SAI Global Insurance Services, learn that an inappropriate product is being used.

High quality food grade fluid is non-hazardous, nontoxic and odourless, which means it requires no special handling and is not considered a controlled substance under US Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), Canadian Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS) or other work place regulations.

Companies cannot afford to wait for a problem to arise before implementing a proactive maintenance plan. The senior management needs to implement advanced risk management strategies and ensure that company culture and daily routine are deeply rooted in health and safety and food regulation laws.

This can truly help minimise loss, whether it’s financial, a loss in production, property damage, or, in extreme circumstances, loss of life. Maintenance methods are not only important for hazardous purposes—when a plant is properly maintained, it is also cost-effective and productive.

Ideally, any plant using heat transfer fluids should create a robust maintenance plan that contains regular fluid analysis system flushing, fluid top-ups and careful flashpoint management.

By caring for heat transfer fluids and the health of the overall system, plant managers can save money on pipework maintenance and energy usage, cleaning products and new heat transfer fluids.

Furthermore, proactive management including dilution, filtration and light ends removal will send savings straight to the bottom line. Regular sample analysis and staff training will ensure regulatory compliance and health and safety requirements are met.

19/1/15 9:25 am

INGREDIENTS & ADDITIVES

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

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PUTTING THE SWEET INTO SUGAR-FREE IT IS NO EASY TASK TO REDUCE SUGAR CONTENT WHILE MAINTAINING SHELF-LIFE AND MOUTHFEEL. ADVANCES IN SWEETENER TECHNOLOGIES HAVE HELPED PAVE THE WAY TO HEALTHIER PRODUCTS THAT THE NEW GENERATION CONSUMERS CRAVE.

BY MELVIN YAP ONE of the greatest challenges today in the food industry is how to answer the often conflicting demands of new generation consumers: tasty food without the fat, sugar, carbs, calories, and all the other ‘health-related’ buzzwords. To say that great taste comes from the optimal combination of these naturally occurring dietary components is an understatement and therein lies the conflict.

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One of the ways to address this conflict lies in technology. Food technology has advanced up to a point where any type of food can be created and imbued with all the goodness of nature.

The American Heart Association (AHA) and American Diabetes Association (ADA) concluded in a 2012 scientific statement that nonnutritive sweeteners, when used

carefully, may aid in reducing total energy intake and assist with weight loss/control, while providing beneficial effects on related metabolic parameters.

Further, the AHA has suggested that food manufacturers need more innovative low- and no-calorie sweeteners, bulking agents and sweetness enhancers as options to use in food and beverage products.

20/1/15 3:55 pm

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved sucralose, a non-nutritive sweetener, for use in all foods and beverages in 1999.

This built headway for food producers to lower the calories in their food products without compromising the original taste that consumers crave.

RETAINING GREAT TASTE One of the biggest challenges in using non-nutritive sweeteners is the specific formulation necessary in order to retain the original great taste without the accompanying calories.

As granular sugar dissolves in food, it adds texture, sweetness and sometimes a lingering burnt caramel feel to the food product.

Artificial sweeteners are sometimes unable to achieve the same level of mouthfeel. How to integrate artificial sweeteners becomes a topic of concern for food producers.

In addition, food producers need to consider the bottom-line. As health authorities around the world clamp down more and more on food expiration dates, food producers need to ensure that additives do not alter the shelf-life of their food products.

Purchasing artificial sweeteners is akin to purchasing inventory with a fixed shelf life. They need to ensure good inventory control to prevent stock from expiring, or ensure that the stock they purchase has a long enough shelf-life to be held on-hand.

To add an extra differentiating factor to their products, some food producers have chosen to go the ‘natural’ path, using sweeteners derived from stevia as an alternative to sucralose.

The benefit of stevia over sucrarose is the sweetness potency—stevia is 200 to 300 times more potent than sugar. However, the downside of stevia-derived sweeteners is the bitter aftertaste that sometimes lingers. This is something that additive producers have had to contend with when developing stevia-based sweeteners.

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ALTHOUGH CONSUMERS MAY BE WILLING TO PAY A LITTLE MORE FOR A HEALTHIER OPTION, THE MARGINAL RETURNS MAY NOT BE HIGH ENOUGH TO JUSTIFY CAPITAL INVESTMENT OF EXPENSIVE MACHINERY FOR MIXING AND OTHER PROCESSES.

COST CONSIDERATION From the operations perspective, the cost of incorporating these additives has to be reasonable. Although consumers may be willing to pay a little more for a healthier option, the marginal returns may not be high enough to justify capital investment of expensive machinery for the mixing, pressing or other processes necessary to incorporate these additives.

The additive needs to be easily incorporated into the existing product.

Once these four issues—creating the same mouthfeel, shelf-life and expiration dates, whether or not to use plant-derived sweeteners and the possible ways of incorporating the sweetener—have been considered, food producers can then start thinking of how to apply these sweeteners to their products, and which products would benefit the most from the use of these sweeteners.

One of the most overlooked food items consumed today are sauces.

While consumers pay attention to the type of food they consume: salads over burgers, air-fried chips versus oil-fried chips, they sometimes forget that the condiments they put on their food may deride the benefits of having picked the ‘healthier alternative’ in the first place.

SUCCESS KETCHUP STORY An example of this is tomato ketchup, one of the most widely consumed condiments today.

In formulating tomato ketchup, the key challenge is how to retain the proprietary taste that keeps customers coming back for more instead of turning to a competitor brand of ketchup.

This ‘proprietary taste’ could come from the texture of the ketchup, how well it adheres to a French fry, how easily it flows form the bottle, and most of all, the taste of the ketchup.

Successful stories of additive use in tomato ketchup have emerged, with the tool used in its incorporation being the Thermomix, instead of expensive, customised, industrial equipment. (The trials were done in lab scale basis, therefore the equipment is required to cook the sauce with enough heat and shear. In real production, a batch cooker is normally used) This success has further been propagated in the banana ketchup application. Banana ketchup is a local condiment popular in the Philippines. This application shows how well artificial sweetener formulations

19/1/15 9:11 pm

INGREDIENTS & ADDITIVES

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

Pink Sherbet Photography, New England, US

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Consumers are looking for a solution to food that is lower in calories, yet retains the same great taste.

have been able to cater to different taste profiles, rather than just mainstream products.

PASTA SAUCE CHALLENGE Another challenge is in tomato-based pasta sauce. Being based off of tomatoes, tomato-based pasta sauces need to retain the acidity of the tomato, together with its sweetness and the tanginess of other herbs.

How well the sauce reacts to heat, how well it adheres to pasta, and how well it blends with other ingredients like mushrooms and fresh herbs are important characteristics that differentiate one brand of pasta sauce from another.

When switching out sugar for non-nutritive additives to achieve the ’50 percent less sugar claim’, the stability of the sweetener over a range of temperatures need to be taken into account, in addition to the texture, taste and mouthfeel, common characteristics that a food producer considers.

Pasta sauce with 50 percent less sugar is another artificial sweetener

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success story that consumers are able to enjoy today.

Sucralose and stevia-based sweeteners are recommended for a variety of applications, ranging from sauces to dairy products. One of the applications of sucralose today is in stirred yoghurt.

Due to the increased stability and solubility of sucralose, it has been used for enhancing the taste profile of low fat, low sugar stirred yoghurt.

The sweetener was so well integrated into the yoghurt that the yoghurt received excellent feedback on the taste profile and texture.

The application of sucralose can be further extended to sugarfree, textured drinks, such as the oat breakfast drink. A drink popular with today’s on-the-go consumers, the key to oat drinks lies in the taste and mouthfeel of oat, its solubility in water, and its performance as a meal substitute for the busy professionals.

Using homogenisers and the batch process (in production plants, a UHT is normally used), there have been success stories of sugar-free,

reduced-calorie drinks made with artificial sweeteners, even dairybased drinks.

There undoubtedly exist many more opportunities for the use of sweeteners in food that consumers partake of on a daily basis. Consumers of today do not want to sacrifice great taste for lower calories, and non-nutritive sweeteners, formulated to complement the existing product, appear to be the way forward for the food industry.

As the obesity problem becomes more serious, there will be more consumers looking for a solution to food that is lower in calories, yet retains the same great taste. It is the opportune time for food producers to start looking into how non-nutritive sweeteners can play a role to help them achieve the low-fat, low-sugar edge in the increasingly calorie-conscious consumer market.

As consumers start to learn more about studies that debunk the common idea that artificial sweeteners are bad for health and start believing in the advantages that non-nutritive sweeteners bring, the market for lowsugar, low-fat products enhanced with non-nutritive sweeteners will grow. There is no better time to start exploring the applications of non-nutritive sweeteners than now.

For more information, ENTER No: 0150

20/1/15 3:56 pm

ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

INGREDIENTS & ADDITIVES 35

REDUCING GLYCAEMIC RESPONSE WITH INULIN CARBOHYDRATES ARE AN ESSENTIAL FOOD IN OUR DAILY DIETS. MORE STUDIES ARE NOW SUPPORTING THE IMPORTANCE OF REDUCED GLYCAEMIC RESPONSE AND THE USE OF INULIN AND OLIGOFRUCTOSE CAN HELP ACHIEVE THAT AS WELL AS OTHER HEALTH BENEFITS. BY DIEDERICK MEYER, SCIENTIFIC AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS, SENSUS

Moyan Brenn, Anzio, Italy

CARBOHYDRATES are an essential food within our daily diets and are recommended by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and World Health Organization to provide for 40-55 percent of our total energy intake.

There are various types of carbohydrate structures which will determine rapid absorption with high blood glucose levels such as simple sugars, or alternatively, fermentation of certain polysaccharides by our healthy intestinal microbiota with minimal impact on blood glucose.

The increasing pace of today’s lifestyles with eating on-the-go and reduced physical activity tends to encourage snacks and foods comprising rapidly digestible sweet carbohydrates or fats with high calories besides high blood glucose levels.

Increasing studies support the importance of a reduced glycaemic response within our diet contributing, amongst others, to potentially lower the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

The food industr y can now satisfy consumer need by developing products that reduce glycaemic load and with lower sugar content also reducing the caloric intake, that taste as good as the original foods.

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HEALTH IMPACT OF A LOW GLYCAEMIC DIET Lowering the postprandial glycaemic response can be beneficial for a wide range of consumer groups

20/1/15 12:11 pm

INGREDIENTS & ADDITIVES

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

20 YEARS AGO, ONLY ONE PERCENT OF DIABETES CASES IN CHILDREN WERE TYPE 2, WHEREAS NOW IT HAS RISEN TO 50 PERCENT.

Caro Wallis, Lincolnshire, UK

with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes.

Chronically high levels of blood glucose can damage proteins, decreasing their functionality, as well as increasing inflammation which has a detrimental effect on organs such as the kidneys, retina and blood vessels. Despite controversy, recent meta-analysis continues to support the view that glycaemic load may be an important dietary feature relevant to the incidence of diabetes.

The impact of diabetes in both the US and Europe is significant both in terms of human suffering as well as massive health care costs. It is predicted that one in 10 people will have diabetes in 2035. Moreover, there is a substantial increase in type 2 diabetes especially in children.

Paul

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20 years ago, only one percent of diabetes cases in children were type 2, whereas now it has risen to 50 percent. The increase in obesity both in the US and in Europe is driving a growing epidemic in type 2 diabetes.

Obesity is connected with an increase in insulin resistance, the first step in developing type 2 diabetes.

Food manufacturers can use functional ingredients such as inulin and oligofructose from chicory roots to develop products that support healthy blood glucose levels.

With an authorised health claim for a lowered glycaemic response at hand, manufacturers can now market inulin/oligofructose-containing products not only with nutrition claims (lower sugar content and perhaps higher fibre content) but also with a health claim.

Food manufacturers that go a step beyond merely replacing sugar

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with inulin and oligofructose can furthermore claim lower caloric content.

GLYCAEMIC RESPONSE Each time we consume food that contains starch and sugars, these ingredients are broken down during digestion into simple sugars, such as glucose and fructose.

These sugars are then transported via the blood stream to all organs and tissues, which convert these sugars into energy.

The uptake of glucose in our blood stream causes the blood glucose level to rise. This rise in blood glucose after a meal is the so-called postprandial glycaemic response.

The increase in glucose levels of the blood leads to another physiological response, the secretion of the hormone insulin from the pancreas.

This hormone conveys a signal to our organs, such as our muscles, to take up the glucose from the blood, which leads to a lowering of the blood glucose level. In fact, this is a well-designed control and steering mechanism of our metabolism. The rise and fall in blood glucose levels is known as glycaemic response.

Not all foods trigger the same glycaemic response in terms of the level and duration of the glucose peak. High glycaemic response foods spark a fast steep peak, followed by a fast decrease. In contrast, low glycaemic response foods lead to a lower and slower increase in blood glucose levels, and therefore a lower peak, with a slow decrease.

Whether a product is categorised as high or low glycaemic response depends on the type of carbohydrates that is ingested.

Some suggest that when glucose levels get below the starting level— which is the glucose level before food is ingested—people experience increased hunger feelings and start snacking.

When we sustain high glucose levels and in turn high insulin levels for a prolonged period of time, organs respond less to insulin.

In other words, they will become resistant to insulin.

As a result, when the same amount of insulin is excreted, less glucose will be taken up from the blood and glucose levels in the blood remain high. More insulin is then secreted to lower the glucose level, but this cannot go on forever.

Our cells will become insensitive towards the insulin stimulus, meaning that insulin resistance could rise. Over time, the pancreas can potentially produce less of the hormone. This may lead to the unhealthy situation of type 2 diabetes, also known as ‘non-insulin dependent diabetes’ (in people with type 1 diabetes, the cells that produce insulin are damaged due to a genetic defect).

20/1/15 12:11 pm

INGREDIENTS & ADDITIVES

ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015

Uwe Hermann

Emilie Hardman

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Oligofructose and inulin make a good sugar substitute, especially to replace the bulking properties of sugar.

LOWERING GLUCOSE FLUCTUATIONS Carbohydrates that are not broken down or digested into simple sugars by the upper human digestive tract will not affect the blood glucose level.

Inulin and oligofructose are such types of carbohydrates which instead reach the large intestinal tract where they are fermented by the gut microbiota. This means that their building blocks (mainly fructose) are not released into our blood stream (as opposed to sugar, which is digested into glucose and fructose that is then released into the blood stream).

As a result, they do not affect the blood glucose level and trigger a minimal glycaemic response. In essence, a diet with low glycaemic response foods will result in lower fluctuations in blood glucose levels.

F o r t u n a t e l y, b o t h i n u l i n and oligofructose are high-fibre carbohydrates well suited for replacing sugar in a range of food products. By using these ingredients in food products, food manufacturers can lower the glycaemic response of the food.

Both oligofructose and inulin make a good sugar substitute, especially to replace the bulking properties of sugar. That said, oligofructose has a sweeter taste than inulin. However, the final taste and texture of the product with inulin or oligofructose will not be that different

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compared to the ‘full-sugar’ product, but the product will cause a lower postprandial glycaemic response.

An additional benefit is that the use of oligofructose or inulin increases the amount of dietary fibre, helping consumers increase their fibre intake. This is a welcome added benefit of using these ingredients as the intake of fibre is well below the recommended rates nearly everywhere in the world.

