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Theabrownin has been touted by Chinese food scientists as a ‘direct route to the Nobel Prize’ – here are three key reasons for their excitement
Theabrownin is a bioactive compound found in pu-erh tea, a traditional beverage with a specific brown tinge that has long been consumed in the Chinese market.
In recent years, mounting research into pu-erh tea and its theabrownin has revealed a treasure trove of functional beverage innovation opportunities.
Meiji has urged consumers to focus on protein consumption over exercise for muscle growth and maintenance, across all groups from seniors to athletes
According to research data revealed by Japanese dairy giant Meiji, the majority of consumers today are not consuming enough protein despite looking to improve their muscle mass.
“Previous research has shown that a combination of protein consumption and resistance training will lead to the building of muscle mass, but we wanted to determine whether this resistance training is truly necessary in building muscle,” Meiji Nutrition Development Research Unit Manager Atsushi Kanda said.
Cell-cultured coffee could address pricing, quality, and other supply chain inefficiencies in Asia, said Singapore foodtech firm Another Food.
The firm is leveraging plant cell culture to optimise coffee production, significantly shortening the harvest cycle. Its aim has been to produce a harvest every 14 days – roughly 20 times faster than traditional farming.
“A small coffee farm typically produces around 800 kilograms of coffee per year. Using our technology, we could scale up to 15 to 20 tonnes annually,” said CEO Stéphane Chen.
A survey has shown that 60% of consumers in India are willing to consume cultivated meat and 46% would pay a premium for it.
This survey was conducted by Biokraft Foods earlier this year, a biotech start-up aiming to leverage this interest by launching 3D-printed chicken in 2025.
The firm is looking to price its product at Rs300–350 (US$3.50–4) per kg for the B2B premium meat market.
Traditional chicken costs Rs130–250 (US$1.50–2.90) for general consumers in India, but B2B prices are higher, ranging from Rs300–600 (US$3.50–7).
This is due to the additional costs associated with maintaining consistent quality for bulk orders, providing uniform cuts, and specialised packaging.
China has highlighted plans to develop food biosynthesis as a major solution to meet ‘new food demands’ and supply challenges in the market.
Biosynthesis here refers to the process of using microorganisms as ‘factories’ to produce end products such as nutrients, including proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and more.
Whilst biosynthesis per se is not a new process, there is a particular drive in China right now to fully develop this as a full-fledged production solution for the food industry, a movement spearheaded by academic and industrial research and supported by the government.
“The government of China is very focused on biosynthesis now, especially for the food industry, and development of this area was highlighted in both the 2024 national master plan as well as the 2025 one, which shows continued interest,” Jiangnan University Academic Committee Director, Chinese Communist Party member and bioengineering expert Professor Chen Jian said.
Food industry academics in China have been highlighted as having a major role to play in ‘upgrading’ the local functional foods sector, especially when it comes to discerning TCM herbs for food usage and novel foods development.
A lot of growth in China’s functional food industry has come from research into herbs used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and identifying suitable ones that can be integrated into everyday foods and beverages.
However, given the complexity and vastness of herbal and medical knowledge found in TCM compendiums, local food industry academics believe that progress is not as fast as it could be in terms of ‘upgrading’ the functional foods sector.
“The food industry is one of the most important development areas in China, and when it comes to innovation and growth, we must remember that academia is at the core of the R&D and new scientific breakthroughs that make these upgrades possible,” China Ministry of Education Changjiang Chair Professor Zhengqiang Jiang said.
Various APAC firms have eyed precision fermentation technology as the next step in functional food innovation.
A few years ago, this tech was seen to be the intermediate alternative protein technology, between the existing plant-based products and ten-years-down-the-line cultivated meat products.
But given developments thus far, only a few firms such as Perfect Day have succeeded in moving from the tech stage to the commercialisation stage in terms of everyday processed food products (e.g. ice cream or processed meats), hence many in the sector have turned their focus to developing other more high-value products, such as actual nutrients.
One important player in this area is lactoferrin, which has reached a new phase of development and commercialisation with breakthroughs from specialist firm Turtletree.
Data has shown under 50% of Japan consumers understand GM foods, a challenge to reaching local food self-sufficiency and production goals.
Genetically modified (GM) foods have long been a point of contention in Japan, with consumers generally maintaining a cautious and wary attitude towards the entire sector. Primary concerns have been for food safety and biodiversity impacts.
The government on the other hand has been attempting to change public perception of GM foods for many years, including implementing new GM food regulations and publishing yearly reports on the safety of GM crops and cultivation sites, mainly focused on soybean and rapeseed, since 2006.
But despite its decades of work, new data gathered via a Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) survey has shown a continued lack of knowledge among consumers, even regarding the existence of or differences between GM and gene-editing.
AI is driving food innovation and marketing strategies – here are four major ways experts at Fi Asia 2025 said it is shaping production and improving relevance
The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in food has been on the rise in the past decade, with mostly a practical focus on improving convenience and increasing speed, particularly for larger food and beverage MNCs.
But as algorithms mature and data sources expand, everyone is looking to AI to deliver much more in order to live up to expectations, in addition to becoming much more accessible to not only large food firms but also small and medium businesses.
We bring you four of the most crucial food industry applications that AI is moving towards in order to make a more significant impact – and make its presence more prominent – in the sector.
Australian researchers demonstrated how a “data donation infrastructure” can track digital food marketing, revealing how online advertising can be monitored and held accountable.
These findings could shape policies to manage potentially harmful ad themes.
The nature of online media makes consumers particularly susceptible to targeted advertising of unhealthy foods, said the researchers.
They argued that stronger interventions – such as enhanced ad monitoring – can help mitigate these negative effects.
“Our analysis shows that it is, in principle, feasible to use methods and infrastructures such as those developed by the Australian Ad Observatory to observe the ads shown to individuals on social media platforms, and make advertisers and the platforms themselves accountable for unlawful or harmful marketing practices,” wrote researchers in Health Promotion International.
