Southeast Asia advances food reformulation through policy and consumer demand

By Yannick Verry, Brand Director, Fi Events, Informa

Across Southeast Asia, the recipe for food and beverage innovation is changing and regulation is becoming an increasingly important ingredient. Consumers want greater transparency and improved nutritional profiles, while governments throughout the region are introducing policies designed to make healthier choices easier and, increasingly, to encourage reformulation.

In April, Indonesia's Ministry of Health introduced Nutri-Level, a front-of-menu nutrition labelling system for ready-to-serve processed foods, particularly sugar-sweetened beverages sold by large-scale businesses. The system rates products from A to D according to their sugar, salt and fat content, with a transition period running until June 2028 – the date when such labels will become mandatory.

The move is significant not simply because it gives consumers more information, but because it puts nutritional composition more firmly into the spotlight. Products with less favourable nutritional profiles will be more visible at the point of purchase, creating another incentive for manufacturers to consider whether reformulation could improve both nutritional credentials and consumer appeal.

Indonesia is not alone. In June, Malaysia’s Ministry of Health launched a public consultation proposing mandatory sugar-content grading labels for packaged beverages. The proposed system would apply to ready-to-drink beverages as well as products in powder, concentrate, base or premix form, reinforcing the direction of travel towards more prominent information on sugar content.

Taken together, developments such as these point towards a broader shift in the region where nutrition policy is increasingly becoming a factor that more brands need to consider, and build into product development, rather than address at the end of the process.

How regulation is raising the bar

The implications extend beyond labelling itself. When nutritional composition becomes more visible to shoppers, reformulation becomes one potential route for brands looking to respond.

There is already a precedent for this approach. Major household names such as Nestlé have reformulated in other regions for many years to address evolving consumer and regulatory needs. Now, here in Southeast Asia too, they have started reducing sugar, sodium and saturated fat across portfolios, largely through gradual recipe changes rather than wholesale product replacement.

The opportunity is to take a similarly proactive approach as regulatory expectations evolve. Anticipating where policy is heading can give businesses more time to identify and test suitable ingredients, optimise recipes and understand how consumers respond.

This is particularly relevant countries like Indonesia, where the food and beverage sector is already expanding rapidly. It grew by 6.23% during the first three quarters of 2025, outpacing overall economic growth of 5.11%, and food and beverage products accounted for 80.27% of Indonesia’s total national exports between January and November 2025^.[1] As the industry expands, the scale of reformulation decisions expands with it.

Reformulation without compromise

The central challenge for manufacturers is that consumers never select a product on nutritional profile alone. A reduced-sugar drink still needs to taste good, a low-fat snack still needs to deliver the texture consumers expect and any product with a different nutritional composition still needs to be carefully positioned, recognisable and appealing to the eye.

Consumer research in Indonesia highlights the scale of the opportunity. PwC found that 72% of consumers there are concerned about additives and preservatives, while 71% worry about the health risks associated with ultra-processed foods.^[2] Meanwhile, 60% expect F&B companies to offer healthier products and 58% want clearer communication around health benefits. This creates an interesting tension. Consumers are signalling that they want healthier products, but that does not mean they are willing to compromise on the experience of eating or drinking them.

Reformulation therefore needs to go beyond simply removing “bad” ingredients. It is about finding the right combination of ingredients and technologies to replace functionality that may be lost when sugar, salt or fat is reduced.

Coca-Cola’s continued expansion of lower- and no-sugar beverages in the Asia-Pacific region illustrates the principle. In Indonesia, it has, set a target to reduce average sugar per 100ml by 35%.^[3] The company has also extended its range of low- and no-sugar options, including Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, which was reformulated and rebranded in Indonesia with a recipe designed to more closely replicate the taste of the original.

For ingredient suppliers, this is where the opportunity becomes particularly relevant. Sweetness management, flavour systems, texture, mouthfeel and stability all become part of the reformulation equation. A successful solution has to address the nutritional target without creating a new problem elsewhere in the formulation.

Turning regulatory change into an opportunity

The pace of regulatory change raises an important question: how can reformulation become a proactive part of innovation, rather than something businesses respond to when a new requirement comes into force?

For ingredient suppliers, this creates an opportunity to support food and beverage producers with solutions that can help improve nutritional profiles without compromising the characteristics consumers value. Reducing sugar, sodium or saturated fat is rarely a simple substitution exercise and a successful reformulation can require a combination of ingredients, formulation expertise and application knowledge to maintain taste, texture, stability and overall product performance.

Collaboration across the value chain will therefore become increasingly important. Ingredient suppliers can bring insight into emerging technologies and formulation approaches, while brands and producers contribute deep local consumer knowledge, product formats and commercial requirements.

The combination of a large domestic market, growing manufacturing capability and regional reach makes Indonesia an important country to watch as health-driven food policy develops. Reformulation decisions made by brands here have the potential to influence not only products for Indonesian consumers, but those destined for markets across Southeast Asia.

At Fi Asia Indonesia 2026, taking place in Jakarta from 16–18 September, the three-day Fi Asia Conference will bring together R&D professionals, regulatory experts and business leaders to explore policy, regulation and compliance alongside the latest innovations in the food ingredients industry.

The Snack Bar will showcase health-conscious reformulation and functional snacking, reflecting how nutrition-led innovation is moving into everyday product categories.

Ultimately, health-driven food policy is creating new opportunities for innovation. For manufacturers and ingredient suppliers alike, those able to anticipate regulatory change and develop solutions without compromising taste, texture or functionality will be best placed to respond.

For ingredient suppliers and food and beverage businesses looking to understand where these opportunities lie, Fi Asia Indonesia 2026 provides an opportunity to explore the latest ingredients, technologies and formulation solutions, while connecting with the businesses shaping the region’s food and beverage industry. Visit Fi Asia Indonesia 2026 in Jakarta from 16–18 September to discover the opportunities first-hand: https://www.figlobal.com/asia-indonesia/