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Category: Food

Retail News Asia is committed to providing both local and global retailers with the latest Food and Food & Beverage news throughout the Asian market. This on a daily base.

  • Barry Callebaut elevates China’s taste buds with new sensory Chocolate Tasting Ritual

    Barry Callebaut elevates China’s taste buds with new sensory Chocolate Tasting Ritual

    Barry Callebaut brings a whole new sensory experience to China with the introduction of the Chocolate Tasting Ritual. The Switzerland-based company, one of the world’s largest chocolate manufacturers to artisanal and professional users of chocolate, said the tasting ritual will allow chocolate professionals and consumers to uncover a brand new world of chocolate richness.

    Cocoa and chocolate sensory scientists from Barry Callebaut and the leading global flavor house Givaudan devoted years of extensive research to develop a cocoa and chocolate sensory language. In parallel, Barry Callebaut engineered a chocolate tasting ritual, a fresh new experience inspired by the age-old practice of tea tasting ceremonies in China.

    Pascale Meulemeester, Barry Callebaut’s Vice President for Global Gourmet, said, “We are excited to transfer this know-how to the growing pastry chef community in China. The tea tasting ritual is symbolic of Chinese tradition. As chocolate becomes more popular among consumers in China, we believe the chocolate tasting ritual will be an exciting experience for consumers in China as well. Chinese consumers can now even better appreciate high-quality chocolates such as Callebaut®, Cacao Barry®, and Carma®.”

    What is the chocolate tasting ritual?

    A Chocolate Tasting Ritual fully engages all five senses – sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste – and enables chocolate professionals and consumers alike to discover new dimensions of the chocolate experience and elevates the chocolate enjoyment to the next level.

    Perfectly pairing cocoa and chocolate sensory research with consumer understanding, Barry Callebaut also developed the Consumer Chocolate Sensory Wheel with 87 descriptors, extensively covering the different flavors, textures and aromas of chocolate. The comprehensive sensory language is rooted in science – it is the first time that chocolate flavors are described in such a precise manner. Through speaking a common language, this enables the chocolate industry to develop a higher awareness of the intricate tastes and flavors of chocolate.

    The chocolate tasting ritual was demonstrated to 46 international chefs as well as several invited pastry chefs at the Global Chef Seminar organized by Barry Callebaut in Shanghai.

    Renata Januszewska, Global R&D Sensory Methodologies Manager at Barry Callebaut, conducted the chocolate tasting ritual at the event. She said, “Having a shared language and the tasting ritual will enable brands to discuss their chocolate experiences with consumers and describe their uniqueness to them. It will also offer them the means to come up with even better tasting experiences, exploring new flavors and food pairing combinations.”

    During the demonstration of the ritual, the chefs participated in a full immersion into all four categories of chocolates – milk, dark, white, and ruby chocolate. The unique tasting experiences of these chocolates were truly linked to cocoa origin, cocoa varieties, product processing parameters, recipes and three Barry Callebaut brands: Callebaut, Cacao Barry and Carma.

    • The first sense to experience the chocolate products during the tasting session is, of course, the eyes (sight), as consumers observe the color, gloss and visual texture to form their first impression;
    • Then, the chefs were asked to hold the chocolate in their hands to feel (touch) the product and see how soft it is, how quickly it melts, and how resistant to breaking it is, according to the different recipes;
    • Afterwards, the chefs held the chocolate close to their ears, and break it to hear the snap, the sharp cracking sound made when chocolate is broken up in pieces;
    • Next, the chefs put the chocolate close to their nose to take in the aroma (smell), discovering the intensity, complexity, and type of aromatic notes;
    • Following this, they were advised to taste the chocolate in their mouth and let it slowly melt while holding their nose closed – shutting off all other senses to ensure a fine-tuned taste.

    This procedure allowed chocolate lovers to deeply appreciate the products they were tasting in a completely different way, experiencing the full complexity of chocolate flavors. This is the type of experience that will really improve people’s overall sensory enjoyment of chocolate, the company believes.

