Speed and health combine to drive APAC’s convenience sector - in-depth analysis

Conventionally, many types of foods and beverages targeting the convenience market in APAC have been correlated with being ultra-processed and less than healthy due to the perceived use of additives and preservatives to extend shelf life.

But with consumer focus and awareness about food safety as well as health and nutrition on the rise, many companies have had to revamp their production input as well as strategies accordingly.

This has required increased prioritisation of healthier, nutritious ingredients – but with the majority of consumers in the region being ‘time-poor’ with work, school, and other commitments, the need for convenience foods has not seen a decrease but instead an increase in demand.

One category where such innovation has grown steadily is in ready-to-drink (RTD) beverages.

“Busy people want something quick and convenient, but coffee consumers today are also keen on having a high-quality, authentic, traditional cup of coffee, which would require this to be slow dripped and take quite a long time,” coffee specialist firm Gold Kili Senior Business Development Manager Susan Chong told FoodNavigator-Asia.

“In response to these needs, Gold Kili is launching our new Duo Brew coffee range, designed to offer consumers maximum convenience with flexible brewing methods — either hot or cold — using a simple steeping process.

“Unlike traditional drip coffee, Duo Brew is simple, as consumers just need to add water and let it steep for several minutes and it is good to go, without needing to wait like how one would need to wait for drip coffee to slow drip until it’s ready.

“But unlike instant 3-in-1 mixes, this is real drip coffee without other additives, and provides an option that is not only quicker and more portable but also healthier whilst meeting what consumers want.

Gold Kili considers these characteristics particularly important for it to expand overseas as well as capture the younger consumer market.

“This is aimed at capitalising on growing coffee culture trends among younger consumers who value taste, accessibility, and versatility over brand heritage or detailed bean origins,” she said.

Similarly, tea manufacturers in the region have also caught on to consumers feeling inconvenienced by the long time needed for brewing tea as well as the complicated rituals that are traditional in markets like China and India.

“While traditional tea brewing is valued for its ritual and complexity, many consumers today want something faster,” India-based Kamlah Gold Director Rohith Agarwaal told us.

“This is in tandem with fast-paced markets across APAC and the Middle East, where the demand for convenience is highest – Singapore is a good example of this, and the reason we are launching our new convenience-focused tea range here.

“The new range was launched in Singapore even before our home market in India, because we know the importance of convenience to these fast-paced regions, where people don’t have time to brew tea because everybody is busy making money.”

Kamlah Gold is offering premixes, teabags, and quick-brew loose leaves within the new range, focused on meeting consumers’ desire for faster preparation without sacrificing flavour.

“This underscores our focus on the APAC region’s demand for quick, convenient brews,” he added.

“Take our premix range, for example. This just takes one minute to brew, it’s very fast.”

Convenience in cooking

Alongside the growth of the health and wellness trend has been the rise of home cooking, which has also been heavily moulded by a need for convenience especially amongst young families where both parents work.

“We have seen very rapid growth and demand for sauces that are ready to use in the kitchen for home cooking, and many of these consumers are interested in traditional dishes that are difficult to cook from scratch,” Peranakan cooking paste firm Founder Zan Ho told us.

“Peranakan food is well known for being notoriously difficult to get the flavours right and done well, with many recipes passed down from generation to generation but rarely formally recorded.

“For these sorts of dishes, authenticity is the most important component as consumers may not know how to make these from scratch but certainly know a good dish when they taste it – hence our decision to focus strongly on authenticity in our ready-to-cook (RTC) cooking paste recipes.

“It is also very important to ensure that convenience is prioritised as many of the younger generation are time-poor and this is an important factor when they do their grocery shopping.”

The other challenge with RTC products comes back to consumer concerns about ultra-processing as well as high salt or sugar content.

“We made sure to get certified under healthier programmes such as Singapore’s Healthier Choice, and doing this required cutting sugar and salt content from the traditional recipes,” he added.

“The combination of convenience, health and authenticity is what today’s consumers are after.

“Compared to 10 years ago, consumers today are more accepting of RTC and RTE products and starting to understand that these can also be healthy and nutritious, driven by busy lifestyles and the pandemic.”

Even companies that have focused on other categories for many years are working to expand into the convenience foods space, recognising the immense potential here.

“Our company has been around since the 1980s and used to focus on fishballs which we are best known for, as well as other frozen products such as ham and sausages, but now we are expanding into RTC products because there is so much space to grow here,” Bobo Deputy Managing Director Randall Ang said.

“We are combining our innovations in this space with the recent protein trends as well, so we not only have fish, chicken, beef products but also plant-based RTC products such as rice bowls and laksa noodles.

“At the moment we are seeing immense demand for these RTC items in the B2B space, and have also developed a variety of formats including soups and sauces in order to meet their needs.”

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Convenience in snacking

The snacks category in and of itself is meant to cater to consumers wanting convenient options at any time, but innovation in this area has now moved to prioritise this aspect even more intensely.

“Convenience is more in demand today than ever before, and in terms of cheese snacking innovation we also have had to innovate faster than before to keep up,” Australia’s oldest dairy Brownes Dairy said.

“One major category with explosive growth has been cheese snacks for children, as parents are very keen on the high protein and nutrition content available in cheese.

“We have built on this by improving on the convenience of cheese snacking formats available, such as cheese lollipops which can be eaten on their own as a snack without needing the accompaniment of bread and conveniently individually packaged so they can be popped into lunchboxes as-is.

“All of our products are clean label and minimally processed, which also falls in line with the current demand for health and wellness products.”

This was seconded by healthy snacking firm Power Pops, which specialises in Greek yoghurt-based popsicles.

“Our main product focus has been on taste, nutrition, and convenience, with ingredients such as whole fruits, house-made yogurt, and natural herbs from basil to blue pea flowers to boost flavour and colour without relying on artificial additives,” Power Pops Co-Founder Seema said.

“We emphasise the convenience we offer in terms of the way we get the snacks to consumers – we use a subscription model that has two or four boxes delivered directly to consumers’ homes each month, maximising convenience for parents.

“Orders can be customised monthly based on preferred flavours, and the yoghurt popsicles are fun for children and wholesome enough for adults to enjoy too.”