Malaysia

RTD coffee is seeing fairly stable, albeit low, volume sales in both on-trade and off-trade terms. This is supported by the popularity of coffee in the country overall, with reports in mid-to-late 2023 citing Malaysia as ranked third in Asia Pacific…

Overall polishes maintained growth in retail volume and current value terms in 2023, with increases seen across all categories. However, lifestyle and fashion trends continued to militate against the development of polishes. For instance, younger…

Laundry care maintained retail volume and current value growth in 2023. Although other types of laundry detergents saw stronger increases in this year, powder detergents continued to account for the highest sales. Powder is a popular format of…

Off-trade volume sales are lower than those in on-trade channels in juice, albeit still remaining positive. Consumers with large families (at least four persons per household) tend to prefer liquid concentrates over juice, seeing such as offering…

As of August 2023, dengue cases were up 117% year-on-year, bringing the total cases to 73,680 from January to August 2023, compared with 39,769 cases in the same period in 2022. By September 2023, cases had risen to 88,672, with a massive surge in…

Food price inflation remained elevated in 2023, as the country is a net food importer, and huge increases in the prices of imported white rice came into effect in September 2023. Although it is still unknown how overall consumer spending will be…

Sales in energy drinks are only seeing modest off-trade growth, as the category has a fairly limited consumer audience and faces competition from other soft drinks. On the positive side, the revival of domestic and international travel helps to…

The full lifting of COVID-19 restrictions was seen in 2022, which led to the reopening of the economy and international borders. Many consumers returned to socialising, the office and school, as they were no longer confined to the home. They were…

Off-trade volume sales in concentrates are relatively stable, thanks to the baseline demand for liquid concentrates in households in Malaysia. Indeed, liquid concentrates are especially in demand with large families, as they are perceived to offer…

On-trade volume and fountain sales in carbonates are being supported by developments in foodservice and hospitality channels. For example, as seen with the growth of hotels in the country, such as the Hyatt Place Kuala Lumpur, INNSiDE by Meliá Kuala…

Whilst volume sales are lower in off-trade channels compared to on-trade, bottled water is achieving positive growth. However, potential sales are suppressed by unit prices hikes, which are affecting soft drinks as a whole. Ultimately, this led to a…

During the pandemic and lockdown period in 2020, the Health Ministry advised consumers to use bleach as an alternative to sanitise surfaces when surface care products such as home care disinfectants were running out of stock in both urban and rural…

Asian speciality drinks is seeing flat off-trade volume growth, due to the category’s performance in relation to unit price hikes. As Asian speciality drinks can be easily replaced by other categories, such as RTD tea, coconut and other plant waters,…

Air care maintained retail volume and current value growth in 2023, with increases seen across all categories. However, car air fresheners saw the strongest increase in this year. Car is the main mode of transportation for locals, and the majority of…

In 2022, sustainable packaging was gaining traction across industries in Malaysia. As an illustration, 10 fmcg companies united under the Malaysian Recycling Alliance (MAREA), committing themselves to recycling 5,000 tonnes of plastic waste by the…

On-trade volume sales for tea recorded double-digit growth in Malaysia for the second consecutive year in 2023, with a full recovery to pre-pandemic levels predicted for 2024. At the beginning of 2023 local consumers more fully returned to offices…

Overall other hot drinks saw off-trade unit prices rise rapidly for the second consecutive year in 2023. This was attributable to the price volatility of key raw materials that Malaysia is import-reliant on – that is, wheat, cocoa, sugar and dairy…

Global price hikes for raw materials like sugar and cocoa drove up unit selling prices in hot drinks in Malaysia in 2023, especially within coffee and other hot drinks. The hoarding and shortage of cocoa in west Africa force leading players like…

Coffee consumption has become the norm in Malaysia, with more consumers drinking coffee daily in line with rising urbanisation and busy lifestyles. Volume sales rose dynamically through the on-trade channel in 2023 and saw marginal decline in the…

Colourings, markers and highlighters were the most dynamic categories in writing instruments in 2023 with sales of these products thriving. This was partly due to a flurry of new product launches as players looked to benefit from the returning demand…