    Global Chef Seminar

    This is the first time the company has brought its international chefs together in a global meeting held in the Asia Pacific region. The international chefs included world-renowned and award-winning pastry chefs which represent the company’s three global chocolate brands, Callebaut®, Cacao Barry®, and Carma® attended the seminar.

    The seminar marks the 7th edition and prior to this, the annual chef seminar has been held in other major cities including Milan (Italy) and Toronto (Canada).

    “The Chocolate Tasting Ritual is just one of the resources, learnings and tools that we have today, that provides numerous opportunities for knowledge transfer to the chef community in China,” said Denis Convert, Barry Callebaut’s Vice President for Gourmet in Asia Pacific. “Our three global gourmet brands are supported by one of the largest numbers of pastry chefs and chocolate ambassadors with a worldwide network of more than 21 Chocolate AcademyTM centers. Pastry chefs from across the China region will find at one time and place all the tools and information they need to be competitive in today’s rapidly changing food landscape.”

    The seminar was jam-packed with power networking sessions, comprehensive thought leadership sharing with experts, peers and industry insights that aim to boost the chocolate community. During the seminar, the chefs were equipped with practical insights on the latest trends, topical challenges and best practices for them to navigate and excel in the competitive and evolving pastry landscape.

  • Papa John’s sells company-owned restaurants in Beijing

    Papa John’s sells company-owned restaurants in Beijing

    Papa John’s International has sold its restaurants in Beijing and Tianjin in China.

    The 34 stores have been bought by Asia Gourmet Holdings (Shanghai), a portfolio company of Advantage Partners, a private equity firm in Asia.

    “Asia Gourmet Holdings (Shanghai) is an experienced and successful operator with significant interests in the restaurant industry in China,” said Tim O’Hern, president, international, Papa John’s.

    “The new franchisee shares our commitment to quality and will represent our ‘Better ingredients. Better pizza’ brand promise well moving forward in the region.”

    Nam Jeongil, chairman of Asia Gourmet Holdings, said the company was looking forward to building on the success Papa John’s had built in China to date.

    “There is a bounty of opportunities for Papa John’s in Beijing and Tianjin. We will apply Asia Gourmet Holding’s knowledge of the region and success with our existing restaurant concepts, such as Zheng Yi Wei, a leading chain of restaurants offering Korean cuisine, to the Papa John’s business.”

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  • Japan’s Go! Go! Curry lands in Houston

    Japan’s Go! Go! Curry lands in Houston

    Japanese franchise Go! Go! Curry plans to open in Houston this August.

    The restaurant’s new Chinatown location will serve traditional Japanese curries under the operation of franchisee Daxin.

    Originally from Japan’s Kanazawa, the franchise first opened in the US more than a decade ago in New York’s Times Square, and has already established seven locations on the East Coast and beyond. It is named after the number 55 jersey worn Kanazawa native Hideki Matsui, who played for the New York Yankees. “Go” is the Japanese number five.

    Daxin founder Shishen Li said that while Asian food is gaining rising popularity in the US, Japanese comfort food is an untapped subgenre.

    “We are thrilled to bring the new curry craze to the Houston community before it becomes a saturated market like the ramen or sushi trends before it.”

    In a nod to its name, the chain plans to open 55 franchises throughout North America by 2022.

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  • Subway Hong Kong to open more stores

    Subway Hong Kong to open more stores

    Subway Hong Kong is embarking on an expansion strategy, scouting for new locations and new franchisees as it unveils a restaurant and menu makeover.

    Next month, a 900sqft Subway outlet which seats 40 will open at City University in Kowloon Tong. Not only will it be one of the chain’s largest restaurants in the territory, it will be a showcase of the brand’s future here.

    “Basically it’s Subway stepping into the 21st Century,” Subway Hong Kong & Macau Development Office GM Jamie LeBrun said.

    Subway Hong Kong currently has 25 outlets across the two territories. Three of those are in the process of being refurbished in the new look and style and more stores are under development or planning. Within the next 10 years, Subway Hong Kong plans 100 new outlets.

    “Our franchise family is growing with four new franchisees this year and we are looking for engaged and dedicated franchisees with a team player mentality to join us,” said LeBrun.

