February 23, 2021

Do You Know The Opportunities In Southeast Asia?

Southeast Asia is often misunderstood. Lately we have noticed some key messages coming out of the research done in Southeast Asia and also with client trends, particularly in the food and beverage market place. This market place is full of untapped opportunities that can grow New Zealand businesses dramatically – if executed right.

Southeast Asia is a region of diversity – 11 countries, 13 cultures with 636 million people. The strong emerging cities such as Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong are changing the way New Zealand sell products internationally. So, what do businesses need to think about when doing business in Southeast Asia? Some of the key trends are below.

  • New Zealand alcoholic beverages are highly demanded and receive a higher average export price than any other country in the world, including the wine connoisseurs of the world, France.
  • Water companies have ‘strong fundamentals and huge hypothetical growth’ potential to export their premium bottled water. The demand for natural ‘clean green’ water is on the rise.
  • New Zealand dairy innovators are disrupting global markets with sustainable sources, high performance cheeses, sheep, licensing, breeding and international consumer brands. Entrepreneurs should be looking at opportunities from every angle.
  • Poultry and processed meats are growing fast and considered a safe and reliable meat supplier globally with chicken exports projected to grow by 24%.
  • With the global snacking market taking off – innovative packaging has become a requirement for companies to stand out and gain loyal customers. With the language barriers and differences between New Zealand and Southeast Asia, it is important to spend time considering what the target audience are looking for and what they are attracted to before selling. This may mean gaining direct consumer insights and researching in market trends.
  • Sometimes it is the less obvious markets that end up changing the game – that is why the emerging export star is the cherry market. With high demand from Taiwan, China and other parts of Asia, cherries might be on the verge of overtaking the demand for smashed avocado.

To understand the opportunities for your business – contact us! We would love to open your eyes up to where you can succeed internationally.