GLYCAEMIC LOAD REDUCTION Sucrose, glucose syrup and other sugars are used in a wide range of food applications because of their functional properties. For example, they add sweetness, function as a bulking agent, improve mouth feel, and they can be used for crystallisation, or to improve shelf life of the final product by decreasing water activity, thereby reducing microbial growth.

The perception of sweetness in food products is affected by a combination of the sweetness level and the sweetness profile. For the latter, this means how quickly the sweetness appears, the intensity of the peak and how long the sweetness lasts until it disappears.

Although inulin and oligofructose are sweet, they are around 30 to 50 percent as sweet as sucrose.

Generally, consumers do not notice a relative change in sweetness of 5-10 percent.

However, this depends on the type of application, for example, liquid versus solid foods, along with the fat content of the food product. To compensate for lower sweetness levels in a sugar-reduced formulation, food manufacturers can combine inulin or oligofructose with a high-intensity sweetener, such as sucralose or steviol glycosides.

This combination also helps to reduce the undesired off- and/ or aftertaste associated with most high-intensity sweeteners. In fact, by using a combination of a highintensity sweetener with inulin or oligofructose, food manufacturers can also optimise the taste profile of their food products.

M o re o v e r, re s e a rc h s h o w s that inulin and oligofructose have valuable synergy with high-intensity sweeteners. This means that the combination of inulin or oligofructose with a high-intensity sweetener results in even more sweetness than summing the sweetness of inulin and the high-intensity sweeteners.

The texturising and sensory proper ties of inulin make this ingredient an excellent sugar replacer in a wide range of foods segments.

EFSA has given a positive opinion for a lower glycaemic response health claim for inulin and oligofructose from chicor y roots which will come into effect in the near future.

Food manufacturers can use these functional ingredients to develop food products that support healthy blood glucose levels.

Furthermore, with the various sweetening and texturising properties of inulin and oligofructose, healthier food products with reduced sugar content can be manufactured. Inulin and oligofructose in combination with high-intensity sweeteners can be used to produce great-tasting food products with a lower or even zero sugar content.

For more information, ENTER No: 0151

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HEALTH & NUTRITION 38

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

DISCRETIONARY FORTIFICATION

— A PUBLIC HEALTH PERSPECTIVE

FOOD fortification has long been employed as a strategy to address demonstrated problems of nutrient insufficiency in populations. Although the specific regulatory mechanisms governing such fortification differ across jurisdictions, the guiding principles established by the Codex Alimentarius Commission have served as an international standard for the addition of essential nutrients to foods.

‘Discretionar y fortification’ marks a significant departure from these principles. Sometimes termed ‘liberal’ or ‘voluntary’ fortification, it is the addition of vitamins and minerals at the discretion of food m a n u f a c t u re r s f o r m a r k e t i n g purposes, but not as part of a

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planned public health intervention.

Discretionary fortification is therefore distinct from voluntary fortification programs implemented by public health authorities to address specific population health problems (such as the introduction of voluntary folate fortification in Australia and New Zealand in the 1990s as a strategy to reduce the risk of neural tube defects).

In countries such as the US, where most fortification is voluntary, discretionary fortification denotes nutrient additions that fall outside established standards of identity, nutrition quality guidelines, and other relevant regulations.

In countries like Canada, where nutrient additions aligned with Codex principles are tightly

Michael Porter, Seattle, US

beketchai

‘DISCRETIONARY FORTIFICATION’ REFERS TO THE ADDITION OF VITAMINS AND MINERALS TO FOODS AT THE DISCRETION OF MANUFACTURERS FOR MARKETING PURPOSES, BUT NOT AS PART OF A PLANNED PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTION. AS IT TURNS OUT, REGULATING THE PROCESS HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE AND CONSUMERS ARE OFTEN LEFT TO DETERMINE THE BENEFITS ON THEIR OWN.

BY TARASUK VALERIE, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

20/1/15 11:47 am

HEALTH & NUTRITION

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o f u n c o n t ro l l e d a d d i t i o n s o f micronutrients to the food supply.

Regulators are therefore being challenged to determine safe levels of nutrient addition and establish procedures to monitor the effects of discretionary fortification on the population. As the practice of discretionary fortification unfolds, it is important to consider the public health implications of this phenomenon.

IMPROVE NUTRIENT INTAKES The merits of nutrient additions to specific food products can be evaluated relative to the nutritional needs of target market groups, but assessing the population health impact of discretionary fortification as a policy direction requires analysis of the ef fects of this practice on usual nutrient intakes in the population.

The US presents a particularly f e r t i l e g ro u n d f o r s t u d i e s o f discretionary fortification because of its long history of manufacturerdriven fortification and extensive monitoring of dietary intakes.

neil banas

regulated, discretionary fortification simply describes fortification activity outside mandator y programs.

T h e n u t r i e n t s a d d e d t h ro u g h discretionar y fortification may correspond to nutrient needs in the population, but the defining feature of this fortification practice is that it occurs outside any defined public health strategy.

It is argued that discretionary fortification can provide consumers with a greater variety of sources for nutrients and thus help them to meet their requirements. However, concerns have been expressed that expanding fortification may function in opposition to the promotion of healthy eating, and that it may expose populations to risks of nutrient toxicity.

Fortification has been associated with intakes of some nutrients above tolerable upper intake levels (ULs). Whether such intake levels constitute serious threats to health is a subject of ongoing debate, but the findings highlight the potential for excessive intake in the context

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O n a n y d a y, a b o u t h a l f o f the population consumes some discretionarily for tified food, typically breakfast cereals or beverages. Drawing on data from the 2003–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), it was established that enrichment and fortification had a substantial effect on the prevalence of inadequacy for vitamin A, thiamin, iron, and folate among both children and adults.

Fortification and enrichment also contributed substantially to intake of niacin, riboflavin, and vitamins B6, B12, C, and D, but with less marked effects on nutrient adequacy.

For many B vitamins, the population prevalence of inadequacy was low even without added nutrients from fortification. For other nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and vitamins C and E, fortification appeared insufficient to compensate for suboptimal dietary intakes.

Analyses of the contribution of fortified foods to usual nutrient intakes in other countries also indicate that their consumption d i m i n i s h e s t h e p re v a l e n c e o f inadequacies for some but not all nutrients, and some additions appear unnecessary.

These results highlight the haphazard nature of the effects of manufacturer-driven fortification; benefits only accrue when the nutrients added are not already attained in sufficient amounts from natural sources and when the scale of fortification is sufficient to shift otherwise inadequate intakes to adequate levels. Neither condition is assured when fortification occurs at the discretion of manufacturers.

RISKS OF EXCESS Analyses of the effects of fortification on the upper tails of estimated usual intake distributions suggest that in some instances, this practice may lead to nutrient exposures in excess of established ULs.

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evidence. In many instances, the ULs established for children have been extrapolated from data on adults, raising questions about the validity of these estimates.

However, the most important limitation of the ULs with respect to their application to set policy on discretionary fortification is the fact that the ULs we have now were established to evaluate the safety of current intake levels, not the safety of future fortification. The health implications of long-term exposure to elevated doses of multiple vitamins and minerals from supplements and fortificants are unknown.

INFLUENCE ON DIETARY PATTERNS Separate from questions about the safety of discretionarily fortified foods, there are concerns about the potential for this practice to promote or reinforce food consumption patterns that are deleterious to health.

Given that regulatory frameworks exclude staple foods from discretionary fortification (such as through standards of identity), the foods most likely to be targeted are processed foods with little intrinsic nutritional value.

The fortification of energy dense, nutrient-poor foods that are widely

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On any day, about half of the population consumes some discretionarily fortified food, typically breakfast cereals or beverages.

The health implications of long-term exposure to elevated doses of multiple vitamins and minerals from supplements and fortificants are unknown.

Diego Sevilla Ruiz

Among 2–18 year olds in the 2003–2006 US NHANES, small p ro p o r t i o n s o f t h e e s t i m a t e d distributions of usual intake for vitamin A, niacin, and folate surpassed the ULs when nutrient intakes from for tification and enrichment were taken into account.

Even without considering fortification, 10 percent of children’s zinc intakes exceeded the UL, but this rose to 18 percent when fortified sources were included. When age groups were disaggregated further, 45 percent of 2–8 year olds were found to have usual zinc intakes (from natural and added sources) above the UL. Inter-individual variation in nutrient exposure is commonly observed with mandatory fortification because of betweenperson differences in food selection and consumption patterns, but the potential for such variation is magnified with discretionary fortification because by design, this practice expands the array of food choices by introducing options with greater nutrient density.

The ULs are the only available benchmark against which to appraise the safety of nutrient additions, but it is important to recognise their limitations.

Defined as the highest average daily intake that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects to almost all individuals in the general population, the UL represents a ‘best estimate’ of a safe upper bound for a nutrient.

H o we v e r, th is is a n a s c e n t field in nutrition, and there is a paucity of data upon which to base determinations for many nutrients.

Therefore, we have only crude estimates of safe upper ranges of intake for some nutrients and no estimates whatsoever for others.

Several of the ULs that have been established differ across jurisdictions, reflecting different interpretations of the existing

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Enokson, Alberta, Canada

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consumed can effectively increase nutrient intakes, for example, by the contribution of vitamin C-fortified fruit drinks to US children’s total intakes.

Whether the benefits associated with improved micronutrient intakes outweigh the risks associated with the macronutrient profile of the food vehicle is a matter of debate, as is the question of whether the fortification of foods with undesirable nutritional attributes such as added sugar functions to foster greater consumption of such products.

However, the case of fortified fruit drinks highlights the tension between discretionary fortification practices and public health strategies designed to promote dietar y practices that support healthy body weights and lessen risks of diet-related chronic diseases.

With foods high in added sugars now targeted for reduction in an effort to combat rising rates of obesity, public health measures that limit the consumption of sugarsweetened fruit drinks in the US could adversely affect children’s micronutrient intakes.

SETTING SAFETY STANDARDS As discretionar y for tification practices expand, recognition of the potential risks of uncontrolled nutrient additions to the food supply is driving the development of safety standards.

These may include prohibiting the addition of some nutrients (such as retinol) or delineating the nutrients allowed to be added at the discretion of manufacturers and setting limits on the amounts of particular nutrients that can be added per 100 kcal or portion of food.

5pp Discretionary Fortification 3.indd 41

WHETHER THE BENEFITS ASSOCIATED WITH IMPROVED MICRONUTRIENT INTAKES OUTWEIGH THE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MACRONUTRIENT PROFILE OF THE FOOD VEHICLE IS A MATTER OF DEBATE. The myriad of assumptions and data limitations underpinning the estimation procedures being used to develop safety standards begs the question of how well regulators will be able to manage the potential risks associated with expanding discretionary fortification.

The benchmarks being applied to define upper safe levels of intake derive from very crude estimation procedures, in many cases with very limited data on toxicity; the resulting estimates are not necessarily indicative of safety in relation to the chronically high nutrient exposures that will result from expanded fortification and continued supplement use.

The manufacturing practice of overage means that nutrient levels in foods consumed may be higher than those listed in food composition databases. Furthermore, discretionarily fortified foods are not well captured in existing food composition databases and dietary intake surveys, because this is such a rapidly evolving practice.

Errors in the assessment of nutrient intakes from fortified foods have serious implications for safety calculations premised on filling the ‘free space’ because fortified food consumers sit at the upper tails of population intake distributions; underestimation of their intakes means an overestimation of the potential for expanded fortification.

MANAGING EXPOSURE THROUGH LABELLING In addition to restricting nutrient additions, regulatory bodies can influence food manufacturing practices with respect to fortification

through the implementation of labelling regulations that function as marketing incentives and disincentives.

In the US, for example, voluntary food fortification has been managed in part through the regulation of nutrient content claims that are tied to specific compositional criteria.

It is assumed that manufacturers will fortify products to the levels required to enable them to make specific nutrient content claims (such as ‘product X is a good/ excellent source of nutrient Y’), but there will be no marketing advantage to nutrient additions beyond the thresholds for these claims.

The extent to which voluntary fortification practices are intertwined with nutrition labelling regulations in the US is evident in the public health concerns spawned by plans to update the Daily Values used in nutrition labelling (a reference standard based on recommended nutrient intakes) to reflect more current science.

If lower Daily Values are set for some nutrients, this could result in lower nutrient additions to widely c o n s u m e d p ro d u c t s b e c a u s e manufacturers need to add less to qualify for nutrient content claims, with potentially deleterious effects on nutrient adequacy in the population.

Further evidence of the dynamic relationship between regulated labelling and product formulation in the US can be found in the Institute of Medicine’s recent decision to not include an assessment of micronutrients in its recommendation for standardised front-of-package nutrition labelling, s o a s n o t t o e n c o u r a g e m o re

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voluntary food fortification and increase the risk of excessive nutrient intakes.

As discretionary fortification expands, food manufacturers appear to be seizing opportunities for product innovation and taking new approaches to food marketing. While our examination of novel beverages was very limited in scale, the onpackage marketing of these products was noteworthy.

The presence of specific nutrients was typically indicated on the front-of-package, but most manufacturers eschewed regulated nutrient content claims, diet-related health claims, or other conventional nutrition references. This occurred even though the levels of nutrient addition far exceeded thresholds required to make such claims.

DISCERNING BENEFIT The development of regulations based on the principle of filling the ‘free space’ without exceeding the upper bounds of safe intakes denoted by the current ULs could conceivably protect populations from excessive nutrient exposures, assuming estimates of exposure were accurate and the science underpinning whatever ULs were applied was sound and relevant to emerging fortification scenarios.

Even with these caveats though, it is important to recognise that such regulatory action does not imply, let

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alone ensure, that discretionarily fortified foods will confer any benefit to those who purchase them.

The task of discerning benefit in the context of market-driven food fortification is left entirely to the consumer. This extraordinarily difficult task is ill-supported by the nutrition information currently provided to consumers.

While the labels of discretionarily fortified foods may include nutrition and health claims, such text appears at the discretion of the manufacturer and it is part of product marketing.

The only mandatory, standardised nutrition information on product labels in most jurisdictions is a Nutrition Facts table. The table provides information on the nutrient contribution of one ser ving for selected nutrients, expressed as a percentage of the Daily Value. Yet, it is not uncommon for novel beverages to report nutrient levels that are several hundred percent of the Daily Value.

The Nutrition Facts table communicates nothing about the probability that a consumer stands to benefit, or could be placed at risk, from the nutrients listed.

An extraordinarily high level of nutrition knowledge is required for a consumer to understand that he already has a very high probability of meeting his riboflavin or niacin requirement, for example, and therefore is unlikely to benefit from consuming a beverage offering 500

percent of the Daily Value for that nutrient.

Consumers cannot possibly differentiate between nutrients added that would help them to meet their requirements and nutrient additions that are simply about manufacturers filling the ‘free space’.

Nutrition education programs could perhaps be developed to help consumers evaluate the potential risks and benefits of specific discretionarily-added nutrients, but this would necessitate training people to micro-manage their micronutrient loads.