    Dubbed Fresh Forward, the new store design features light, bright colours, digital menu boards, the new generation Subway logo and graphics, and self-service beverage areas. Gone are the stained timbers and dark colour schemes, the result of a root-and-branch revamp of the brand’s positioning in the US, where Subway’s fortunes aren’t currently as buoyant as in Hong Kong. Some of the local stores may feature self-ordering kiosks in time.

    Fresh produce will be on display, addressing the fact Hongkongers don’t realise vegetables like tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers are delivered fresh and whole to be cut on site, says LeBrun.

    Besides the fresh style, new stores like the one at City University will be set up to cater better to online ordering.

    “With the move towards services like Deliveroo and Foodpanda, we have redesigned the back of house so where we have a prep bench, you can lift it up and you’ll have a salad bar so you can assemble orders at the back of the store for delivery. So when orders are coming in online during peak hours, someone will be out the back preparing orders and not interfering with the in-store trade.”

    LeBrun says some Hong Kong Subway stores can earn up to 25 per cent of their sales online.

    “That’s how big the online space is. When it’s raining, no one wants to go out and pick it up. People have got short lunchtimes too – no one wants to go stand in line.”

    Localised menu

    Adapting the menu to local customers is also a focus.

    “Product innovation is a cornerstone of future success. But we really were not doing a lot of that until now. So far this year we have already released six new products including a Prime Australian Beef Pastrami  and we are launching avocado products in July, with more localised options to follow.

    LeBrun and his team, who have more than 50 years experience with the brand between them, took over the Subway Hong Kong development office last October after several stores were closed across the city. They adopted a back-to-basics approach focusing first on engaging franchisees, establishing a team culture in stores, fine-tuning operations, and improving the customer experience. The results are already obvious: sales have been growing steadily this calendar year with stores averaging a 10 per cent year-on-year uptick. Some have achieved as much as 22 per cent growth.

    “Customers want good food and clean stores. And we’re giving them that,” said LeBrun.

    “If you walk into a Louis Vuitton or a Gucci you expect the same service, anywhere in the world. It has to be similar. Subway is the same.”

    Coffee and innovation

    LeBrun says the chain will continue to expand the menu with both short-term promotions and long-term offers.

    “Hongkongers love product innovation. Look at McDonald’s – every month they have new promotions. That’s where we need to be.”

    Coffee will soon be added to Subway Hong Kong menus so customers who want a hot or iced drink can buy it at the same place as their sandwich, salad or cookies.

    “Coffee is growing in Hong Kong. So we are looking for a way to feature high quality beans and fresh milk. We will offer high-grade coffee at affordable prices.”

    The final part in the Subway Hong Kong renaissance is marketing, and LeBrun says the company has that in hand as well.

    “There hasn’t been enough advertising until now and it hasn’t been in the right channels. We will be doing more targeted marketing via social media and digital channels which appeal to our core demographics.

    “We also want to better communicate the sustainability practices Subway adheres to regarding animal welfare and our environmental impact. There are many positive stories of Subway doing the right thing that we want to share.”

    “It’s good news,” LeBrun says of the transformation. “Because we’ve been talking about how it is going to happen. Now it is happening.”

  • EU set to lift ‘yellow card’ on Vietnam fisheries next year

    EU set to lift ‘yellow card’ on Vietnam fisheries next year

    Vietnam will have to wait another six months for the European Union to consider lifting a ‘yellow card’ restriction slapped last year because of illegal fishing.

    After an evaluation done May 15-24 this year, the EC decided that they would consider lifting the yellow card in January next year, as Vietnam has shown “improvement,” according to a statement issued by the Directorate of Fisheries under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

    The European Commission (EC), executive body of the 28-nation bloc (including the U.K.), had issued an official warning on October 23 last year that it would ban seafood imports from Vietnam unless Hanoi did more to tackle illegal fishing carried out by Vietnamese vessels in other countries’ territories.

    The directorate, however, admitted that problems continued to dog the sector, especially in controls of fishing and tracing origins.

