Asia Pacific

Refrigeration appliances continued to see healthy growth in retail volume terms in 2023. This was fuelled by a number of factors, including a growing population, rising living standards, urbanisation and the busier lifestyles of urban consumers,…

Following a year of healthy growth in 2022, the demand for refrigeration appliances slowed in 2023 due to inflationary pressures and unfavourable weather conditions. Sporadic rain during the summer months disrupted sales for cooling products such as…

Demand for freezers in Hong Kong is expected to continue to decline in volume terms in 2023, due to the continued trend of small living spaces. Therefore, many people prefer refrigeration appliances such as fridge-freezers, which have combined…

As the Chinese government lifted all COVID-19-related restrictions at the onset of 2023, sales of refrigeration appliances began to recover in light of the opening-up. However, this sudden change had different impacts on sales of freezers and…

While consumption of shelf stable ready meals continued to increase in both 2020 and 2021, growth in this category was curbed due to the surging interest in cooking meals at home from scratch using fresh ingredients that has been seen among the…

The COVID-19 pandemic was beneficial for sales of ready meals in the Philippines during 2020 as the imposition of quarantine lockdowns and the strict approach taken to social distancing and home seclusion meant that many consumers spent much of their…

With many consumers spending more time at home due to the pandemic, the home cooking trend was bolstered in 2020. This led to a decline in ready meals packaging volumes in 2019-2020 as more people cooked from scratch. In 2021, the home cooking trend…

The packaging unit volumes of thin wall plastic containers used in shelf stable ready meals saw notable growth in 2020, with slower but still positive growth being seen in 2021. This can be attributed to the onset of the pandemic and related…

The COVID-19 pandemic was positive for sales of ready meals in Singapore during 2020 and the uplift seen in sales of ready meals had positive implications for ready meals packaging as well. The main factor supporting rising demand for ready meals was…

Growth in packaging demand accelerated sharply in ready meals during 2020. COVID-19 led to consumers spending more time at home, while foodservice outlets were forced to close for an extended period. In this context, demand for ready meals grew as an…

In contrast to most other ready meal types, demand for chilled ready meals packaging declined during 2020. While chilled ready meals still accounted for the largest share of packaging unit volumes in ready meals, they lost ground to products with a…

Although peas and other pulses have a presence in Vietnam, availability is low and sales are still very small. The use of peas and other pulses is limited to a few dishes, and these products do not have wide consumer awareness. By contrast, beans are…

The price of soybeans has seen a continuous surge since 2020 in response to persistently rising demand, with domestic output declining during the latter years of the review period. The retail consumption of soybeans and other soybean byproducts, such…

Total volume sales of pulses in Japan continue to grow in 2023, albeit slowly, mainly driven by the further rebound of foodservice. Throughout 2020 and 2021, foodservice volume sales of pulses in Japan suffered, as several cities, such as Tokyo,…

In India, pulses is set to maintain solid total volume growth in 2023, with increases across all categories. Pulses continue to feature prominently in a wide array of traditional dishes in the country, ranging from dals (lentil soups) to curries.…

In 2022, total volume sales of pulses declined due to disrupted logistics caused by the ongoing impact of the pandemic in China and shortened operating hours for physical foodservice establishments, with this channel holding considerable share of…

In 2023, total volume demand for processed meat, seafood, and alternatives to meat is set to experience solid growth in Hong Kong, primarily driven by the strong rebound in the foodservice channel, thanks to the return of foot traffic and tourism…

Retail volume sales of processed meat, seafood and alternatives saw modest growth in 2023, continuing the trend of the previous year. Products such as chilled processed meat have a low level of demand in Malaysia, due to an overwhelming consumer…

In spite of continuing soaring inflation, processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat is expected to register both healthy constant value and volume growth. Urbanisation and busier lifestyles are boosting demand. Processed meats, seafood, and…

Retail demand for processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat marginally increased in 2023, following a slight drop the previous year when demand was affected by high inflationary pressures from supply chain disruptions and geopolitical…

In 2023, the prices of commodities, including animal feed, remained elevated due to global supply chain issues resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While there was some improvement during the second half of the year, stubbornly high input…

While current value sales are expected to increase, constant value sales are expected to fall. Rising costs hit profitability, as inflation is still an issue, though the rises in prices is easing. That being said, volume sales are expected to…

In 2023, similar retail volume and current value growth rates are expected for processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat compared with 2021, after seeing a stronger performance in 2022. COVID-19 restrictions were lifted from the beginning of…

Retail price increases in the processed meat category began to slow in 2023, relative to the previous year. Population growth in Uzbekistan is supporting the underlying demand for processed meat. Overall, it is very common for people in Uzbekistan to…

Amid the growing climate change crisis, local interest in eco-friendly practices has risen significantly, aligning with value-based consumption. To reflect this trend, players in processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat in South Korea are…