D i s c re t i o n a r y f o r t i f i c a t i o n represents a marked departure from food fortification designed to address public health needs. The potential for health benefits from manufacturerdriven fortification appears to be remote, given how common it now is for manufacturers to add nutrients with no evidence of need.

Unfortunately, we are ill-equipped to appraise the risks of permitting expanded food fortification for marketing purposes. While there is a strong foundation of nutritional science upon which to determine the benefits (or lack thereof) of discretionary nutrient additions, the long-term health implications of chronic exposure to the high nutrient loads achievable through expanding fortification and supplement use are largely unknown.

Therefore, the risks of discretionary fortification remain to be discovered.

With regulators attempting to manage the safety of rapidly evolving fortification practices through crude estimates of the ‘free space’ left to be filled with nutrient additions, while leaving consumers to discriminate between possibly beneficial fortification and gratuitous nutrient additions, discretionary fortification is a policy direction in need of serious review.

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DESPITE STRATEGIES EMPLOYED TO TACKLE MICRONUTRIENT MALNUTRITION, LIMITED PROGRESS HAS BEEN ACHIEVED IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT THE MOST COST-EFFECTIVE APPROACHES TO ADDRESS SYMPTOMS OF MICRONUTRIENT MALNUTRITION ARE TARGETED SUPPLEMENTATION AND/OR FORTIFICATION. BY CRISTIANA BERTI AND CORNELIUS M SMUTS, NORTH-WEST UNIVERSITY, AND MIEKE FABER, SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL MICRONUTRIENT malnutrition, also known as hidden hunger, reduces learning and cognitive ability, impairs growth, reduces immunity, decreases working capacity, causes several pregnancy complications, blindness, goitre, and raises the risk of mortality.

The populations most at risk of such deficiencies are infants and children, women of reproductive age, pregnant women, and the elderly. Lack of dietary diversity (monotonous diets), poor mineral bioavailability in plant foods, incidence of illness and disease, and increased physiological demands are the main contributors to micronutrient deficiencies.

Of global concern are deficiencies in iron, vitamin A, zinc, folate, and iodine. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that over two billion people are at risk of vitamin A, iodine, and/or iron deficiency, with the most severe problems found in developing countries.

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Chris Zielecki, Hamburg, Germany

CHALLENGE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Rego Korosi

FORTIFICATION

Short-, intermediate-, and long-term sustainable solutions that are based on scientific evidence of both efficacy and effectiveness must be pursued to alleviate micronutrient malnutrition in developing countries. Although several approaches are practiced to address micronutrient malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies remain a global challenge, which suggests that gaps remain to be filled at both research and public health levels.

The most conventional and widely practiced strategies used to address micronutrient malnutrition are supplementation and food fortification. These strategies do not, however, address the primary cause of poor micronutrient status—inadequate dietary intake because of food insecurity—and may not be the most acceptable, accessible, or appropriate strategies for rural and/or ultrapoor households.

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Complementary strategies are needed in these contexts that support culturally appropriate dietary modification and community- and agriculture-based interventions, with simultaneous efforts to improve capacity and reach of supplementation and fortification.

Nicholas Noyes, New York, US

SUPPLEMENTATION Provision of large doses of micronutrients in highly absorbable form normally provides the fastest amelioration of the micronutrient status of individuals or targeted populations. Examples of such provisions include supplementation programs targeting anaemia through iron supplementation; folic acid supplementation in pregnant women; and vitamin A supplementation in children younger than five years.

Analysis of available supplementation programs show that provision of micronutrient supplementation is most effective when combined with other maternal and child health interventions through primary health care systems or health care delivery systems.

VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENTATION Integrated approaches are not only more effective, but also cheaper than stand-alone supplementation programs. In Bangladesh, children aged 9–11 months receive vitamin A capsules at the time of measles vaccination, and children aged 12–59 months receive a massive-dose capsule every six months. In 2007, 88 percent of children had received a vitamin A capsule during the last six months, but the coverage of postpartum vitamin A supplementation to mothers was only 20 percent.

In Nepal, vitamin A supplements are provided through community health workers, who also provide nutrition education, contraceptives, oral rehydration solution, and information on health and family planning (80–90 percent coverage is achieved in areas where the community health worker program is running).

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According to the 2005–2006 National Family Health Survey in India, only 20.2 percent of children had received a vitamin A capsule in the previous six months. In an attempt to improve coverage, the Bihar State in India successfully introduced community health workers to increase the coverage of vitamin A supplementation beyond the levels achieved through routine contact with the health system.

This was made possible through the political decisions to assign human and program resources. According to UNICEF, vitamin A supplementation coverage rates have shown dramatic increases over the past few years, and in 2008, 71 percent of 6-59 months old children in developing countries had received two doses of vitamin A. The delivery system is the major cost of vitamin A supplementation programs, not the supplement itself.

Supplementation is the fastest way to control micronutrient deficiencies in individuals or population groups. It is, however, a temporary solution and does not address the underlying cause of nutrient deficiency. To achieve population impact and be most cost effective, micronutrient supplements should be distributed through the primary health care system.

Major barriers to effective iron supplementation programs are inadequate counselling and distribution, difficulty of access, and poor utilisation of health care services.

FORTIFICATION Food fortification is potentially an effective strategy to address micronutrient malnutrition. In some cases, fortification is targeted toward foods that are eaten by specific population groups.

In school children, for example, studies have showed beneficial effects of MMN-fortified foods (beverages, milk products, biscuits, seasoning powder) on child growth and cognitive domains related to memory and reduced morbidity from diarrhoea and respiratory infections.

With mass fortification at a national level, the focus is on foods that are widely consumed in constant and sufficient amounts by the majority of the target population.

Examples of fortified foods in developing countries are salt (with iodine) and wheat or maize flour (with several micronutrients). Iodisation of salt has been shown to significantly decrease the incidence of hypothyroidism, while folic acid-fortified flour has been shown to significantly reduce neural-tube defects and other congenital abnormalities.

Traditional condiments and seasonings (such as soy and fish sauces or curry powder) have been proposed as fortification vehicles, mainly in countries where they are widely consumed. In Vietnamese women, for example, consumption of fortified fish oil was shown to improve iron status and reduce the prevalence of anaemia.

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camknows, Washington, US

Supplementation is the fastest way to control micronutrient deficiencies in individuals or population groups.

Programs using iodised salt to prevent iodine deficiency are recognised as a major global publichealth success. In 2011, an excessive intake of iodine was observed in 11 countries, highlighting the importance of regular monitoring of iodine status to detect both low and excessive intake of iodine.

Challenges in salt iodisation programs are, reaching economically disadvantaged groups living in remote areas, and convincing the food industry and small-scale producers to iodise their salt.

FORTIFICATION VEHICLE The choice of fortification vehicle affects the impact of food fortification on iron outcome indicators. The selection of a vehicle food for a fortification program requires consideration of the matrix of the food, as this could affect the fortificant bioavailability, the dietary habits of the target population and the cost of the intervention.

The vehicle food must be commonly consumed in constant, but sufficient amounts by a large proportion of the target population, accessible and available, considered feasible for the addition of bioavailable fortificants, and be produced in a few centralised sites.

Mass fortification of staple foods is generally designed for the adult population, which is expected to consume a larger amount of flour-processed products than children.

Because infants and small children consume relatively small amounts of food, mass flour fortification has little impact in this age group.

The importance of the vehicle food is further illustrated in data from Guatemala, which showed that the consumption of fortified wheat flour was about 15 times higher among non-poor than among extremely poor families because rural indigenous populations in the highlands tend to consume corn rather than wheat.

The vehicle food may also affect the cost of the fortification. For example, a vitamin A compound needed for fortification of dry matrices (such as flour) is at least four times more expensive than the oily forms. Data from

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tracy benjamin, Redwood City, US

46

Uganda suggest that fortifying vegetable oil with vitamin A is 4.6 times more cost effective than fortifying sugar with vitamin A. FORTIFICANT Fortification costs constitute approximately 80 percent of total fortification program cost.

Successful food fortification programs require high bioavailability of micronutrient compounds to be used in fortified products.

Furthermore, the fortificant must be stable, have a long shelf life, and should not alter the colour, taste or appearance of the food. For nutrients such as iron, bioavailability in fortified foods is of critical importance. The iron compound used for fortification may, in fact, affect the iron outcome indicators.

In Brazil, for example, mandatory flour fortification was shown to be ineffective in reducing the prevalence of anaemia in children, probably because of the low bioavailability of the fortificant used.

Barriers for a positive impact of fortification programs were the use of non-recommended, low-cost, low-bioavailability fortificants, low fortification levels and low coverage.

Effective fortification programs usually require legislation that mandates the private sector to comply with the fortification guidelines. Governments play a critical role in quality assurance, monitoring, and enforcement of fortification regulations.

HOME FORTIFICATION Home (point of use) fortification represents a novel and innovative approach for fortifying foods at the household level using three types of food supplements: 1) foodlets, which are crushable or water-soluble micronutrient tablets; 2) sprinkles, which are single-dose packets containing multiple vitamins and minerals in powder form (MNP) that can be sprinkled onto any semisolid food; and 3) lipid-based nutrient supplements, which are micronutrient-fortified lipid-based spreads/pastes providing energy, protein, and essential fatty acids in addition to vitamins and minerals.

A foodlet providing daily multiple micronutrients was shown to be efficacious for controlling anaemia and iron deficiency. Micronutrient powders/sprinkles were also shown to be efficacious in reducing anaemia and iron deficiency in infants and children under two, and seem to be as efficacious as the commonly used daily iron supplementation. Home-fortified complementary foods did not, however, exert any benefit on child growth and were associated with increased incidence of diarrhoea.

Products used for home fortification are usually unfamiliar to the target population. Before large-scale implementation, assessing acceptance of these products

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within a given sociocultural context and gathering of information on the type of information that needs to be provided to improve adherence is important, as this may improve compliance.

Thorough training of staff, social marketing, community mobilisation, continued monitoring, and prompt management of adverse events are important.

Although the risk of toxicity because of excessive intake is low, packing the product in single-dose sachets, rather than larger containers, could be beneficial. Labelling is important to ensure correct use by the target population.

Scaling up requires a reliable high-quality supply of the product and sustainable distribution systems that are able to reach the most vulnerable populations. Data from a pilot study in India showed that it is feasible to distribute sprinkles through an existing program.

For market-based community distribution, continued promotion and monitoring are essential.

Home fortification strategies use home-prepared food as a vehicle; it is therefore important to cover topics on hygienic preparation of complementary foods and hand washing in the behavioural and communication campaigns that promote appropriate use of MNP.

In general, it is strongly recommended to use foodbased approaches in conjunction with public health inter ventions such as promotion and support of breastfeeding, control of infectious and parasitic diseases, education, and sanitation.

In summary, food fortification can reach a large sector of the population through existing food delivery systems, but the impact will depend on the fortification vehicle and the fortificant used.

Home fortification is an innovative approach, but further investigation is required to evaluate its impact on health outcomes, as well as the way to deliver this intervention effectively in public health programs.

Food fortification programs continue to face structural hurdles, as they require political support and long-term commercial commitment. Fortification strategies further require appropriate technical capacity, social marketing, community mobilisation, privatesector awareness, partnerships, coordination, and continued monitoring.

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BEVERAGES 48

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

MAKING SOY CONVENIENT SOY BEVERAGES HAVE BEEN A PROMINENT PART OF THE ASIAN DIET FOR MANY CENTURIES AND ARE BECOMING INCREASINGLY POPULAR IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD AS WELL. SUCCESS OF A SOY DRINK PRODUCT DEPENDS ON ITS HOMOGENEITY DURING ITS SHELF-LIFE, WHICH CAN BE ACHIEVED WITH THE RIGHT EMULSIFIER AND STABILISER COMBINATION. BY KHOREEN NEW, SENIOR APPLICATION TECHNOLOGIST FOR DAIRY, ICE CREAM AND SOY, PALSGAARD ASIA-PACIFIC short shelf-life, manufacturers need to look at new production methods if they want to match the needs of today’s convenience seeking consumers.

The use of ultra-high temperature (UHT) technology can help create products with shelf-lives ranging

from several months up to a year. In order to manufacture homogenous products with the right mouthfeel and creaminess, the right emulsifiers and stabilisers must be used.

Soy beverages have a history of over 5,000 years and are an important source of protein for

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SOY milk has been part of the Asian diet for centuries and is becoming increasingly popular in other parts of the world too as it is being perceived as a healthy alternative to cow’s milk.

H o w e v e r, a s s o y m i l k h a s traditionally been produced in small batches in small shops and has a

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many people, especially those who are lactose intolerant. Soy milk contains the same amount of protein as cow’s milk and therefore, is often perceived as an alternative to dairy milk. Besides being a good source of protein, soy based foods are also known to provide numerous health benefits, such as: • Lower fat content, mostly unsaturated fat with zero cholesterol • Naturally lower sugar content compared to regular milk • Only contain vegetable protein • Fewer people allergic to soy than cow’s milk • Promote bone health • Promote weight loss/control • Prevent cancer • Prevent cardiovascular diseases Countries such as China, Japan, Brazil, the US and Thailand consume vast amounts of soy-based products and are likely to continue to do so.

Market research firm Euromonitor International has projected very promising growth for soy milk and drinks from 2013-2018. In 2013 alone, soy drinks had a market size of US$2.6 billion, of which, the market size of soy milk was US$4.81 billion.

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SOY MILK Soy milk is the water extract from whole soy beans. It is an emulsion of fat in water containing water soluble proteins, carbohydrate and oil droplets. Soy milk has traditionally been produced by small shops daily in small batches. These are sold daily and have a short shelf-life.

The soy beans are usually soaked, grinded, filtered and cooked to produce soy milk.

Nowadays, a large proportion of industrially produced soy milk is made by means of the UHT process and aseptic filling which will provide a longer shelf-life at room temperature. This puts a great demand on the stability of the product to remain homogeneous throughout its entire shelf-life to gain consumers’ acceptance.

This can be done through direct as well as indirect UHT systems. From a stability as well as sensory point of view, direct systems can provide better results. Direct systems result in less chemical changes in the product due to lower total heat load and extraction of oxygen from the product in the vacuum chamber. However, indirect systems are usually used due to lower investment and operating costs.

SOY DRINKS Soy drinks are popular beverages in countries such as China, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia and Argentina.

They contain no less than 1.5 percent protein, less than 0.5 percent fat and 5-15 percent sugar.

Unlike soy milk (three percent protein or more, one percent fat or more) which is known as a non-dair y milk alternative, soy b e v e r a g e s a re re c o g n i s e d a s sweet and nutritious drinks that are consumed as soft drink.

Whichever UHT system is used, the application of emulsifiers and stabilisers in soy milk and soy drinks is necessary. These products are emulsions of oil in water, and to ensure optimal emulsion stability, ie: reduce creaming during the entire shelf-life, proper homogenisation and addition of emulsifiers and stabilisers

SOY MILK

Positioned as milk alternatives. Soy milk is typically fresh/pasteurised, found in chiller compartments, and contain a significant amount of soy protein per serving. Brands such as Silk (White Wave) contain six grams of soy protein per serving (approximately 250 ml) or 2.4 grams per 100 ml.