    Vietnam currently has around 33,000 offshore fishing vessels, but only 3,000 of them, or 9 percent, are equipped with satellite navigation devices, it said, adding that the high cost of installation was a constraining factor.

    Though Vietnam has acted on suggestions from EC last year to improve controls over offshore fishing in the 2017 Fishery Law, there was still room for improvement in the actual implementation process at local provinces, the directorate said.

    Vietnam ranks among the top ten seafood producers in the world, according to the FAO, the U.N. food and agriculture organisation.

    The E.U., the world’s biggest fish importer, adopted a regulation that took effect in 2010, aiming to avoid complicity in illegal fishing and promote sustainable use of the sea resources.

    The EC estimates that each year, between 11 and 26 million tons of fish, at least 15 percent of the global catch worth 8 and 19 billion euros, are caught illegally.

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  • Tealive to apply for stay of execution after injunction threatens to close 161 outlets

    Tealive to apply for stay of execution after injunction threatens to close 161 outlets

    Tealive owner Loob Holding Sdn Bhd will file an application for a stay and for leave to appeal to the Federal Court after the Court of Appeal granted an injunction by Chatime franchisor La Kaffa International Co Ltd against Tealive from continuing its operations.

    La Kaffa had filed the appeal after the High Court dismissed its injunction bid in May 2017 against former franchise holder Loob from carrying a similar business as Chatime.

    “This matter is being handled by our lawyers and we will let the due process of law take its course. We have instructed them to make the necessary application to the courts to allow us to maintain status quo until final settlement of the entire legal process,” Loob said in a statement today.

    Loob is now at risk of closing 161 of its Tealive outlets, which will affect 800 staff, if the injunction stays.

    Tealive was created following a dispute between Loob and La Kaffa last year that saw the Taiwanese franchisor terminate its Chatime master franchisee contract with Loob.

    Loob has since expanded Tealive overseas, including in China, Australia, India and Vietnam.

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  • Mandatory addition of micronutrients hurting Vietnam’s food industry

    Mandatory addition of micronutrients hurting Vietnam’s food industry

    A decree requiring the addition of micronutrients to food products is making them unattractive and more difficult to sell, industry insiders say.

    The decree, which went into effect last year, requires businesses to include iodine in salt and iron and zinc in wheat flour.

    Asahira Keita, deputy marketing director of food firm Acecook Vietnam, said the mandatory inclusion of minerals like iron or zinc in flour has hurt his company.

    Keita said the resulting flour has a darker color than normal flour. Its texture also changes and makes the end product less appealing to customers, he added.

    “To make our food products more appealing, we would have to research new recipes, which would certainly cost us more,” he said.

    Keita had other concerns too. Several countries don’t allow the inclusion of micro-nutrients in food products, so Vietnamese food firms would need to go through lengthy procedures to export food products with micronutrients into such countries. Foreign customers are also not fond of food products with micro-nutrients, he said.

    “This is a tough challenge for businesses like ours. We might even have to stop exporting products into these long-time partner countries, just because they don’t have the same requirements as Vietnam does,” Keita said.

    He said one solution could be to create two types of flour separately; one for domestic use and another to be exported. But doing so would be too costly and expensive, as the firm, which is currently deploying an automation-focused production model, can only afford one automated system. Right now, it is being used to make flour infused with iron and zinc for domestic use.

    Therefore, flour without iron or zinc that is used for export products, must be manually packaged.

    “This is too costly, time-consuming and inefficient,” said Keita.

    Processing challenges

    Businesses are also finding it hard to follow the decree’s guidelines as the processing method could change the levels of micro-nutrients in the products.

    Lam Ba Nhi, quality control director of Vietnamese meat processing firm Vissan, said the application of heat during food processing could destroy the iodine included in food products.

    Therefore, when food products are tested, levels of iodine present could be lower than the decree’s mandates, Nhi said.

    Lam proposed that the inclusion of iodized salt should not be made compulsory in food processing.

    Last month, the government had said the Health Ministry should carry out further research so that appropriate changes can be made to the decree, in which the inclusion of micro-nutrients in food products should only be encouraged, and not made compulsory.

    The Ministry of Health has not responded since.