Average unit prices in processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat saw another year of rises in 2023. This was for several reasons, including the increasing costs of energy and animal feed, with Indonesia being import-reliant for some raw…

In 2023, the overall retail demand for processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat dropped in Taiwan as consumers resumed pre-COVID-19 pandemic lifestyles. The category had seen a surge in demand in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, driven by…

Processed meat, seafood, and alternatives to meat benefits from lower prices compared to its fresh variants. Additionally, due to inflationary pressures overall and the cost-of-living crisis, many consumers prefer to cook at home instead of dining…

Despite ongoing inflationary pressures, volume sales of processed meat, seafood, alternatives to meat saw moderate growth in 2023. This was due, to a large extent, to the continued recovery of foodservice, thanks to the normalisation of consumer…

Processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat maintained dynamic growth in India in both retail volume and current value terms in 2023. Tofu and derivatives saw the strongest value growth in 2023. Increasing numbers of consumers are gravitating…

Processed meat, seafood and alternatives to meat is set to suffer a continued retail volume decline in 2023, although it is expected to maintain positive retail current value growth thanks to unit price increases, driven by inflationary pressures.…

While the war in Ukraine has led to supply disruptions, processed meat and seafood and alternatives to meat is expected to register moderate volume growth. That being said, constant value sales are expected to fall, as rising costs hit profit value…

Shelf stable seafood packaging continued to see strong growth in 2022 in Vietnam’s processed meat and seafood category as products such as canned fish and seafood offer consumers a convenient and long-lasting source of protein and nutrition. These…

The various COVID-19 measures and restrictions introduced during the pandemic resulted in very strong growth in sales of processed meat and seafood in 2020. In addition to the requirement for consumers to stay indoors for much of the time during the…

The consumption of shelf stable meat and seafood was bolstered in 2020 by the onset of the pandemic due to stockpiling, and because of the long shelf life of these products compared with fresh meat and seafood. In addition, the closure of foodservice…

Total packaging volumes declined in processed meat and seafood for a second year in South Korea in 2023, although this was a continued normalisation process after the pandemic, and volumes remained higher than in 2019. Chilled processed meat…

While retail unit volumes of processed meat and seafood packaging recorded a marginal decline in 2022 compared to the highs of 2020, following the emergence of the pandemic and prolonged home seclusion, they remained higher than 2019 levels.

Chilled processed meat is only packaged in flexible plastic in Malaysia. This encompasses a variety of formats, including hermetically sealed packs, flow wraps, overwraps and other non-stand-up pouch materials. Flexible plastic offers a significant…

In 2023, total processed meat and seafood packaging volumes in Japan saw a second year of decline. Despite seeing a decline in actual volumes, flexible plastic packaging continued to dominate. This reflects the consumer preference for convenience,…

As Indonesians returned to the office and classroom as well as resumed their social and leisure activities, there was growing demand for processed food to cope with the resumption of hectic, on-the-go lifestyles. During 2022, with many consumers…

With busy lives in India’s urban centres, consumers are increasingly looking for convenient and time-saving packaged food products. While Indians traditionally consumed fresh meat, rapid urbanisation and less free time to spend cooking have been…

The growing emphasis on sustainability and environmental concerns within the packaging industry has led to a reduction in the use of plastic trays for packaging processed meat and seafood products in Hong Kong. Companies like Sealed Air, a prominent…

Flexible plastic is the industry standard for the packaging of processed meat and seafood products, as it is seen as a cost-effective way to keep products fresh and safe, with it commonly being used with vacuum packing. This packaging format provides…

Processed fruit and vegetables packaging managed to record modest growth in Vietnam in 2022 due to growing demand for convenience in food consumption, with processed fruit and vegetable products offering consumers easy-to-prepare and ready-to-use…

Frozen processed potatoes, the only frozen products with visible sales in the overall processed fruit and vegetables category, are packaged only in flexible plastic. This is because this pack type provides an airtight seal that helps maintain the…

Although it was not as marked as some categories in Thai packaged food, processed fruit and vegetables saw a small spike in demand in 2020, in turn boosting this category’s packaging unit volumes. With consumers preparing more meals at home due to…

Total processed and fruit and vegetables packaging volumes maintained slow, stable growth in 2023. Within frozen processed potatoes, flexible plastic was the only pack type with notable packaging volumes in South Korea in 2023, due to its…

Following a surge in demand for processed fruit and vegetables during the pandemic in Singapore, thereby boosting packaging, as local consumers looked to stock up on shelf stable essentials to avoid regular visits to grocery stores, retail unit…

Metal food cans remain the dominant pack type for shelf stable fruit and vegetables in Malaysia. This dominance, extending to products like beans, fruits and tomatoes, has persisted for years, with no changes seen in 2023. The primary reason behind…

Total processed fruit and vegetables packaging saw a notable decline in 2023. Although actual declines were seen across all pack types, some performed better than others. For instance, despite the fact that it already dominated processed fruit and…