Other brands such as Alpro Soja (Vandemoortele International NV) contain two grams of soy protein per 100 ml. Vive Soy (Leche Pascual) contains 3.3 grams of soy protein per 100 ml serving.

SOY DRINKS

Typically long-life, with a minimal amount of soy protein per serving.

These products are positioned more as regular beverages (competing against soft drinks) rather than milk alternatives. Often, there is little or no information on soy protein content per serving.

Black soy drinks have become more popular recently in Asia.

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a re n e c e s s a r y. F u r t h e r m o re , stabilisers can improve the stability of the proteins, thereby minimising sedimentation during the storage of the soy products.

EMULSIFIERS FOR SOY BEVERAGES Mono- and di-glycerides of fatty acids are commonly used in soy beverages. Mono- and di-glycerides are emulsifiers produced by the reaction of vegetable fats and oil and glycerol. The end result is a molecule with ambiphilic properties, meaning part of the structure is hydrophilic while other moieties have a lipophilic nature and consequently, it is placed at the interface between the fat/protein and water during homogenisation, which helps to reduce fat separation.

When used in multiphase systems, the emulsifier will take a position which is favourable with respect to energy and minimise coalescence of the fat globules.

STABILISERS FOR SOY BEVERAGES S t a b i l i s e r s a re w a t e r - s o l u b l e polysaccharides extracted from land or marine plants or from microorganisms. Adding stabilisers helps create the network required to suspend particles, increase viscosity, and improve mouthfeel. They are used for their thickening and stabilising properties.

There are many types of stabilisers available which are unique in their own way: Carrageenan, which is derived from red seaweed, is commonly used as a stabiliser in soy milk.

Carrageenan forms a helix with the negatively charge dsulphate group.

Carrageenan can be classified into kappa, lambda and Iota carrageenan based on their chemical composition.

In order to achieve the best re s u l t s t h ro u g h c a r r a g e e n a n application, the filling temperature

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THE CHALLENGE IN GETTING A STABLE AND UNIFORM SOY PRODUCT LIES IN CHOOSING THE RIGHT EMULSIFIER AND STABILISER BLEND (E/S).

Countries with a large market size for soy drinks in 2013 (Source: Euromonitor International) Name of country

Market size for 2013, US $ mn

Per Capita for 2013, US $

Forecast Growth 2013-2018 CAGR

China

1166.6

0.9

5.0%

Brazil

787.7

4.0

6.9%

Mexico

187.1

1.6

4.1%

Malaysia

124.8

4.3

3.4%

Argentina

107.0

2.6

5.1%

Countries with a large market size for soy milk in 2013 (Source: EuroMonitor International) Name of country Japan

Market size for 2013, US $ mn

Per Capita for 2013, US $

Forecast Growth 2013-2018 CAGR

1056.3

8.3

2.8%

US

746.3

2.4

- 5.3%

Thailand

403.6

5.9

7.0%

South Korea

367.1

7.3

3.4%

Spain

209.8

4.6

- 4.1%

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BEVERAGES

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Numerous factors have to be considered when using E/S blends for chocolate soy drinks: the percentage of total solid, percentage of fat, percentage of protein, and percentage and type of cocoa powder used all have some effects on the end product.

has to be less than 25 degree C in order to form a carrageenan network.

This network will lose its gel strength if it is subjected to high temperature.

Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) is becoming increasingly popular as a stabiliser in chocolate beverages.

MCC is derived from plant fibres and is often used in combination with carrageenan for synergistic effects. With shear, MCC forms a three-dimensional matrix and is not affected by temperature.

When suspension of particles is required, gellan gum is often used.

Gellan gum is produced through fermentation of algae. There are two types of gellan gum, high acyl gellan gum and low acyl gellan gum. Gellan

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gum form gels in which particles are trapped.

Pectin, mainly extracted from citrus peels, is often used in low pH beverages. They are used as a gelling agent, thickening agent and stabiliser in food.

CHALLENGE OF CHOCOLATE SOY DRINKS The challenge in getting a stable and uniform soy product lies in choosing the right emulsifier and stabiliser blend (E/S), especially in chocolate soy beverages.

Underdosing/unsuitable E/S will cause sedimentation whereas overdosing will cause separation and/or gelation. Numerous factors

have to be taken into consideration when using any E/S blends: the percentage of total solid, percentage of fat, percentage of protein, and percentage and type of cocoa powder used all have some effects on the end product.

Besides, the type of heat treatment plays a par t too.

Pasteurisation, UHT and retort are the three common types of heat treatments used on soy beverages.

The lower the amount of heat used in pasteurisation, the shorter the shelf-life of the product. Retort is the harshest heat treatment to soy beverage. The dosage of E/S needs to be adjusted according to the type of heat treatment used.

Creating a stable chocolate soy beverage is more difficult than chocolate milk as it contains more fibres. By using a standard carrageenan system, the network will not be good enough to hold the cocoa particulates. A microcrystalline cellulose or gellan gum system will help in creating the network required for such application.

Other factors such as filling temperature will also have an effect on the stability of the end product. There are E/S solutions available in the market for filling temperatures below and above 30 degree C. In addition to neutral pH soy beverages, acidified soy drinks with a low pH of around four can also be created.

A refreshing soy drink can be flavoured with a juice concentrate such as orange, apple and mango depending on local taste and preferences. As it is a low pH beverage, the heat treatment must be set to 110 degree C/four sec, as low pH and high heat treatment will cause the protein to be precipated out.

For more information, ENTER No: 0170

19/1/15 9:04 am

SPECIAL FEATURE

COLD CHAIN INTRALOGISTICS:

THE KEY TO RELIABILITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH INCREASED CONSUMER DEMAND FOR FROZEN FOOD PRODUCTS AND A HIGHLY COMPETITIVE MARKET WITH LOW MARGINS, FOOD PROCESSORS, DISTRIBUTORS AND RETAILERS ARE SHIFTING AWAY FROM MANUALLY OPERATED SUB-ZERO FACILITIES AND TURNING TO HIGH-BAY DEEP-FREEZE WAREHOUSES, EQUIPPED WITH STREAMLINED LOGISTICS PROCESSES. BY KOH SENG TECK, HEAD OF WDS SOUTHEAST ASIA, SWISSLOG THE global demand for frozen food has continued to grow as it has been for the past decade, driven by increasing demand for convenience with consumers looking for healthy, but less time-consuming meals.

The meat segment has accounted for the highest share of the frozen food market segment followed by frozen ready meals and pizza. However, frozen fish/seafood, fruit and vegetables, bakery and desserts, and potato products have also contributed to the growth.

According to the forecast by market research firm TechNavio, the global cold chain market had a revenue of US$75 billion in 2011 and is expected to reach US$157 billion by 2017 at a CAGR of 13.2 percent. Asia Pacific is set to be the fastest growing region with a CAGR of 17 percent.

In the face of this continually rising global demand for frozen food products, the need for a more reliable and

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efficient deep-freeze supply chain has become a challenge to overcome.

An unbroken deep-freeze supply chain is an uninterrupted series of storage and distribution activities which maintain frozen products at a consistent sub-zero temperature range. Consequently, deepfreeze warehousing has become a focal point for food processors, distribution centres and retailers to streamline throughput and improve cost efficiencies.

DEEP FREEZE CHALLENGES The first cold chain challenge that companies face is the maintenance of high product quality under subzero temperature. Across the entire supply chain, from the food manufacturers, wholesale distribution centres, multiple retailer distribution centres to retailers, products must be kept at a deep freeze temperature of -28 deg C.

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In order to comply with cold chain regulations, products can only be exposed to up to +18 deg C for a maximum duration of 20 minutes and +4 deg C for a maximum duration of 30 minutes during storage and transportation. In addition, tracking and temperature history records must be maintained for reference purposes.

The second challenge is that of speed. Every aspect of sub-zero warehousing is moving faster. The consumption of frozen products has increased dramatically and rapid replenishment of retailers’ shelves is important in order to not lose any sales in stores.

As a result, companies have to facilitate faster receiving and dispatch of goods. In order to stay competitive, food products, distribution centres and retailers need to implement systems for deep-freeze that will have the flexibility to adjust to market conditions such as increases in SKU range and shortened lead times very quickly and accurately.

Deep-freeze facilities need to acquire the same standards of storage and picking methods used successfully in the chilled and dry grocery product sectors. They require systems that will respond to retailer needs and get products out of the deep-freeze warehouse to retail outlets quickly and with minimal order errors.

Today, producers, distributors and retailers of frozen food products need to track and identify where each pallet came from, where it was stored, what the temperature was in storage, and other critical data to keep track of its perishable inventory and ensure its product integrity.

Manual handling leaves open the possibility of human error, but streamlined programmable logic controller (PLC)-controlled automation, integrated with a warehouse management system (WMS), provides this data quickly with reliable and verifiable documentation.

EXTREME WORKING CONDITIONS The third challenge is ensuring operational efficiency in extreme environment with difficult working conditions. Compared to non-deep-freeze facilities, most manually-operated sub-zero warehouses have a higher incidence of product damage, missed product rotation

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and wrong item fulfilment which have negative impacts on order fulfilment.

These warehouses also have heightened facility, equipment and product damage, primarily caused by manually-operated fork lifts impacting racks and doors, significantly higher than that found in ambient temperature and chilled warehouses.

Not surprisingly, personnel turnover in sub-zero storage facilities is also higher than in non-deep-freeze warehouses. Whilst the temperature in these facilities is cold enough to store food products safely, it creates an extreme environment with difficult working conditions for personnel, increased safety issues, and staff recruitment and retention problems.

Automation of deep-freeze warehousing has been embraced as an ideal solution to these difficulties. The most streamlined frozen food warehouses today are highly automated sites, with maximised high-bay, highdensity storage utilising automatic storage and retrieval system (ASRS).

These deep-freeze warehouses maintain precision product identification and rotation, provide rapid throughput at over 99.9 percent accuracy levels, and are considerably more energy efficient than their manuallyoperated predecessors.

SWITCHING TO AUTOMATED SYSTEMS There are major benefits for warehouses to switch from a manual to an automated deep-freeze facility: maximised building volume utilisation and increased cost efficiency through high-bay accessibility.

In a typical manually-operated sub-zero warehouse, forklift trucks are limited to a maximum reach of around 12 metres, allowing for pallets to be placed into four vertical positions on the rack system.

If a deep-freeze needs to store more pallets, the only way it can go is horizontally by expanding the footprint of the warehouse or building another deep-freeze to accommodate the additional pallet locations. It is not unusual for food manufacturers to have multiple manual deep-freeze locations, continuing to add storage footprint as the company expands.

Within a high-bay warehouse system, it is possible to have as many as 20 vertical pallet positions on racks 40

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www.swisslog.com/wds_sea

Automated systems using high-density storage can maximise warehouse volume utilisation and optimise energy efficiency.

metres high. For the deep-freeze warehouse environment this is an important efficiency factor in footprint consolidation.

It can handle the same number of pallets, but on a smaller footprint. Footprint reduction becomes an increasingly important factor in energy savings since much of the cold loss in a sub-zero warehouse occurs through the roof.

In effect, deep-freeze warehouses are giant insulated freezers which extract heat to produce a cold environment.

The removal of heat comes at a hefty energy cost. Having a smaller roof footprint in a sub-zero warehouse presents a considerably better energy solution.

Typically, 43 percent of the refrigeration load in a deep-freeze is due to losses through the roof and walls.

For example, high-bay deep-freezes, on average, have 40 percent less surface area than warehouses using lift trucks. A 2,000 sq m high-bay deep-freeze facility with 10,000 pallet locations could reduce energy costs by up to one-third of that needed for a manual facility handling the same number of pallet locations.

Those high-bay, deep-freeze warehouses that are the most energy and cost efficient have achieved a high density of space utilisation. This means they have a space configuration that allows for the maximum number of pallet positions to fit into the facility.

VERTICAL OPTIMISATION High-bay systems optimise cubic space usage in deepfreeze, not only by their vertical stacking capability, but also by minimising aisle cubic footage.

By eliminating the need for forklift trucks, aisles can be made significantly narrower—allowing 3.7 m wide aisles to become just 1.5 m wide. This space can then be used for more pallet positions.

Aside from maximising the cubic space utilisation of the physical deep-freeze structure itself, it is the automated equipment inside that defines the warehouse’s

3pp Swisslog.indd 54

throughput speed and efficiency. However, designing systems that will function optimally under these extreme conditions requires careful engineering.

Not all automated warehouse equipment performs well at -28 deg C. The most high-speed and durable material handling equipment capable of a high level performance at ambient temperatures would in short time be incapacitated in a deep-freeze environment.

Specially blended steels, oils, greases and other lubricants for gearboxes, bearings and drives are specified for extreme low temperatures. Wiring and electrical cables are designed to flex in these temperatures. PLCs, PCs and other electronic controls components are kept in heated cabinets.

Photo-electronic sensors that feed computer information and detect pallets are maintained to be free from frost by being equipped with heating devices.

Automated systems for deep-freeze need to be designed to include these features, not only so that they can be highly streamlined, but also for system longevity.

Such equipment encompasses a range of fully-automatic and semi-automatic options, including ASRS for miniloads, robotic picking systems for cases, and modular conveying systems for pallets and unit loads.

ASRS is a fully automatic system for deposit, storing and retrieving unit loads from defined storage locations.

They allow inventory to be moved quickly, safely and precisely in a warehouse environment.

When applied to a sub-zero warehouse, ASRS produce dramatic results, effectively making a deep-freeze facility as efficient as an automated ambient or chilled warehouse.

The latest generation of ASRS provides a uniquely flexible and modular design that is equipped with a multiload remote pallet handling capability, ideal for deep-freeze warehouse automation at its coldest (-28 deg C).

These ASRS allow rapid configuration to the right storage and retrieval need for almost any application.

From floor level to up to 40 m (131 feet) tall, they provide single-deep, double-deep, triple-deep and multi-deep storage configuration, with the flexibility to handle one and multi-loads at a time.

High-bay deep-freeze warehouses are ideal candidates for the precise and efficient tracking of frozen food products because of their highly automated and computer-controlled systems.

The warehouses’ WMS, along with PLCs in the ASRS and modular conveying system, are capable of monitoring pallet moving, production dates and weight as the unit loads and cases are moved through and stored in the facility.

For more information, ENTER No: 0180

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Enquiry Number

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3814

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DRIVEN BY CONCERNS DESPITE CONSUMERS SWITCHING TO CHEAPER GROCERIES DURING THE ECONOMIC RECESSION, THE GLOBAL FUNCTIONAL FOODS MARKET CONTINUES TO GROW. HOW MUCH OF THIS GROWTH HAS BEEN DRIVEN BY MORE PEOPLE SEEKING OUT FUNCTIONAL FOODS TO ADDRESS NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES, AND WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HORIZON OF THIS SECTOR LOOK LIKE? BY JONATHAN THOMAS, PRINCIPAL MARKET ANALYST, LEATHERHEAD FOOD RESEARCH Japan has the world’s largest market for functional foods, worth an estimated US$17.5 billion in 2013. This equates to 40.5 percent of global sales, ahead of the US (38.1 percent) and Europe (20.2 percent).