    “We want the Ministry of Health to take action and follow the government’s suggestion,” said Nguyen Hoai Nam, deputy general secretary of Vietnam Association of Seafood and Producers.

    The decree came in the wake of advice from the Iodine Global Network, which ranks Vietnam among the top 19 iodine-deficient countries.

    The network had advised that Vietnamese people use iodized salt directly in food seasoning, food processing, and livestock feeding.

    Prolonged iodine deficiency can cause nerve damage among infants and children; and make pregnant women suffer miscarriages or go into preterm labor. Adults can also suffer goiter, nerve damage and mental illness.

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  • Lady M announces July soft opening in Macau

    Lady M announces July soft opening in Macau

    Lady M’s is gaining more popularity.

    The glamour and luxury of Macau has been chosen as the brand’s next stop with a soft opening planned for mid-July.

    Lady M’s first Macau boutique will launch in the retail haven of Shoppes’ new phase at Cotai Central. With a 10-seat VIP room and a spacious 4,000-square-foot area, this will be Lady M’s largest boutique in the region.

    Complete with custom designed awnings that pay homage to New York City’s boutiques and al fresco vibe, Lady M Macau is sure to be a hit with visitors from around the world.

    To usher in a new era in Cotai, Lady M presents an exclusive cake for Macau in the form of the Passion Fruit Mille Crêpes.

    Featuring no less than 20 layers of handmade crêpes, a zesty and fragrant passion fruit-infused cream binds each layer to provide a perfect harmony between sweet and sour notes, resulting in a cake that was made for a gorgeous summer.

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  • Starbucks Korea to open the 30th upscale Reserve Bar

    Starbucks Korea to open the 30th upscale Reserve Bar

    Starbucks Korea says it will expand its premium Reserve store network to meet the growing demand for specialty coffee among local consumers.

    The company will open two Reserve stores in Seoul and a third in Pangyo, just south of the capital, this week. They will raise to 30 the number of upscale Reserve cafes in the country, which is already the third-largest total of any international market, behind China with 52 and the US with 35.

    Starbucks Korea is a joint venture between Starbucks Coffee International and South Korea’s Shinsegae Group.

    The number of Reserve bars in South Korea stood at 15 as of the end of last year, so has nearly doubled in the past six months.

    “We will continue to increase the number of Reserve bars in line with the growing demand for specialty coffee among local consumers,” a Starbucks Korea official said

    Starbucks remains the undisputed No 1 in Korea’s coffee industry and was the first such chain the country to surpass 1 trillion won (US$895 million) in sales. It has more than 1150 stores nationwide.

    The size of South Korea’s domestic coffee market reached 6.4 trillion won at the end of 2016, up 30.6 per cent from 2014, according to government data.

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  • VN’s seafood exports to face difficulties following EC’s warning extension

    VN’s seafood exports to face difficulties following EC’s warning extension

    Truong Dinh Hoe, general secretary of the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), noted that the seafood volume sent to the European Union (EU) will drop as both exporters and importers will suffer from more time-consuming customs clearance procedures, resulting in higher costs.

    VASEP deputy general secretary Nguyen Hoai Nam pointed out that the EC will return to Vietnam next year to check whether the country has clamped down on illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

    Meanwhile, the country’s management of fishing and origin traceability remains inadequate. Vietnam currently has nearly 110,000 fishing boats, with 33,000 of them specializing in offshore fishing. However, only some 3,000 boats have satellite-positioning devices installed.

    Although the EC’s recommendations have been included in the 2017 fisheries law, decrees and guiding documents, law enforcement needs to be strengthened at the local level.

    Answering a question by Retail News on the possibility of a red card for Vietnam’s seafood, which would entail a complete ban on Vietnamese seafood exports, if the country fails to fix the situation as requested by the EC, Hoe said the EC is not likely to issue a red card as the local seafood sector is striving to cope with its shortcomings and comply with the EC’s recommendations.

    However, it is not easy to resolve the existing problems over the short term. Thailand, for example, has had a yellow card for several years, Hoe added.

