Exporters told to focus on health foods

NFI technological services department director Amorn Ngammongkolrat yesterday said world consumers nowadays were more concerned about their health. They want low-fat food but with a high nutritious value.

The United States, the European Union and Japan are the big markets for this kind of food.

In addition, the number of old people has increased dramatically in recent years, particularly in Japan. This segment of the population has high purchasing power, is health-conscious and is willing to pay for health and wellness foods.

"The global trend towards healthy foods has been with us for a decade. Thai food exporters have distributed this kind of food for a long time, but most of them are herbal foods in low volumes. The institute suggests they pay attention to exporting dairy products such as drinking yoghurt with added nutrients," Amorn said.

He added that the export market for health foods had the potential to grow by 5 to 10 per cent per year. Thai food producers can export processed foods such as chicken and seafood products as they normally do, but they should add nutrients and ingredients such as herbs to add value.

Meanwhile, there is high demand in the EU and Japan for imported processed and instant foods. This is because imports cost less than bringing in agricultural raw materials to produce foods in some countries, particularly in Japan where labour costs are very high.

Besides, the number of working women has risen in major developed markets, so they do not have time for cooking, Amorn said.

He said another global food trend was for the manufacture of products that have a minimum impact on the environment. This is an increasingly important issue in developed countries. For example, the EU has an ECO for products made and marketed in this way.