It should be noted that, in addition to geographical limitations, the market size data also excludes products such as energy drinks and mood-enhancing products. If these are included, global market value increases to more than US$61 billion.

Within the last four years, market growth has been especially evident in the US, at more than 29 percent.

Much of this has been driven by the rising demand for

Garrett Ziegler, New York, US

GROWTH within the global market for functional foods continues to outpace that for the food and drink industry as a whole, although there are signs that some sectors are currently witnessing static or declining demand in parts of the world. Much of this has been driven by consumer health and wellness concerns, which remain as strong as ever.

With consumers living longer and seeking to maintain active lifestyles as they progress beyond middle age, a role clearly exists for food and drinks offering functional health benefits.

In 2013, sales of functional foods in Japan, the US, Western Europe’s largest five countries and Australia were worth US$43.27 billion. This represents an increase in value terms of 26.7 percent compared to 2009 when sales within these parts of the world were worth US$34.14 billion.

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Horia Varlan, Bucharest, Romania

Digestive health products have featured strongly in both Japan and Australia, while new product development (NPD) suggests that Australians display a strong preference for food and drinks marketed on a weight management platform.

Aikawa Ke, Taipei, Taiwan

57

products such as probiotic dairy foods and breakfast cereals fortified with whole grains.

A recent consumer research from Sloan Trends suggests that more people in the US are increasingly opting for functional foods to address perceived dietary deficiencies, rather than supplements. In contrast, both the Japanese and the European functional foods markets are at a later stage of development, and hence growth has been more modest.

Although consumer penetration levels for many types of functional food remain high in both regions, there is evidence that a significant percentage of the European population distrust some of the health claims typically made.

Growth within the European market has also been hampered by more stringent health claims legislation, which has significantly increased the onus on manufacturers to back up their products with robust scientific research.

DIGESTIVE HEALTH FOODS Analysed by health outcome, the energy and moodenhancing sector is the market’s largest, worth an estimated US$16.58 billion in 2013 for the countries under review. This equates to 27.1 percent of the total market (assuming a wider definition is applied), and reflects the widespread popularity of energy drinks in particular in most parts of the world.

Other significant sectors by health outcome include digestive health and heart health foods, worth US$16 billion and US$13.75 billion respectively in 2013. At the other end of the scale, sales of products offering immune

3pp Outlook (leatherhead) 3.indd 57

support were valued at less than US$1 billion during the last year.

As far as new product activity is concerned, products marketed as offering digestive and bone health benefits have been well to the fore in both the European and US markets of late.

Between 2011 and 2013, 691 products marketed on a digestive (gut) health platform were launched in Europe and the US, a figure which decreases to 600 for bone health.

The latter has been especially evident in Europe, where 371 products appeared during the period under review.

The European region has also proved to be fertile ground for food and drinks offering immune support and weight management benefits, although heart health products have been slightly more apparent in the US. New product activity has been rather modest in both Japan and Australia, where the number of launches is considerably lower in each instance. However, digestive health products have featured strongly in both markets, while new product development (NPD) suggests that Australians display a strong preference for food and drinks marketed on a weight management platform.

DAIRY FOODS AS CARRIERS The suitability of dairy foods as carriers of functional health ingredients such as probiotics is reflected in the fact that this sector accounted for a leading 35 percent of the global functional foods market, if a strict definition (which excludes energy and mood-enhancing products) is applied.

In 2013, sales of functional dairy foods were worth an estimated US$15.25 billion, with the sector dominated by

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FOCUS FEATURES 58

Mike Mozart, US

Jane Chang Photography

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

BY HEALTH OUTCOME, THE WEIGHT MANAGEMENT CATEGORY IS EXPECTED TO BE THE BEST PERFORMER, AND IS FORECAST TO RISE BY 31 PERCENT BETWEEN 2013 AND 2017

products such as probiotic yoghurt and yoghurt drinks.

Dairy foods such as yoghurt and milk have also been well to the fore in the bone health sector, aided by their high levels of calcium and vitamin D. The market’s second largest product sector is bakery and cereal goods. Sales within this sector were worth an estimated US$13 billion, or 30 percent of total market value in 2013.

The market for functional baker y goods has experienced robust growth in recent years, assisted by the growing tendency of manufacturers such as General Mills and Kellogg’s to position their products as offering heart health benefits (mainly on account of their whole grain content).

The beverages sector accounted for an additional 17 percent of global market value in 2013, with leading producers such as Coca-Cola and PepsiCo both supplying a range of functional soft drinks. Most of these are fortified with functional health ingredients such as calcium, vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids and plant stanols.

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FUTURE DIRECTIONS Demand for many types of functional food and drink is forecast to continue increasing in the developed world, although growth throughout the remainder of the present decade may well lag behind emerging economies in Latin America and the Asia Pacific, where the market is considerably less mature.

Future growth is likely to remain heavily dependent upon the global economic situation—during the last recession, for example, sales of certain functional foods suffered a fall as consumers switched to cheaper groceries in an effort to cut spending costs.

By 2017, the US is expected to overtake Japan as the world’s largest market for functional foods, with sales projected to increase by almost 35 percent to US$22.25 billion.

By health outcome, the weight management category is expected to be the best performer, and is forecast to rise by 31 percent between 2013 and 2017. Much of this will be driven by efforts made to reduce the impact of the worldwide obesity crisis and the possible emergence of food and drinks marketed as offering satiety benefits.

During this time, growth in demand for probiotic dairy foods is likely to be lower, as the sector faces strong competition from other health and wellness products, notably Greek-style yoghurt.

For more information, ENTER No: 0181

20/1/15 12:18 pm

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59

CONSUMER TRENDS FROM HEALTHY OFFERINGS TO PRODUCTS THAT PROVIDE A SPICY PUNCH, FIND OUT THE TOP TRENDS THAT WILL INFLUENCE CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR IN 2015.

BY SAM ALLEN, ANALYST, CANADEAN

WITH the start of a new year, these are the top trends that will influence consumer behaviour in 2015.

FROM MASS-PRODUCED TO PERSONALISED The desire for craft offerings will become increasingly influential. Consumers want their products to be produced and manufactured on a smaller scale to ensure quality and to feel a closer connection to the brands they choose.

By emphasising the exclusivity of a product and the care with which it was formulated, brands will encourage sales among a growing number of consumers who want to move away from mass-produced items across the fastmoving consumer goods (FMCG) market.

‘BETTER-FOR-YOU’ INGREDIENTS Consumers will be increasingly concerned about unhealthy ingredients such as sugar.

Last year saw the introduction of stevia into many popular products including Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Over the coming year, a greater number of ‘better-for-you’ offerings will emerge with healthier and more natural alternatives.

One of the main challenges will be to overcome the negative taste perceptions of these new products through innovation and reformulation as consumers still put indulgence first.

ALL THINGS HOT AND SPICY The growing desire for hotter and spicier food is set to continue in 2015, as manufacturers will replicate popular heat trends from the catering industry to satisfy growing consumer needs.

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kev-shine, Johannesburg, South Africa

TOP 2015

Brands will innovate in formulation by including spicier ingredients in meat, dairy, and snacks, as products infused with chillies become more popular. After the Indian and Mexican food trend, manufacturers should prepare for the next emerging spice cuisines from across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

MIX-AND-MATCH YOUR FAVOURITE FLAVOURS Consumers will look for new and exciting products that mix their favourite foods and flavours together. Fusion products such as amaretto cider and chocolate flavoured wine will become even more popular.

The increase in demand for these experiential offerings means manufacturers must continue to innovate with ingredients and positioning to encourage sales among consumers who want more than just traditional products.

PACKAGING DRIVES SENSORY EXPERIENCE The large number of products available on supermarket shelves mean that many brands are in danger of fading into the background.

Innovative packaging that draws consumer attention will be vital for retaining market share and for brands attempting to enter the market.

The use of haptics—including tactile packs, bright colours and reflective surfaces—will help to enhance the sensory experience, while matte finishing and the feel of a product can denote quality and superiority, encouraging trading-up and higher levels of spending.

For more information, ENTER No: 0182

20/1/15 4:03 pm

SPECIAL FEATURE

CARGILL SPECIALTY ASIA —THE STORY OF SUCCESS IN JUST THREE YEARS, CARGILL SPECIALTY ASIA HAS GROWN INTO A VERY PROFITABLE BUSINESS UNIT. YUSUF WAZIRZADA, BUSINESS UNIT LEADER, AND ANDRE VAN DER WULP, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR, SHARED THE COMPANY’S BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY AND STORY OF SUCCESS. THREE years ago, the senior management of Cargill took a look at the specialty ingredient business in Asia and quickly realised its potential, especially in China.

The end result is the founding of a new business unit— Cargill Specialty Asia.

The company has the vision of becoming a trusted partner that delivers unrivalled value through specialty food ingredients and innovative food safety solutions by leveraging on its capabilities globally and assets across the Asia Pacific region.

“A lot have happened since then and we have grown a lot,” said Yusuf Wazirzada, business unit leader of the newly created company. “We have seen growth in earnings, strengthening of the team and improvement of our technology and technical capabilities.”

In addition, the company has continued to increase its assets and investments, while cutting away business that has not been performing so well.

C u r re n t l y, t h e c o m p a n y e m p l o y s o v e r 4 0 0 professionals and has five manufacturing facilities, 10 sales offices and five research and development centres across Asia.

“When we first started, we were not very profitable, but now we are making major earnings after just three years,” he added. “We feel happy with the work that the team has done.”

By combining its technological leadership and high quality food ingredients with a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges of its customers, it is able to develop customised solutions without compromising the eating and drinking experiences.

Product offerings from the company include specialty starches, hydrocolloids, lecithin, nutritional ingredients and functional systems for industries such as bakery, confectionery, convenience food, dairy and baby foods.

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GOOD TODAY, BETTER TOMORROW The success of the company has been built on its strong emphasis on talent and constant strive for improvements.

Mr Wazirzada believes that the critical element for longterm business development is to continue to improve and not stand still.

“If we are good at something today, we have to be better tomorrow. We will continue to bring in new talents, be more responsive to our customers’ needs, continue to look at ways to be more efficient and deliver solutions fast, and look at our assets and plants to achieve excellence in operation.”

Most importantly, the company is always on the lookout for the latest trends in order to stay relevant to customers. As a world leader in processing agricultural

20/1/15 11:06 am

Derek, Portland, US

GM

As the lifestyle of Chinese consumers become busier and with more dual-income families, there is a greater demand for processed food.

raw materials, the company has a competitive advantage as it manages a global agricultural supply chain.

With operations and manufacturing facilities across the world, the company is always aware of factors that will have an impact on the supply chain, such as weather conditions, crop plantings, potential harvest and where the supply and demand are growing.

“We understand the corn and soy bean costs in the US, South America, China and around the world. We understand the supply and demand. Based on those decisions, we can create a model that makes most business sense,” he explained.

CUSTOMISED INNOVATIONS The company has focused its efforts in Asia on three major markets: China, Japan and Indonesia. “We view China as one of the most, if not the most, important market in the Asia Pacific region,” Mr Wazirzada said.

“Overall, China is the most critical market for us to grow and be successful. Even today and in the future, a bulk of our investments is in China because the majority of the market is there.”

With expansion in mind, the company will look to be making investments in two ways. One way is through the building of facilities like the large starch factory in China and the expansion of the company’s facility in Tianjin. The other method is to grow through merger and acquisitions.

For the past one and half years, the company has been carefully assessing potential targets that are relevant to

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the markets and industries it operates in. “That will be our major area of focus for the next 6-12 months.”

“In China, there is growing demand for a lot of industries,” Mr Wazirzada said. “The middle class has continued to grow and the standard of living has become better even when the GDP is a little bit slower. People have continued to consume more products as they move more and more towards processed food. The demand for process foods has continued to grow, providing the opportunity to develop local assets.”

As the lifestyle of Chinese consumers become busier and with more dual-income families, there is a greater demand for processed food. Looking ahead, the company will help its customers develop products that are convenient and take less time to prepare.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution and the company is always committed to helping its customers create products that are most suitable for their targeted markets.

“In Japan, people are getting older. The country has more elderly than China. Therefore, Japan’s demand for processed food is different. We will always look at how consumer demands in different parts of Asia are changing.”

In fact, the offering of customised innovations for its customers is one of the reasons that the company is able to achieve huge business growth in the last three years.

“Our major customers, such as Yili and Nestle are looking for innovations,” Andre van der Wulp, technical director of the company, said. “We have innovation programs that develop technologies to help customers improve their product. When we look at a product, we look at its stability, viscosity, lubricity and tribology.”

Based on these factors, the company has developed a proprietary technical measurement system that distinguishes products in terms of key components, such as mouthfeel and taste.

Mr Wazirzada said that in 2015, the company will continue to focus on talent, technology and financial performance building. “We will continue to build and improve development to help existing employees grow and be more effective. In addition, we will enhance our processes to achieve greater efficiency and build on the foundation that we have established in the past three years.”

For more information, ENTER No: 0183

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Dennis Wilkinson

GETTING

HEALTHY & NATURAL AS A 2015 RESOLUTION, FOOD MANUFACTURERS SHOULD LOOK INTO GETTING HEALTHY AND NATURAL TO ANSWER TO CONSUMER DEMANDS.

BY JANE BARNETT, INSIGHTS MANAGER, MINTEL

GET HEALTHY Consumers are becoming more informed about their health and are increasingly seeking out superfoods free from chemicals and additives.

The area of functional foods has seen significant growth within the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in recent years. APAC has in fact seen a relatively high proportion (eight percent) of functional food launches in the last five years, compared with the six percent seen globally.

Japan is often credited with creating the term ‘functional foods’ in the late 1980s. It is the only nation that has legally defined functional foods and its functional food market is now one of the most advanced in the world.

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Exotissimo Travel

AS we step into the new year, four major trends are set to impact the Southeast Asia (SEA) region. Of which, ‘Get Healthy’ and ‘Get Natural’ will be key areas that brands can further tap into to achieve commercial success.

APAC has seen a significant rise in food and drink launches in natural claims, growing from six to 25 percent in the last five years.

For those reasons, developments in Japan are often cited as indicative of possible developments in Europe and the US. The growth of functional foods in SEA is affected by malnutrition from both over-nutrition and under-nutrition, so looking at the health needs of consumers can be a complex issue.

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Health issues such as hypertension, high cholesterol and diabetes are key concerns and on the rise in many SEA nations, while under-nutrition and poor immunity, especially in rural areas, are also an essential focus for most SEA countries.

Asian consumers have different behavioural patterns than those from other parts of the world. In Europe and the US, for example, consumers choose their functional beverages based purely on the drink’s health benefits, its ease of use and price point.

In Asia, there is a fourth factor of ‘localisation’.

Asia consumers consider how much they identify with the ingredient, linking purchase decisions to their own cultures. In fact, there is a preference for ‘local ingredients’—for instance, a preference for avocado in Australia and New Zealand, pineapple-based flavours in the Philippines, and jasmine tea in Indonesia.

In addition, each country in Southeast Asia tends to look at functional beverages from a different perspective.

For instance, while Indonesia focuses on fortified ready-todrink (RTD) tea for beverage sales, Thailand is an energy drink market.