    Nguyen Thi Trang Nhung, deputy director of the Department of Science, Technology and International Cooperation under the Directorate of Fisheries of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the department will hold a press conference on the problem on July 3.

    The EC on October 23, 2017 announced a yellow card for Vietnam’s seafood exports to the EU market.

    The nine recommendations given to Vietnam to act on within the six-month period from October 23 last year to April 23, include ensuring the effective adoption of revised laws; enhancing the effective execution of international regulations and management measures; increasing the traceability of seafood products; preventing sales of products from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and promoting cooperation with other countries.

  • Starbucks opens new Hong Kong flagship

    Starbucks opens new Hong Kong flagship

    The first Starbucks Hong Kong flagship has formally opened in Causeway Bay.

    The new store is located on level one of Lee Garden Three. As previously reported, the store features the city’s first standalone Teavana Bar and a ‘Mixology Bar’ where coffee-inspired alcoholic beverages are served, along with premium coffee and an expanded food menu.

    The 5500sqft store is positioned as “an urban retreat within the bustling city” and what Starbucks describes internationally as “a Third Place” for customers to socialise with family and friends. (First and second places are home and work).

    The Starbucks Hong Kong flagship opened on Friday and boasts more than 50 new food and beverage items, as well as branded homewares and merchandise, including items exclusive to the store.

    The Starbucks Reserve coffee bar is built with marble in deep green shades inspired by coffee plantations. Staff will guide customers through the flavours of different coffee origins, and through various coffee brewing methods including nitro cold brew, siphon, pour over, coffee press, Chemex and Black Eagle Espresso.

    The Starbucks Hong Kong flagship features a coffee tree-inspired centre pillar that extends through the store ceiling, made with 370 pieces of geometric wooden panels shaped like coffee leaves.

    Local designers Fa and Jun from Kanvas Studio created a feature art piece for the flagship made with 250 pieces of handcrafted ceramics inspired by the natural form of coffee and tea leaves.

    The Teavana Bar will feature five Hong Kong-exclusive teas among 15 new menu items at the Starbucks Hong Kong Flagship to offer consumers an alternative to coffee.

    The Teavana Bar will launch the first cold foam-tea series, bringing the foaminess customers of hot beverages to iced beverages with matcha latte with cold foam and black tea with Earl Grey jelly and cold foam.

    Food options at the new Starbucks Hong Kong flagship include gourmet toasts (bacon, Nurnberger sausage & scrambled eggs, avocado & scrambled eggs and soft-boiled egg & smoked salmon, for example). The menu also features a salad bar, flatbreads and pancakes.

    The full pictures of the new flagship store can be viewed below :

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  • WHO backs Vietnam’s new tax proposal on sugary drinks

    WHO backs Vietnam’s new tax proposal on sugary drinks

    World Health Organization (WHO) experts have expressed strong support for a new tax on sugary drinks proposed by the Ministry of Finance.

    The proposal, which will go into effect in 2019 if passed, will impose a 10 percent special consumption tax on different type of beverages, including sweetened drinks.

    While the tax aims to prompt a shift from unhealthy consumption habits, it has been criticized by business representatives and experts who say the industry is already taxed heavily.

    The tax proposal comes in the wake of Vietnam being put on high alert over its consumption of sugary drinks, which has skyrocketed over the last 15 years.

    The WHO noted that a fourth of Vietnam’s population was already obese or overweight.

    Guilermo Paraje, a WHO consultant, said the 10 percent special consumption tax will increase the average price of sweetened drinks in the Vietnamese market by 5 percent, and provide a VND4 trillion ($173.9 million) boost to the state budget.

    He further suggested three tax proposals that would increase the tax contribution to VND12 trillion – one liter of sweetened beverages will be taxed VND3,500; VND35 per gram of sugar in every 100 milliliters of a drink; or a 40 percent tax on factory price. All three options will increase average soda prices by 20 percent.

    “People will substitute sugary drinks with water or other products, leading to alternative jobs. The industry has also experienced industrialization so there are not many job opportunities in this sector,” Paraje said.

    Dr. Jun Nakagawa, WHO representative in Vietnam, said excessive consumption of sugar was the leading cause of overweight and obesity, which are linked to many health risks such as diabetes, heart disease and gout.

