At the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit in Singapore from October 27 to 29, speakers from Nestle, Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF), Calbee, and Singapore-based microbiome company AMILI discussed how their companies are applying healthy longevity to product innovation in a panel session moderated by NutraIngredients APAC editor Tingmin Koe.
According to Aline Mor, head of R&D (South East Asia) at Nestle, the firm sees healthy longevity as an “interconnected opportunity” where nutrition and supplementation — which are both part of its portfolio—can help consumers age better.
“Nutrition plays a key role in our health since we are born. As we age, our metabolism changes and our nutritional needs become different. That’s where we come in and offer solutions that can be incorporated into daily lives,” she said.
However, developing high-quality nutrition is only one part of the equation, since making nutrition accessible is just as important.
“From our point of view, we want to create solutions that can be consumed every day through food and beverage, and also as supplements if needed,” she said.
CPF building microbiome database
Similarly, Thailand-headquartered CPF views healthy longevity, gut microbiome and personalization as ways to support people in aging well through everyday food.
The company takes a three-pronged approach to its nutritional innovation, spanning daily nutrition, medical nutrition and personalized nutrition.
For example, it is approaching daily nutrition by designing products high in protein and fibre and low in sodium and sugar.
Separately, the company works with a hospital in Thailand to design foods for specific needs—for instance, foods for people recovering from illness, diabetes patients, and seniors who require nutrient-dense foods in easily swallowable and digestible portions.
“We are also looking at personalized nutrition. People of the same age may have different nutritional goals. Some may want to maintain weight, some may want to work on muscle building, some are managing their blood sugar levels, etc,” said Nalinee Robinson, head of R&D at CPF. " Incorporating these goals with their health, lifestyle and eating habits is part of personalization."
In fact, CPF is also creating a microbiome database to guide the creation of specific meal plans. The goal is to help consumers eat the right foods for better health.
Calbee and AMILI personalized nutrition partnership
Singapore microbiome firm AMILI believes that everyone deserves to have a good shot at personalizing what they should eat for better health.
“We know that the same food can have a very different metabolic response in each person. Our immune systems and metabolism rates are all very different, and therefore we should not wrongly assume that the same foods will be equally good or equally bad for all of us,” said Jeremy Lim, CEO and co-founder of AMILI.
The company’s data shows that among the 10 most common gut species in global or Western-dominated datasets, only two of these microbes are found in South East Asians.
“The appeal is that if you’re selling a product in Asia, make sure that it works for us here in Asia. And I cannot over-emphasize how important good-quality human studies are,” he added.
AMILI is collaborating with Japanese snack maker Calbee to provide a personalized nutrition service called Body Granola, which consists of a microbiome gut health test and granola subscription.
“We are very privileged to work with Calbee in what we believe will be the first of many personalized foods. The form factor is really second-order because some of us may like drinks and some of us may like cereals, etc. However, we do believe we are on the cusp of this era of using science to help us live our best possible life,” he reiterated.
From Calbee’s perspective, healthy longevity is about helping people stay physically active and mentally healthy for as long as possible.
“We are expanding our range of products that support a healthy lifestyle. This includes salt-free and salt-reduced products, as well as products with higher protein content,” Masae Nakano, chief technology officer at Calbee, said.
Country-specific and ingredient trends in APAC
Citing data from its partner Mintel, Mor said that the market with the highest number of product launches with claims associated with healthy aging or longevity was India, followed by China and Australia.
“Energy is still the number one claim or benefit in the market, so energy drink is one of the categories that has seen a lot of launches,” she said. “In India and China, tea is also seeing a lot of functional benefits associated with healthy longevity. In Australia, there are many new products in the gummy or jelly format.”
On the other hand, Robinson highlighted that Thailand has caught up with the global protein trend but is now going beyond protein powder.
“For example, we are experiencing 20% to 30% year-on-year growth for high-protein milk. And we are starting to see protein water and high-protein snacks entering the market as well,” she said.
When it comes to healthy longevity, the company sees a connection between protein and muscle and strength maintenance, with opportunities in incorporating this concept into everyday meals.
Additionally, she identified fiber as the “next wave” after protein, although formulation is relatively challenging in terms of taste and texture.
“Another challenge of fiber is that it is harder to communicate it to the consumers, but we are also starting to see it being incorporated into foods and beverages in the market. The R&D in this segment is expanding every year, and we believe that the demand for this specific nutrition is going to be important and growing.”
At the same time, Thailand is home to an abundance of herbs and botanicals, such as turmeric, ginger, and galangal.
“They all deliver functional benefits and are part of the meals that we ate growing up. But the challenge is that the active ingredient from these herbs in a typical meal is not high enough to deliver any actual benefit unless you eat a lot of them daily.”
Still, the Thai government has been actively promoting these native herbs, including investing in research and innovation for commercialization in both food and wellness industries—an initiative that CPF is looking to leverage in developing beneficial everyday meals for consumers.
Elsewhere in Japan, the healthy longevity market is evolving beyond traditional health supplements. It is increasingly combining nutrition, digital health support like wearables, and even AI coaching.
This shift is being driven not only by an aging population, but also by a broad range of needs.
These needs include a rising demand for muscle health, sleep and stress management, mental health, blood sugar control, weight management, gut health, vision care, and women’s health, particularly around menopause, said Nakano.
“People want to communicate and work longer, live independently without relying on long-term care, care for aging parents and manage healthcare costs,” she added.