WHY HEALTHY? A growing ageing population means there is a greater need for products which deliver functional health benefits.

In Japan, the number of people aged 65 or over rose by 1.1 million to 31.9 million, accounting for 25.1 percent of the population.

India, China, Indonesia and Japan are four out of the top five nations with the highest number of diabetes cases and predicted estimates for 2025 indicate that these countries will continue to see high incidence of diabetes.

This also creates an opportunity for manufacturers to develop more functional food items that offer preventive benefits for such health issues.

An ambitious plan was launched in Vietnam to increase the average height of men and women by about 6.35 cm over the next 25 years. This has also led to the need for more fortified foods and in particular, foods that offer benefits for young children and youth in general.

WHERE NEXT? There has been a 17 percent increase of food and drink launches with a functional claim in SEA between 2011 and September 2014. This supports the trend that more people are focussing on health and wellness.

The key sub-categories of food and drink launches in Southeast Asia that have used functional claims over the last two years are growing-up milks (eight percent), tea (seven percent), and flavoured milks (five percent), followed by baby formula and milk.

The baby formula and growing-up milks reflect manufacturers’ focus on the young population, especially

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Luz Bratcher, Washington, US

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IN ASIA, THERE IS THE FACTOR OF ‘LOCALISATION’. ASIA CONSUMERS CONSIDER HOW MUCH THEY IDENTIFY WITH THE INGREDIENT, LINKING PURCHASE DECISIONS TO THEIR OWN CULTURES. in the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. These products are also in the news (and on the rise) in China and South Korea. Growing-up milks and baby formula are positioned as assisting the physical and cognitive development of children.

In line with government initiatives in Vietnam and to meet consumer demand for products that are fortified with nutrients, enhance children’s resistance, and help children’s development, baby food launches in Vietnam focus on promoting functional claims.

Functional was the top claim category for baby food launches in Vietnam, with 76 percent of products launched between January 2010 and September 2013 featuring a claim from the category. In Malaysia, nearly three in 10 rice products launched in 2013 were high in fibre. Many of these products made claims relating to cardiovascular and digestive health and diabetes.

Globally, India has seen the highest number of food launches (18 percent) with cardiovascular claims in the last two years. Vietnam and Thailand are the other two Asian nations that feature among the top 10 countries with cardiovascular food launches.

In 2015 and beyond, we are bound to see much more innovation within functional food and drink in the Southeast Asia region. As health awareness grows

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WHY NATURAL? In Singapore, The Health Promotion Board (HPB) ran a campaign around the dangers of eating hawker food, which is known to be greasy and salty. Initiatives like this one contribute to increasing overall awareness around healthier lifestyles.

Within the first three months of 2014, at least five juice cleanse businesses popped up in Singapore. They offer fresh and cold-pressed fruit and vegetable juice mixes.

These businesses are building awareness around the belief that the cold-press mechanism is the healthy way, leading to an increase in consumer demand for this type of product.

2015 will see consumers increasingly return to natural and often traditional ingredients.

bertholf

GET NATURAL Food scares, changing lifestyles and rising incomes have elevated Asian consumers’ awareness of what is in their food and their means to control what they buy. 2015 will see consumers increasingly return to natural and often traditional ingredients.

APAC has seen a significant rise in food and drink launches in natural claims, growing from six to 25 percent in the last five years. The SEA sub-region has grown at a similar pace when it comes to natural food and drink launches.

Asia has been rocked by a number of food scares, from harmful ingredients in baby food in China to fake eggs and squid found in Vietnam, to name just a few. The recent spate of health scandals is encouraging Asian consumers to turn to natural, organic and herbal remedies in health and beauty. This has created new market opportunities with product awareness and choice maturing.

In a recent survey by Weber Shandwick, nearly all respondents in China—96 percent—said that they choose to buy organic food at least occasionally, if not always. South Korea and Singapore are not far behind with sourcing considerations elevated at 90 percent and 82 percent respectively of those surveyed. For China and Singapore, labelling remains the principal source of identifying this information.

The natural trend is also likely to mean more manufacturers will change from artificial to natural colours in new product development. Furthermore, on the outside of the package, manufacturers will further utilise colour to communicate healthiness to attract consumers.

Multi-national brands are researching and investing in non-caffeine natural energy sources, exploring the use of herbal ingredients used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that provide fatigue-relieving benefits.

PepsiCo has a patent for a caffeine-free beverage with herbal extracts of Duan-Gen-Wu-Jia (similar to ginseng), Gou-Qi-Zi (goji or wolfberry), and Huang-Jing (Solomon’s Seal), that were reported to increase energy levels when combined.

Nestlé Health Sciences have formed a 50/50 joint venture with Chi-Medi—Nutrition Science Partners. This could also lead to further developments into herbal energy combinations.

bertholf

within Southeast Asia, consumer interest and need for these types of products will only increase further.

Local ingredients and localised positioning of functional products will also aid further growth of these types of products within the region.

THE RECENT SPATE OF HEALTH SCANDALS IS ENCOURAGING ASIAN CONSUMERS TO TURN TO NATURAL, ORGANIC AND HERBAL REMEDIES IN HEALTH AND BEAUTY.

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The detox movement in Malaysia has its grassroots in do-it-yourself enzyme drinks. A strong community exists in the country teaching its members how to make health enzyme drinks themselves. Lately, juice cleansing has emerged as the next juice detoxification trend.

Service providers such as Lifestyle Juicery and Reboot offer raw, pressed juices in convenient bottle format, targeting discerning, busy consumers with their one-, two, four-day juice cleansing programs.

Indonesians believe in the efficacy of jamu or traditional medicine, which is made from natural materials including roots, leaves and fruits. Nearly half (49 percent) of Indonesians aged 15 and above consume jamu, according to a study by the Health Ministry in 2010, with about five percent consuming it every day.

One of the latest trends is the mangosteen fruit. The rind is prized for its array of polyphenolic acids, including xanthones and tannis. The application of mangosteen ring extracts can now be found in products such as health tonics, tea, health capsules and juices.

WHERE NEXT? The trend towards natural colours has been reflected in launch activities over the past year in Vietnam and is likely to continue to increase, especially as it moves into other categories.

Silke Gerstenkorn, Argentina

Hindrik Sijens, Ljouwert, The Netherlands

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The natural trend is also likely to mean more manufacturers will change from artificial to natural colours in new product development.

Most innovation in natural colours have been in sweet biscuits and cookies, pastilles, gums, jellies and chews, as well as table sauces. Neighbouring SEA countries are also likely to be influenced by natural colour trends in Vietnam.

Naturalness will continue to be an overriding trend, influencing the type of ingredients used in formulations.

Natural sweeteners and natural colours will continue to be featured in new innovations, while the search for natural caffeine and natural non-caffeine energy sources will continue to see more traditional herbal medicines being explored.

Incorporating foods with intrinsic health properties is an ideal way for manufacturers to leverage ‘naturalness’ and for some ingredients to provide functional health benefits.

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Devika

FOR MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES HOPING TO CAPTURE THE INDIA MARKET, IT TAKES MORE THAN JUST PUSHING THEIR PRODUCTS INTO THE REGION. INSTEAD, THEY HAVE TO MAKE AN EFFORT TO PACKAGE LOCAL FOOD IDEAS. BY SONYA MISQUITTA, SENIOR PLANNING MANAGER, AND DHEERAJ SHINHA, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICE, GREY

HUNGRY FOR FAMILIAR FOODS

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buyers who most resemble the prototypical Western consumer, are they missing out on the very real opportunity to reach much larger markets further down the socioeconomic pyramid?

The real opportunity in India lies in reaching much larger markets further down the socio-economic pyramid— underserved, low income populations.

Those that have defied convention have reaped the rewards.

Home grown brands in particular are better places to tap the larger market opportunity and package local ideas because they are unconstrained by global dictates and can seize opportunities faster.

Success in the food category in India requires more than simply developing greater cultural

Alan Morgan, US

‘THINK global, act local’ has been a classic marketing mantra for multinational companies trying to extend their brand to new countries and cultures. Nowhere is this more obvious than when it comes to food.

F o o d i s i n h e re n t l y c u l t u re specific. Indian food is strongly rooted in demography, local cultures, religion, geographical location and economy. In a country where taste preferences change every 200 km, multinational companies (MNCs) have struggled to find acceptance for their products.

However, apart from exporting global brands to India wholesale or adapting a global brand to Indian tastes, few foreign companies have created a uniquely Indian brand that is culturally specific to India.

By merely localising western food constructs by tinkering with flavours, are they missing out on the larger opportunity to package local ideas?

Are they confining themselves simply to the organised market? Are they guided by an arrogant attitude that sees India simply as a large market of would-be consumers hungry for modern goods and services?

By pitching their products to small segments of relatively affluent

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DO NOT IMPOSE A WESTERN CULTURAL CONSTRUCT Food is inherently rooted in local culture—in the way it is prepared a n d c o n s u m e d . Ye t , f o o d a n d beverage brands—both foreign and home grown—often impose western cultural constructs rather than create brands that are more culturally rooted.

Moreover, when these constructs are applied wholesale, they come up against well-entrenched cultural habits that are hard to break.

Take juice for instance. For decades, orange juice has been part of the breakfast ritual for millions of households in the West. It is a good source of vitamin C and perfect for mothers with fussy kids who would rather drink the juice than eat the orange.

The marketing world of juices currently in India is in the sanitised, health space. Brands like Saint, Tropicana, Real, Minute Maid have so far borrowed from Western codes— purity, breakfast, compensation or physical fitness.

These brands target an affluent, westernised audience for whom health and wellness has become an aspiration. And at US$1.60 for a 1 litre carton, it is out of reach for most.

H o w e v e r, t h e s i z e o f t h e unorganised juice market is said to be US$2.5 billion—seven times the size of the packaged juice market (which includes 100 percent juice and nectars)—according to

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Euromonitor. How is the real juice culture in India different from the way brands have seen it?

For starters, it is not typically consumed out of a car ton for breakfast. Juice is not seen as a replacement to fruit, but refreshing nourishment. It is always consumed fresh—whether at home or from street vendors. Juices are rarely had plain. It’s always spiced with sugar, mint, sour lime, ginger or coriander for that sweet-sour taste. It is fullbodied and chunky.

Out of home, juices are consumed on the go. Street vendors situated outside crowded marketplaces, railway stations, hospitals and near tourist attractions prepare them fresh. The juices themselves are colourful and multi-sensorial.

They provide respite from the afternoon heat. And at 16 cents a glass, it is affordable to the man on the street who finds it tastier and cheaper than the packaged alternative. So for any player trying to make a dent in the unorganized juice market, the challenge is to create a brand that recreates the out of home experience of drinking juice in packaged form.

A brand with Indian values, wholesome flavours and textures that are close to the Indian heart.

T h i s re q u i re s a re t h i n k i n g o f sensorial codes in taste, texture and packaging. The cultural coding of the brand needs to be familiar rather than alien to break down barriers to purchase such as accessibility, taste preference, and affordability.

Successful Indian access brands are not just copies of existing global brands, but stand for value and consistent delivery.

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TAKE ON THE UNORGANISED MARKET The real competition in the food category is often home-made food or nimble unbranded players. This is because buying habits for most consumers have still not changed.

People prefer to buy most of the fruits and vegetables on a daily basis from vendors or local markets.

Consumers like the touch, smell and feel of commodities like grains or flour they purchase.

Indian consumers have a strong preference for freshly cooked food over packaged food, mainly attributed to dietary patterns, poor electricity supply, low penetration of refrigerators and microwaves and a family structure where one of the primary roles of the housewife is feeding the family.

According to AC Nielsen, 60 percent of a consumer’s shopping bag is for unbranded food products and growing sharply. There is also an impact on the basket size because of non-availability of personal transport facilities, due to which consumers prefer to buy smaller quantities from mom and pop stores conveniently located near their homes.

These stores also stock regional specialties, for instance, Gujarati, South Indian, Mangalorean or Keralite items in areas dominated by people from these regions.

One of the reasons for the slow growth of branded food is because organised retail in India is still in its infancy. It serves a tiny section of

Harsha K R, Bangalore, India

sensitivity. It requires a deep and unbiased understanding of the unique characteristics and needs of people.

For multinationals, such time is well spent. Not only will it unlock new sources of revenue, it will also force big companies to innovate in ways that will benefit their operations throughout the world.

There are five principles on what it takes to be a successful food brand in India.

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Kelly Hays, Duncan, Canada

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INNOVATION DOES NOT ALWAYS HAVE TO MEAN STARTING FROM SCRATCH. IT IS ABOUT RECOGNISING OPPORTUNITIES AND CO-OPTING THEM TO THE INNOVATION PROCESS.

the population—the top 14 million households by income, mainly concentrated in India’s major cities.

A c c o r d i n g t o M c K i n s e y, organised food retail will amount to only 5-15 percent of total food retail by 2015, limited by its inability to match kirana (convenience) stores in providing fresh goods on a daily basis, offer home delivery and be located close to home.

IDENTIFY VIABLE MARKETS Entering a new market requires a huge investment in supply chain, manufacturing, distribution and marketing. That is why it is more important than ever to identify viable markets.

Kellogg’s made a simplistic assumption of who would want its products. When the company first attempted to enter the Indian market in the early 1990s, the logic

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behind its decision appeared to be unassailable.

India was home to 950 million possible new consumers. If Indian consumers would eat as much cereal, on average, as Americans, t h e n j u s t t w o p e rc e n t o f t h e population would generate more revenue than the entire US market.

Surely, the company could capture two percent of this vast group with a little bit of innovation.

Buoyed by this optimism, the company invested US$65 million in establishing an operational and marketing presence to launch Corn Flakes, Wheat Flakes, and its ‘innovation’—Basmati Rice Flakes— throughout the country.

Unfortunately, the company’s significant investment failed to gain much of a foothold in the Indian breakfast market and, 12 months later, by April 1995, it could claim to have less than 0.01 percent of those 950 million potential consumers.

Over the years, the company has continued to invest in the market— repositioning products, launching new brands of ready-to-eat cereal, and marketing heavily. But by 2013, the company had managed to capture considerably less than one percent of the population, generating revenues of only US$80 million.

The company’s mistake was that it had taken a far too simplistic approach to identifying its ‘huge’ market, merely looking for people who might want its products. What it needed to do was to take a more sophisticated approach to identifying viable markets, a process that comprises three broad steps: gaining the right insights, counting the right people, and envisioning the right innovations to serve those people.

BE THE ACCESS BRAND FOR VALUE-CONSCIOUS CONSUMERS Most MNCs have tended to gear their products and pitches to small segments of relatively affluent

ILRI,Nairobi, Kenya

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buyers—those who, not surprisingly, most resemble the prototypical Western consumer.

However, that is lazy marketing.

They have missed, as a result, the very real opportunity to reach much larger markets further down the socioeconomic pyramid—underserved, low income populations who live in rural villages, or urban slums and shantytowns and are hard to reach via conventional distribution, credit, and communications. The quality and quantity of products and services available to them is generally low.

Smart domestic entrepreneurs have often seized opportunities to target this segment by being ‘access brands’. These brands offer benefits similar to premium international brands, but at an affordable price for the mass market.