    Vietnam has added sugary drinks to the list of items to be placed under stricter control and tax regulations, along with cigarettes and alcohol.

    The government has banned the sale of soft drinks in all school canteens across Vietnam.

    Truong Tuyet Mai, deputy director of the National Institute of Nutrition, said that Vietnamese people are forecast to consume over 5 billion liters of sweetened drinks in 2018, nine times more than in 2000, and the figure is estimated to reach 11 billion by 2025.

    The new 10 percent special consumption tax would also accrue to other beverages, including carbonated or non-carbonated soft drinks, juices, flavored water, energy drinks, instant tea, pre-packed coffee and flavored milk.

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  • International chain of sushi restaurants will arrive in Singapore

    International chain of sushi restaurants will arrive in Singapore

    Singapore-listed brand management company LifeBrandz has created a subsidiary to launch a chain of sushi restaurants internationally.

    Cloud Eight will open sushi venues led by Japanese chef Hatch Hashida, son of master chef Tokyo Hashida from one of Japan’s legendary sushi restaurants Hashida Sushi.

    LifeBrandz says new restaurants will be opened in Singapore, Tokyo and San Francisco “in near future”.

    “Chef Hashida strives and takes great pleasures in bringing his food to a global standard and recognition,” said a Lifebrandz spokesperson.

    “He has more than two decades of experience not only in Japan, but across several countries, including Singapore, the US, the UAE, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.”

    LifeBrandz was established in 2001 and listed on SGX in 2004, last year transitioning into a services company covering brand development and management, food and beverage, travel, fintech, IT and fund management.

    The company’s first foray into food and beverage was Mulligans, an Irish bar on the beachfront of Thai tourist destination Pattaya.

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  • Indonesia’s Growing Thirst for Coffee Drains Premium Bean Supplies

    Indonesia’s Growing Thirst for Coffee Drains Premium Bean Supplies

    For decades, Indonesia has supplied coffee roasters worldwide with prized beans that give a distinctive taste to brews favored by connoisseurs. Most locals, however, preferred tea.

    But now, as younger generations switch to coffee and hundreds of independent coffee shops and roasters pop up across the archipelago, Indonesia’s consumption of beans is rising. That’s left less coffee for export and forced up prices for foreign buyers.

    A small harvest in Sumatra has eaten further into tightening supplies of that region’s unique arabica beans, which are sought for the heavy, earthy notes they give to roasted blends.

    Sumatran beans are a key component in Starbucks Corp’s Christmas Blend, which has been sold for more than 30 years.

    Sumatra’s lower production caused some exporters to delay and even default on deliveries, sources at importing companies said, forcing some US importers to pay more to secure supplies.

    Inventories in the United States have dwindled, with many importers saying they have enough to meet contracts with roasters but nothing left for the spot market.

    Major roasters Starbucks and Keurig Green Mountain are the biggest buyers of Sumatran arabicas, importers say, and smaller companies appeared to be facing the biggest challenges sourcing those beans.

    A Starbucks spokeswoman said the company has not been impacted by the region’s tight supplies this year. Keurig did not respond to requests for comment.

    Java Sales Rise in Java

    Coffee consumption in Indonesia has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, as many young Indonesians were influenced by coffee habits in countries such as Australia and the United States where a lot of them went to study.

    “We’re seeing very strong coffee expansion in many markets but Indonesia is very much a market where demand is growing heavily,” said Michael Schaefer, global lead of Food and Beverage at Euromonitor International.

    While major producing countries such as Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia and Indonesia have historically exported their best coffee, rising interest in premium beans from local coffee shops is changing this, Schaefer said.

    Many new roasters are offering farmers significantly higher prices for their arabica beans, said Pranoto Soenarto, vice president of the Association of Indonesia Coffee Exporters and Industries.

    “Farmers are wooed,” Pranoto said. “They will keep their beans for these micro-roasters, who only buy in small amounts.”

    Irvan Helmi, co-founder of local roaster and cafe Anomali in Jakarta, said local buyers’ close proximity to farmers enabled them to pay higher prices while selling directly to consumers at better profit margins.

