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Top APAC Beverage & Snack Trends 2025: Low-Alc Surge, Tea Convenience, and Localised Flavour Plays

  • Writer: PYD
    PYD
  • Apr 22
  • 2 min read

From Japan’s renewed push into low-alcohol drinks to India’s ready-to-sip tea cups and Asia-focused flavour launches, 2025’s F&B leaders are adapting fast. The winning formula? Innovation in convenience, flavour localisation, and clean-label appeal.



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Insights & Strategic Moves:


  • Kirin Bets on Low-Alc Growth: With Japan’s beer market hitting a 17-year high in 2024 (111.8 million cases sold), Kirin Brewery is doubling down on low- and non-alcoholic beverages. Standard beer made up over 55% of market share, buoyed by tax cuts and new beer variants.


  • Cup-ji’s Tea Innovation Goes Global: India’s Cup-ji, backed by a century-old tea family, launched award-winning “ready-to-sip” tea cups and is now eyeing international expansion after UAE success. Variants include masala chai, turmeric latte, and mocha coffee—tapping into on-the-go and premium hot drink demand.


  • SMITHS Snacks Targets Asian Tastes: Dubai’s SMITHS is expanding into Asia with cleaner-label snacks and regionally tailored flavours like Honey Butter Baked Corn, inspired by the Korean flavour wave. Popular lines include Square Crisps and Qrakers.


  • APAC Confectionery: Healthier, Smarter: Confectionery holds 33.4% of Asia’s snack market, per Euromonitor. Leaders like Mars and Lotte highlight innovation in affordability and health—critical in a region where sweets range from jalebi to wagashi.


  • China's Hyperlocal Edge: Future F&B success in China hinges on bold sensory innovation. Kerry China’s Helen Tang urges firms to embrace strong aromas and reinvent local classics, noting that “Chinese consumers have more sensitive taste buds” and higher expectations.


Convenience, flavour familiarity, and health claims will define growth across Asia’s dynamic F&B markets. Localisation, not globalisation, is the new rule of relevance.


Winning in APAC’s food sector means innovating for the senses—at the speed of culture and with the credibility of local insight.


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