Successful Indian access brands are not just copies of existing global brands, but stand for value and consistent delivery. Many of them dominate the market today because of their strategies and execution.

Access brands are typically created by Indian entrepreneurs with deep insight into the Indian consumer behaviour. They are not ‘first mover’ brands. They take advantage of the image created by the leading brand in the category and spend little on advertising and promotion.

Although value is almost always a critical part of access brands, it is more than selling things cheap. It’s about placing the same quality and experience within the consumer’s reach.

CO-OPT LOCAL ALTERNATIVES M c D o n a l d ’s h a s a l w a y s b e e n heralded as the poster boy for foreign brands succeeding in a tough market like India. It did several things right. It established local supplier partners six years before it opened its first restaurant, it adapted to cultural and religious sensitivities, it observes strict taboos on the

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mingling of vegetarian and nonvegetarian foods in the same kitchen or on the same table and all food is cooked in vegetable oil.

In addition, it ditched beef and introduced the Maharaja Mac, made with chicken patties; it even introduced the vegetarian McAloo Tikki, a burger made from potatoes and peas.

While it has invested heavily in India and has taken the time to understand the market, it has missed tempting opportunities to co-opt popular street food burgers such as the vada pav, omlette pav, kheema pav or kachchi dabeli to its menu and innovation process.

S m a r t e n t re p re n e u r s h a v e realised that it is possible to package local street food and create popular brands. Jumbo King is perhaps India’s answer to McDonald’s.

It has been successful simply by packaging the vada pav (a street food snack popular in Mumbai that is essentially a spicy potato burger).

Unlike McDonald’s outlets which are situated on national highways or malls, most Jumbo King outlets are close to railway stations. For commuters, a vada pav is often breakfast or dinner.

Innovation does not always have to mean starting from scratch. It is about recognising opportunities and co-opting them to the innovation process. Moreover India’s rich and diverse cuisine offers ample opportunities to package local ideas.

PACKAGING LOCAL IDEAS For Indian companies, the influx of multinational brands often appears to be a death sentence. Accustomed to dominant positions in a protected market, they suddenly face foreign rivals wielding a daunting array of advantages: substantial financial resources, advanced technology, superior products, powerful brands, and seasoned marketing and management skills. Often, their very survival is at stake.

Yogesh Rao, Mumbai, India

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Jumbo King, India’s equivalent of McDonald’s, has been successful simply by packaging the vada pav (a spicy potato burger street snack in Mumbai).

However, local companies also enjoy certain advantages. They are not burdened by global marketentr y dictates. They can seize opportunities by recognising gaps in the market because they have a more nuanced understanding of culture and consumers.

They understand that the larger market opportunity is to reach out to the mass market value-conscious consumer with the right product at the right price.

With sales slowing down or static in the West, MNCs need emerging markets like India to deliver strong growth. They need to take strategic calls on how they want to approach India.

In allowing regions free will to create, acquire and launch new brands, MNCs can sidestep a common problem that larger companies tend to have—the inability to take risks. Furthermore, the strategy of distributed development makes sense. Not only will it unlock new sources of revenue, it will also force big companies to innovate in ways that will benefit their operations throughout the world.

For more information, ENTER No: 0185

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FOOD LABELS

—THE CLAIM TO SUCCESS IN recent years, health and wellness has become one of the biggest drivers of trends within the food and beverage industry. Sparked by greater nutritional awareness and affluence, the landscape is gradually changing to accommodate the health conscious.

“The world is a changing place; virtually every news program has a segment on health, whether it is communicable diseases that are threatening to spread, or the latest trendy diet to help consumers manage their weight. Consumers know that foods and supplements are an important factor in maintaining health,” said Tina Low, director of Human Nutrition Asia Pacific at BASF. To this effect, consumers are now actively seeking ways to lead a healthy lifestyle to prevent chronic diseases from befalling them, instead of acting only after they have fallen ill.

“Consumers are gaining more sophistication with regard to preventative health. This is driven in part by the access to information and an increased disposable income which enables informed prevention choices, but also by an increasing shift of costs from the health care systems towards the consumer,” she added.

A l a rg e c o m p o n e n t o f t h i s movement falls onto the diet and it is common to see consumers rely on food labels—health claims, ingredient lists and nutrition panels among others—to help them discern the ‘good’ from the ‘bad’.

Among similar products, food labels may also be the tool that differentiates your brand from others. According to Ms Low, the ability to make an eye-catching or compelling claim about the ingredients or function of the product might be the thing to help consumers choose the product off the shelf. Even though taste still takes precedence, the appeal of compelling claims is steadily growing.

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Courtesy of the US Department of Agriculture

AS THE TREND ON HEALTH AND WELLNESS CONTINUES TO GROW, THE UBIQUITOUS AND UNASSUMING FOOD LABEL MAY BE INFLUENCING PURCHASING DECISIONS MORE THAN YOU THINK. BY SHERLYNE YONG

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Bruce Stockwell, Virginia Beach, US

Yet, like two sides of a coin, while there are those who rely on food labels for their purchasing decisions, there are also those whom food labels have no impact on.

THE SAVVY CONSUMER Manufacturers and retailers should know by now that consumers are a varied bunch with different needs and wants that can range with age, geographical location and gender, among others. Likewise, the ways that consumers react to food labels can be segregated into the following: reliance, scepticism and confusion.

Lotus Head, Johannesburg, South Africa

Mike Mozart, US

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Consumers who rely on nutritional labels to make their purchasing decisions are healthoriented and tend to be parents, dieters or brand hoppers.

of the product. Such individuals tend to assess the merits of an item by using the information found on the NFP, especially when comparing products that have similar price points or front-of-pack claims.

To cater to this bunch of consumers, manufacturers should make the effort to ensure that their labels are sufficiently informative, with the top few details (eg: fat content, calories) that their target market typically looks for. Providing a clear benefit as well as a consumerfriendly interface can also help a product stand out.

2. SCEPTICISM

1. RELIANCE

Consumers who rely on nutritional labels to make their purchasing decisions are health-oriented and tend to be parents, people on diets, first-time buyers of a particular product, or brand hoppers. According to the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation, these are the people who are using labels such as the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) to make informed decisions in various ways.

For instance, individuals who are watching their calories and parents who want only the best for their children would use the NFP to compare products in the store and perhaps determine which one holds less fat and calories, or to see which has the best daily value (DV) of vitamins and nutrients. When at home, the NFP is used to check and verify serving sizes, or to help people manage serving sizes and intake.

First-time buyers unfamiliar with a new product also tend to turn to the NFP to get a better sense of what the product contains and how it might taste. They might also be comparing it to see if it matches up to their preferences.

This too, is especially true for consumers who are less brand-sensitive and instead prefer to focus on the benefits

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Sceptics make up the second group—consumers who believe that nutritional claims are nothing but a marketing ploy. According to the Nielsen Global Survey of Food Labeling Trends in 2011, more than two thirds of global respondents believe that nutritional claims are either never or only sometimes trustworthy.

Things are slightly better when it comes to claims that are perceived to be more definitive, such as raw nutrition facts found on the NFP. The study found that calorie counts were the most trusted, where one third of the respondents believed calorie claims to be always accurate, and 58 percent found them sometimes accurate.

Vitamin and fat content followed as the next most trustworthy claims respectively.

In contrast, almost 80 percent of respondents have never, or only sometimes, considered the more ambiguous claims (eg: ‘heart-healthy’, ‘natural’ and ‘low fat’) as believable. “Consumers have difficulty trusting more ambiguous attributes compared to the concrete ingredient-based information,” said James Russo, SVP of Global Consumer Insights at Nielsen. To him, this serves as an opportunity for more education.

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At the same time, it might also be education and exposure to information that is causing scepticism, an increasingly prevalent trait among the younger crowd.

According to an analysis by Amanda Topper and Katrina Fajardo from Mintel, 59 percent of consumers aged 18-24 (otherwise known as young millenials) are sceptical about health related claims despite actively looking for clean product labels.

Armed with a treasure trove of information that can be accessed instantly on their smart devices, young millennials have developed an awareness that is much keener than their older counterparts. According to the analysts, young millenials are seeking products with added health benefits, such as omega-3s, protein and free-from or reduced claims (eg: low sodium, sugar free). When compared to the older generation, they are also more likely to look for snacks that are gluten-free, natural and organic.

But being privy to the internet has also given young millenials access to all types of information, including examples of malpractices in manufacturing. They too, have grown up being inundated by marketing messages and are part of an ever-growing group of savvy, critical consumers who are more than capable of separating fluff from stuff.

To reach out to this group, manufacturers need to know where this deep distrust stems from. Only by providing evidence and accountability can manufacturers reach out to this group. What this entails is being honest, transparent and backing up claims with scientific studies that are robust and reliable.

3. CONFUSION

While the two groups mentioned earlier seem to be very different, they are united in the fact that they understand what labels are and the information imparted. In the third and largest group however, consumers generally ignore nutritional labels out of confusion.

According to the Nielsen survey, 59 percent of global respondents have difficulty understanding nutritional labels on food packaging even though they have healthy

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webmasterHCS Rob Marquardt, California, US

Vassilis Dourdounis, Patras, Greece

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59 percent of global respondents have difficulty understanding nutritional labels even though they have healthy eating on their minds.

eating on their minds. Consumers in the US showed the most confidence in understanding labels (59 percent), followed by Canada (49 percent), but falls dramatically when it comes to Asia Pacific (31 percent).

The reason for this drop could be due to language differences. It was found that label comprehension was highest in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and India, where English is a commonly spoken language. In contrast, food label confusion was the highest in Chinese speaking countries as well as other parts of Southeast Asia where indigenous languages are predominant.

At other times, confusion may arise because consumers have not been adequately educated in reading labels, or because producers are bombarding consumers with too much information. The Mintel report revealed that nearly half of young millenials (49 percent) are confused by the number of food claims on packaging.

Through these examples, it is clear that an indifference to labels can be cultivated by a variety of reasons. Nonetheless, the solution to combat this problem is the same. By providing simplified, clear, concise and easy-to-understand nutritional labels, producers can eradicate confusion and reach out to a bigger crowd at the same time.

Manufacturers should also be aware of local cultures and tweak their packaging information accordingly, using only terms that locals are familiar with. Visuals should also be kept clutter-free and the main message should be clear.

BUILDING TRUST Having understood the different kinds of consumers, how can manufacturers better cater to the different groups while leveraging on the benefits of food labels?

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PROVIDING CLARITY In the case of food labels, ambiguity is not a friend.

Similar to the rationale behind the clean label movement, consumers are seeking natural and familiar ingredients that they understand instead of foreign, chemical-sounding names that are perceived to be abominations of the lab.

Emphasising how crucial this is, Ms Gao feels that labels need to be understandable before they can be trusted. People want to know what they are ingesting and whether it is harmful to them, and they can only achieve this when they actually understand the ingredient list.

Manufacturers should also ensure that their product claims are true and effective, especially since a poll commissioned by Greenfields milk to measure the

purchasing habits of Singaporeans has shown that 77 percent of the respondents were influenced by promotional marketing and advertising materials. Falling short on the promised benefit hurts brand reputation and could potentially hinder the ability to gain and retain customers.

Being on the receiving end of too many gimmicks or marketing messages that do not match up could also explain why consumers are so sceptical, and this hurts the industry as a whole. In an age where false or exaggerated claims can be easily debunked, transparency goes a long way.

As a communication tool, food labels are perfect for building rapport with customers. It is also an opportunity for manufacturers to show that they are accountable and trustworthy. Despite there being confusion and strong scepticism among consumers, it is highly likely that labelling will remain a strong influence on purchasing decisions as healthy living becomes the new status quo.

To catch up with the future, manufacturers have to act now by creating compelling claims that are fact-based and easily understandable.

Enquiry Number

For starters, understand that food labels are a useful communication tool.

Food labels done right are a win-win situation for both producers and consumers. “Objective and accurate food labelling help manufacturers build up trust in the brand and consumers can better understand what they are eating or drinking,” said Emerald Gao, Asia Pacific product marketing manager at Tate & Lyle.

Doubling up as a source of information and a marketing tool, nutritional labels can be the differentiator between your brand and a competitor’s. “As long as the health claim is trustworthy and understandable, it can help with building trust between the two parties (producers and consumers),” she added.

After all, consumers are invested in nutrition enhancement and balanced dietary habits. It is just a matter of whether they trust the claims made about the product. Once manufacturers have delivered in terms of clarity and accountability, they can focus their efforts on fulfilling consumer demand.

According to Ms Gao, this includes a demand for products with high fibre claims, as people worldwide are consuming less fibre than recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). There are also more Asian consumers, a demographic generally associated with high sodium intake, who are becoming well educated on the burdens that come with a high sodium diet. As such, products with ‘reduced sodium’ claims are also likely to do well.

To better reach out to consumers and validate nutritional claims, she also recommends that producers have some form of quantification that tells consumers how much of their daily recommended intake they are fulfilling with a particular product.

For instance, instead of saying that a particular ingredient is beneficial to certain conditions, it would be better if manufacturers could highlight how much of a benefit that ingredient would bring (eg: ‘High in fibre’ versus ‘Provides 50% of fibre required daily’).

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

THE FOOD SHACKLE DESPITE ENCOURAGING PROGRESS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, THE FOOD INDUSTRY IS STILL VERY MUCH AFFECTED BY THE DEEPLY ROOTED HUMAN TRAFFICKING AND CHILD LABOUR EPIDEMIC. IS IT TIME TO POINT OUR FINGER OR WORK TOGETHER? BY WONG TSZ HIN Little would they have imagined that thousands of miles away, squeezed into the corner of a small, almost insufficiently equipped fishing boat, a Burmese man is struggling to stay awake while mending a fishing net deep into his 20-hour shift just off the coast of Thailand. For all his hard work, he would get a little bit of food to keep him alive and a less severe beating.

Across the continent, groups of children not even 10 years of age are busying themselves at cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast under the sweltering heat to harvest raw materials for a product that they would likely never be able to afford.

On the drive home, the couple opened a box of chocolates from a reputed multinational brand. As they munched away on the creamy,

Gates Foundation

AS a couple strolled casually along the frozen food isle at the local supermarket contemplating cooking ideas for the weekends, something caught their eyes—a discount on ready-made shrimp wontons. These would make a perfect treat after a gruesome shopping trip! With little hesitation, they dropped a pack into their shopping basket before continuing on with their grocery hunt.

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Zoriah, Paris, France

DEFINITIONS Forced labour is defined as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.”

According to statistics from the International Labour Organization (ILO), there is a minimum of 20.9 million people in forced labour around the world at any given time, with the Asia Pacific region constituting a majority of the volume at 11.7 million. The next most affected region is Africa with around 3.7 million people.

Forced labour in the private economy is estimated to generate US$150 billion in illegal profits p e r y e a r. O N E ( S I N G A P O R E ) estimated that the annual profit made from trafficking in Asia is around US$10 billion.

ILO stated that about 90 percent of forced labour in the world today is exacted in the private economy, primarily in labour intensive industries such as manufacturing, agriculture and food.

The definition of child labour on the other hand is less clear cut, resulting in a large grey area that can be meticulously exploited.

ILO considers child labour to be “work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.”