    Wildan Mustofa, an arabica coffee farmer with a mill in Pangalengan, West Java, said his domestic sales are rising fast.

    “The local purchases grow by almost 100 percent every year,” said Wildan, while helping workers spread out coffee cherries to be dried under the sun.

    Output, Export Down

    Compounding the shortage of beans for overseas buyers is a fall in output.

    Indonesia’s annual coffee bean output has fallen by around 8 percent over the past five years, Indonesian Agriculture Ministry data shows. Farmers say unpredictable weather, poor crop maintenance and switching to other crops is responsible for lower yields.

    Exports from the world’s fourth largest-coffee growing nation have dropped by around 20 percent over the past five years, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

    The country’s tight supplies are already reflected in first-quarter 2018 shipping data, with coffee exports down 26 percent from the same period in 2017, Indonesia’s Statistics Agency data show.

    Sought After Sumatran Arabicas

    In Sumatra, a large and mountainous island west of the capital Jakarta, limited availability of arabica coffee sent prices to a record high in April.

    Arabica is a higher quality bean that is typically roasted and brewed. Its cousin robusta, known for its more bitter taste, is processed into instant coffee or used as a lower cost component in roasted blends. Robusta makes up nearly 90 percent of Indonesia’s coffee harvest.

    The arabica grown in Sumatra is unique, in part due to the unusual bean drying process employed there. While farmers in other countries have tried to replicate it, importers said results are unreliable and only on a small scale.

    “Competition to buy coffee from producers has been pretty fierce,” said Robert Babington Smith, a senior trader for California-based importer InterContinental Coffee Trading Inc.

    Prices of unprocessed or partially dried Sumatran arabicas purchased at farms rose to a record $5.90 per kilogram in April, while arabica beans already in US warehouses fetched premiums of$2.20/lb or more over the global benchmark price, nearly double last year’s price, Babington Smith said.

    Babington Smith said one his suppliers defaulted on a planned delivery due to that exporter’s lack of funds to purchase the increasingly expensive coffee.

    Another importer said five of his containers were defaulted on after his company refused to pay more than the contracted price.

    “We get calls every day from roasters asking if we have any Sumatrans, spot or on the water,” the importer said.

  • Imports driving Vietnam cattle farmers out of business

    Imports driving Vietnam cattle farmers out of business

    Vietnamese beef prices have been falling because of a market glut, while imported beef is flexing its competitive muscles, offering higher quality for similar prices.

    In the central province of Ninh Thuan, dealers are buying a head of cattle from farmers for just VND7-8 million ($304.3-347.8), a third of the VND20-21 million price it fetched two years ago.

    Dealers in the southern province of Soc Trang province are also giving farmers a hard time, buying beef at VND40,000 per kilogram, 40 percent of the price in 2016.

    “I have never seen beef prices so low,” livestock farmer Lam Sanh said, adding that he might have to quit and find another way to make a living.

    With prices falling over the last two years, small-scaled cattle farmers have been switching to different vocations, a husbandry official in An Giang province said.

    The number of cows and buffaloes raised in Vietnam has fallen to five million now from nearly seven million in 2006, according to the Vietnam Animal Husbandry Association.

    Vietnamese beef is having a difficult time competing with imported beef, which comes in abundance and is priced reasonably, Tong Xuan Chinh, deputy head of the Animal Husbandry Department said.

    Last year, the country imported more than 262,300 heads of cattle, and nearly 42,000 tons of beef and buffalo meat, valued at more than $410 million, according to the Animal Husbandry Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

    Dealers are putting pressure on farmers to sell their cows at a low price because beef imported from the U.S. and Australia are abundantly available in supermarkets and sold at the same price as local beef at VND250,000–400,000.

    At this price, imported beef is being favored by consumers concerned about safety issues that have plagued the Vietnamese food market in recent years.

    The Vietnamese government has issued policies to assist local cattle farmers but these have not led to raising the scale of production and ability to provide better quality at lower prices.

    “The competition between local beef and imported beef will continue to be intense,” Chinh said.

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