A perspective on food marketing in Asia.

The diet of Asian consumers--particularly Asian middle class consumers--is becoming increasingly "westernized." This is one of the intriguing conclusions put forward in a research paper presented to a conference organized by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in August 2007. The paper is titled, "Asian Food Market Transformation."

The conference was held at ADB headquarters in Manila.

Asian diets, says the paper, are evolving toward "high value agricultural products such as fruits and vegetables, milk, meat, and fish," and away from the staple foods of the region.

"A stunning example of this," according to the paper, "is the spectacular increase in the production of milk (a very non-traditional food [in Asia]) from 1.14 million tons in 1980 to 27.5 million tons in 2005, a 24-fold increase over 25 years."

The diet shift stimulated, "the rapid rise of organized retail in food." The paper calls this the "supermarket revolution."

In turn, the growth of supermarkets in Asia adds impetus to diet change.

The diet westernization and supermarket revolution were noted in eight major Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

From 1991 through 2005, the consumption patterns in these countries changed, with the average annual consumption of meat increasing 3.9 percent. Vegetable consumption increased 3.7 percent. Eggs increased 3.1 percent; milk 2.7 percent; fish 2.4 percent, and fruit 1.9 percent.

During the same period, the average annual consumption of grains declined at an average annual rate of negative 0.4 percent--a strong indication of the move away from staple diets.

Another pronounced trend is, "emerging quality and food safety differentiation in the food market."

One of the drivers of this trend is the recent series of "food adulteration" scares, notably of fish in Indonesia; pesticide poisonings, and food borne illnesses such as avian flu and SARS. These "have pushed urban consumers toward beginning to be food-safety conscious."

Drivers of the continuing proliferation of supermarkets include urbanization and rising incomes, plus a more open attitude of Asian governments to foreign investment in their retail sectors. Such drivers support both diet change and food retailing innovation.

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