Contrary to popular beliefs, child labour does not simply refer to any form of work performed by children.

Across the world, the agricultural sector has the greatest share of child labour at 59 percent. Almost 70 percent of child labourers are unpaid family workers.

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In fact, work that contribute to children’s development and the welfare of their families, as well as those that provide them with skills and experience to make them productive members of society in the future are regarded as being positive.

ILO estimated that 168 million children between the ages of five and 17 are currently working under conditions that are considered illegal, hazardous or extremely exploitative. Across the world, the agricultural sector has by far the greatest share of child labour at 59 percent. Almost 70 percent of child labourers are unpaid family workers.

In the last decade, Asia has achieved remarkable success in curbing child labour. Between 2008 and 2012, the region witnessed a sharp decline in child labour from 114 million to 78 million, most likely as a result of better established infrastructure, improved economic conditions and better education of the people.

THERE IS A MINIMUM OF 20.9 MILLION PEOPLE IN FORCED LABOUR AROUND THE WORLD AT ANY GIVEN TIME, WITH THE ASIA PACIFIC REGION CONSTITUTING A MAJORITY OF THE VOLUME AT 11.7 MILLION.

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delicious snack, they, like many of us, have inadvertently contributed to the deeply rooted human trafficking and child labour epidemic that is affecting the food industry.

Media reports in recent years have cast the spotlight on this ugly but undeniable truth that has been often concealed by the prosperous front of the food manufacturing industry, which has remained defiant to economic downturns.

While the public have been quick to point fingers at food manufacturers, who are frequently accused of turning a blind eye to obvious human rights violation in order to safeguard their huge profit margins, there are other factors and elements at play that make the issue much more complex than it is commonly perceived.

Who exactly is to be blamed?

And most importantly, what kind of intervention and measures can be implemented to eradicate this chronic problem?

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FOCUS FEATURES

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015 ASIA PACIFIC FOOD INDUSTRY

MAJOR MEDIA EXPOSURES In 2014, Thailand’s shrimp export business took a huge hit after the Guardian published a damning report on the infringement of human rights by fishmeal producers in the country.

The report accused Charoen Pokphand (CP) Foods of buying fishmeal, used to feed farmed s h r i m p s , f ro m s u p p l i e r s t h a t operate fishing boards manned with slaves. Besides enduring long work shifts, regular beatings and torture, the slaves, most of them migrant workers from neighbouring Myanmar and Cambodia tricked by the pretence of employment in factories or constructions, were also offered drugs and subjected to execution-style killings.

The repor t caused a chain reaction with major retailers across the world, including Walmar t, Costco, Tesco, Carrefour and Ica, quickly dissociating themselves from the Thai company and removing its products from their shelves. The incident also led to the revisit of previously reported human rights malpractices by Thai seafood companies.

Prior to that incident, the International Labor Rights Forum (ILRF) documented child labour, underpayment and withholding of identity documents by Narong Seafood, and the Human Rights Watch reported on similar practices by Phatthana Seafood. In addition, the AFL-CIO Solidarity Center released reports showing the terrible working conditions of shrimp processors in Thailand and Bangladesh.

ILRF said that at the end of 2013, there were an estimated 3-4 million migrant workers in Thailand, 80 percent of them coming from Myanmar, who were made to work in dangerous and dirty environments.

The organisation also noted that Thailand has voted for a non-binding recommendation, but said no to the binding protocol proposed by ILO to supplement the 1930 Forced Labour

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Prachanart Viriyaraks, Bangkok, Thailand

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ILRF said that at the end of 2013, there were an estimated 3-4 million migrant workers in Thailand, 80 percent of them coming from Myanmar, who were made to work in dangerous and dirty environments.

Convention before reversing its decision a few days later.

Thailand and the seafood industry are not the only guilty parties. The prevalence of child labour in the cocoa industry has already been well documented. In 2011, CNN, as part of its Freedom Project, discussed the issue of enslaved workers in the tomato industry of the US. SUPPLY & DEMAND Most forced and child labourers originate from poverty stricken par ts of the world. Driven by economic needs back home, they become vulnerable to false promises made by traffickers or business owners who often sold them on the idea of employment with decent remuneration.

In Ivory Coast, many children are forced to start working at a young age to support their families. Many of them are aware that the additional income they bring in are essential for the survival of their families.

However, at the tender age of 12, or

even as young as five, they lack the understanding that the tools they use and the environment they work in may be detrimental to their well-beings.

The children are made to handle dangerous tools such as a machete, and perform hazardous activities like climbing cocoa trees to cut bean pods, or carrying heavy sacks of pods. In addition, they are constantly exposed to harmful chemicals without any personal protective equipment. Most of the time, they are only provided with the bare minimum for food and the simplest housing facilities.

ILO said that approximately 1.8 million children in Ivory Coast and Ghana are exposed to the worst form of child labour on cocoa farms.

The main reason that business owners from the agricultural sector have to resort to forced and child labour lies in the slim margin that they make. On average, cocoa farmers in Western Africa are said to earn less than US$2 a day.

Even as the retail price of end consumer products increases, the

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Caezer Ng, Canada

ILO SAID THAT APPROXIMATELY 1.8 MILLION CHILDREN IN IVORY COAST AND GHANA ARE EXPOSED TO THE WORST FORM OF CHILD LABOUR ON COCOA FARMS.

price of raw materials has continued to diminish as major corporations assert pricing pressure on suppliers through massive produce orders. As a result, businesses had little choice but to redirect the pressure to their farm workers in order to survive.

It also does not help that most of the agricultural works are labour intensive and seasonal. The harsh working conditions and physical demands of these jobs have made them less appealing compared to other professions. Coupled with the little amount of wages that the supplier can afford, the availability of ‘cheaper alternatives’ become very enticing even if they involve illegal practices.

The seasonal nature of farming means that there is little incentive for owners to employ a large number of permanent headcounts. Many a time, owners only require workers for certain periods to handle the more tedious work. The lack of job security and stability further weakens the owners’ position in the employment market.

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GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION It is easy and natural for consumers to direct their accusation to the end of the supply chain, the retailers, in hopes that it will create a ripple effect that channels all the way down to the raw material level.

In response to such public pressure, retailers would isolate themselves from the human rights violators, in this case, the food manufacturers who have sourced m a t e r i a l s f ro m q u e s t i o n a b l e suppliers, as part of their crisis management. And in turn, food manufacturers may sever ties with the suppliers.

As ILRF has pointed out, this eagerness to break the connections b e t w e e n t h e re l e v a n t p a r t i e s can have detrimental effects as companies are not exercising their responsibility by washing their hands off the problem.

Although major food retailers, distributors and manufacturers these days claim to have surveillance across their entire supply chain to ensure compliance with the regulations and standards, actual implementation can be difficult because of the span of operations geographically and the multitude of smaller and harder-to-regulate players that are involved. In most cases, there is an element of good faith that business partners further up the chain have exercised their due diligence.

It is no coincidence that most of the areas affected by human trafficking are those that have very little regulatory framework and low level of vigilance. Forced and child labour remain undetected because of two fundamental issues: the lack of a proper reporting channel and the lack of government intervention.

Many workers, for fear of personal safety, are unable to report their abuse simply because they do not know how to or where to.

It is also important to establish a stringent legal framework that will

identify and punish any human rights violator, and provide a voice for workers to fight for their rights in terms of treatment and salary packages.

PROFIT SHARING There is growing cry for companies to start eradicating the forced and child labour issue at the grassroot level by tilting back the scales of economic injustice and closing the disparity in profit distribution.

For a start, there is an immediate need to achieve a balance so that farm owners will not be operating a borderline profit margin. The next step would be to ensure that the extra money is properly redistributed to improve the lives of the workers.

To this end, major corporations are making inroads to develop local support programs that can benefit local farmers and their families.

However, their lack of transparency and commitment level mean that results remain to be seen.

For any of the programs to be effective, there must be greater governance over the protection and movement of workers. That has been a niggling issue as the governments of the countries where forced and child labour are most prevalent are often reluctant to compromise on the availability of low cost materials and cheap labour, which have served as major attractions for foreign investments.

The Asia Pacific has made great strides at the turn of the millennium to address the issue of forced and child labour. It takes all the relevant parties to work together, and not independently, to build on the good work and protect those who are vulnerable. It is not a finger-pointing process, but one in which we must work hand in hand.

For more information, ENTER No: 0187

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EXHIBITION & EVENTS

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REVIEW:

CIBUS TEC With a turnover of â‚Ź132 billion (US$153.52 billion) and a workforce of 385,000 people, the food industry has been a leading sector of the Italian economy. In 2013, the percentage of Italian food product exports on the world market was just 2.6 percent and the size of the export business for companies with more than 250 employees was just 26 percent. The situation is likely to change in the coming years as the country adopts a more aggressive approach on the global front.

CIBUS TEC Where Fiere Di Parma Country Parma, Italy Date October 28-31, 2014

CIBUS Tec, which was held from October 28-31, 2014, in Parma, Italy, featured 1,000 exhibitors from 30 different countries and welcomed 30,000 visitors. In that edition, the show focused on addressing pressing international issues such as sustainability in food processing and packaging materials, food safety, strategic contribution of automated processes, and globalisation.

T h e s h o w f e a t u re d m a n y concurrent events and seminars.

One of them is Tomato Day, a meeting of the Mediterranean International Association of Processing Tomato, which investigated the present and future of the sector in terms of product promotion and trade.

The European Hygenic Engineering & Design Group held its biannual international congress of equipment manufacturers, food industry professionals, research i n s t i t u t es a n d p u b lic h e a lth authorities to promote food safety and sanitisation during the processing and packaging of food products.

At Meat Day, ASSOCRNI, the Italian Association of Meat Industry,

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THE SHOW FOCUSED ON PRESSING INTERNATIONAL ISSUES SUCH AS SUSTAINABILITY IN FOOD PROCESSING AND PACKAGING MATERIALS, FOOD SAFETY, STRATEGIC CONTRIBUTION OF AUTOMATED PROCESSES, AND GLOBALISATION. outlined possible domestic and international futures for meat-based products and analysed issues and opportunities for pork, meat and lamb products.

During Milk Day, ASSOLATTE, the Italian Milk and Dairy Association, discussed marketing strategies, customer communication, labelling information, cost rationalisation and environmental sustainability under the theme of Dairy World.

In addition, events like Tech Agrifood: Euromediterranean Business Meetings, which is a series of meetings and seminars dedicated to new technologies across the

agriculture and food value chains, generated a lot of dialogues among the stakeholders.

A key topic at most of the events was the expansion of international trading with a particular emphasis o n e s t a b l i s h i n g p re s e n c e i n emerging markets such as China and Southeast Asia. This is consistent with the intensifying efforts from Italian associations to increase participation at regional events in Asia to encourage bilateral trades.

The show is scheduled to return in 2016 at the same location. _________________ Enquiry No: 190

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Virag Virag, Budapest, Hungary

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2015

❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

4-6: FRUIT LOGISTICA Berlin ExpoCenter City Berlin, Germany Messe Berlin E-mail: fruitlogistica@messe-berlin.de Web: www.fruitlogistica.de/en ❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

MARCH 3-6: FOODEX JAPAN Makuhari Messe Tokyo, Japan Japan Management Association E-mail: foodexinternational@convention. jma.or.jp Web: www.jma.or.jp/foodex

1-3: FOOD INGREDIENTS CHINA National (Shanghai) Center For Exhibition and Convention Shanghai, China China Food Additives & Ingredients Association E-mail: cfaa1990@yahoo.com.cn Web: www.chinafoodadditives.com/ d_e.htm ❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

1-4: MIHAS KLCC Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Matrade E-mail: enquiry@halal.org.my Web: www.mihas.com.my ❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

3-5: COMPACK MYANMAR Tatmadaw Hall Yangon, Myanmar Enterprising Fairs (India) E-mail: packaging@efipl.in Web: www.compackexpo.com

❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

19-21: CAFÉ ASIA Marina Bay Sands Singapore Singapore Conference & Exhibition Management Services E-mail: mike@cems.com.sg Web: www.cafeasia.com.sg

15-18: FOOD & HOTEL INDONESIA Jakarta International Expo Jakarta, Indonesia Pamerindo Indonesia E-mail: wiwiek@pamerindo.com Web: www.foodhotelindonesia.com

❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

24-27: ANUGA FOODTEC Koelnmesse Cologne, Germany Koelnmesse Web: www.anugafoodtec.com

21-23: FOOD & HOTEL VIETNAM Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam SES E-mail: fhv@sesallworld.com Web: www.foodnhotelvietnam.com

❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

*All details are subject to change without notice. Please check with organisers for updates.

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6-8: SIAL CHINA Shanghai New International Expo Centre Shanghai, China Compexposium Web: www.sialchina.com ❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

APRIL

FEBRUARY

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19-23: IPACK IMA Fieramilano Milan, Italy Fiera Milano E-mail: ipackima@ipackima.it Web: www.ipackima.it ❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

20-22: FI VIETNAM Saigon Exhibition & Convention Center Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam UBM E-mail: tatiana.rozema@ubm.com ❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

20-24: THAIFEX-WORLD OF FOOD ASIA IMPACT Forum Exhibition Bangkok, Thailand Koelnmesse E-mail: l.how@koelnmesse.com.sg Web: www.worldoffoodasia.com ❑ To Exhibit ❑ To Visit ❑ General Enquiry

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REVIEW:

INTERFOOD INDONESIA With a population of 250 million, Indonesia is the fourth largest country in the world and home to 50 percent of the ASEAN population. Of which, 45 million people are part of the consuming class and almost half of their annual household spending is spent on food and beverage products. In addition, 60 percent of the country’s population is below 30 years of age. The country constitutes 40 percent of ASEAN’s GDP.

INTERFOOD INDONESIA Where Jakarta International Expo Country Jakarta, Indonesia Date November 12-15, 2014

INTERFOOD Indonesia 2014 was held from November 12-15, 2014, at the Jakarta International Expo in Indonesia. Covering an exhibition area of 21,000 sq m, the show welcomed 650 exhibitors, of which 313 were international exhibitors from 22 countries. In addition, the exhibition also had 13 country pavilions.

A total of 35,576 trade visitors took part at the four-day event with 24 percent of them being international participants.

Indonesia is the world’s ninth biggest exporter of agricultural products with two-thirds of the country’s export going to other parts of Asia.

Products exported by the country

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INDONESIA IS THE WORLD’S NINTH BIGGEST EXPORTER OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS WITH TWO-THIRDS OF THE COUNTRY’S EXPORT GOING TO OTHER PARTS OF ASIA. include palm oil, seafood, tea, coffee and spices, while imports include cereals, sugar and dairy products.

The US (19 percent), Australia (17 percent) and China (10 percent) are the top three suppliers to the country, while India (15 percent), China (12 percent) and the US (11 percent) are the top three customers.

As a business platform that promotes networking across diverse industr y segments, from food

ingredients to processing machinery and retail solutions, the show featured a series of live product demonstrations and seminars.

In 2015, the show will be renamed as Sial Interfood as part of the new collaboration with the Sial Group.

Expected to attract 40,000 visitors, the exhibition is expected to return from November 11-14, 2015, at the same venue. _________________ Enquiry No: 191

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