Food & Beverage

Sequoia's Indian investments covered a lot of ground, including ed tech, ride-hailing and food delivery.
DealStreetAsia

Sequoia Capital becomes top investor in Indian unicorns

Silicon Valley firm has eight so far; SoftBank and Steadview Capital second

27 August 2020
Lion Dairy's Pura milk: Kirin decided to sell the Australian unit after a review of underperforming operations. (Photo courtesy of Lion Dairy & Drinks)
Business deals

Kirin looks for non-Chinese buyers for Australian dairy unit

Deal with Mengniu scrapped after Canberra says it would be 'contrary to national interest'

26 August 2020
Nongfu Spring, founded in 1996, has been the largest packaged drinking water supplier in China since 2012. The company also makes bottled tea and juices.
Markets

Chinese bottled-water company Nongfu aims to raise $1bn in IPO

Hong Kong offering comes amid recent rush of applications, including Ant Group

25 August 2020
Tingyi Holding, maker of Master Kong instant noodles, has been able to capture consumer demand across China.
Business trends

Asian instant noodle makers see boost from pandemic-driven demand

Tingyi, Uni-President, Indofood and Nissin benefit from stay-at-home rules

25 August 2020
Uber Eats has gone on the offensive in Japan with the introduction of a fixed-rate service.
Food & Beverage

Food delivery war rages amid global COVID-19 lockdowns

Uber Eats touches off industry consolidation, but startups have new tricks

22 August 2020
CJ CheilJedang’s pot stickers are nearly twice the size of ordinary Japanese gyoza.
Companies

South Korea's CJ takes its dumplings global

Country's top food maker pursues acquisition deals in U.S. and Asia

22 August 2020
Takayuki Kato believes ostriches are the answer to more sustainable meat. (Photo by Tadanori Yoshida)
Food & Beverage

Forget wagyu, pass the ostrich: Eco-friendly delicacy gains in Japan

Low-fat fowl wins fans during pandemic thanks to farm-to-table app

22 August 2020
An aerial view of an FGV palm oil plantation. The company drew investment from thousands of the country's small farmers in its 2012 initial public offering.(Photo courtesy of FGV)
Business Spotlight

'F should mean food': Malaysia's FGV looks beyond palm oil

Plantation owner has struggled since stock market debut but CEO wants to diversify

21 August 2020
Chef Bobby Chinn sips from a bowl of laksa, a spicy noodle soup dish popular in Singapore's hawker centers.
Life

Asia's traveling TV chef mulls his next move

Bobby Chinn foresees an automated food world with no place for celebrity cooks

17 August 2020
Customers make a toast through a transparent partition at Kichiri Shinjuku, an izakaya in Tokyo. 
Food & Beverage

Japan's 'izakaya' pubs seek ways to survive in the COVID-19 era

Virtual dining and drive-through yakitori are becoming new norms for customers

15 August 2020
Blue Bottle Coffee's vending machines in Tokyo. (Photo by Kotaro Sugimoto)
Food & Beverage

Blue Bottle Coffee tries Tokyo vending machines to boost sales

Company skirts brick-and-mortar to sell premium drinks and beans on the street

14 August 2020
Ootoya's business model of serving made-from-scratch meals at low prices has suffered amid the coronavirus outbreak. (Photo by Ryosuke Eguchi)
Food & Beverage

Japan's Ootoya eatery chain branches out to meal kit deliveries

Partnership with Oisix designed to defeat hostile takeover by Colowide

14 August 2020
(Photo by Arisa Moriyama)
Markets

Most Asian stocks climb as global rally strengthens

Japan's Nikkei Stock Average at 6-month high and pan-Asia index erases losses for year

13 August 2020
George Town's upscale Eastern & Oriental Hotel has started pairing spicy local Baba Nyonya food with sparkling Franciacorta rose. (Photo by Kit Yeng Chan)
Life

Malaysian foodies develop taste for Italian wine

Paired with local dishes, signature labels make inroads into an improbable market

12 August 2020
An autonomous robot disinfects a handrail in Tokyo's Takanawa Gateway Station. (Photo by Shohei Nomoto)
Technology

Robot-friendly workplaces: Japan sees shared rules paving path

Public-private project looks to expand technology beyond manufacturing

11 August 2020
The sidewalk in front of Mitsukoshi's flagship department store in Tokyo is nearly deserted in early May. (Photo by Rie Ishii)
Business trends

Japan Inc. profit set to sink 36% this year, but rebound on way

60% of companies expect sliding income and revenue, with cost cuts easing losses

11 August 2020
Different times: Drinkers take part in the 2009 Wuhan Snow Beer Festival. China's beer market is now shrinking.
Food & Beverage

China's top brewer to close a third of plants after M&A binge

CR Beer slims down faster as Chinese drink more wine and whiskey

8 August 2020
Uber Eats is the biggest meal delivery platform in Japan. (Photo by Kai Fujii)
Technology

Uber Eats Japan starts monthly unlimited plan to fence out rivals

Top delivery platform eager to keep second-ranked Demae-can at bay

6 August 2020
Capitalizing on pandemic-spurred demand, McDonald's Japan forecasts operating profit growth in 2020. But management at U.S.-based McDonald's Corp. is not lovin' it. (Photo by Suguru Sugimoto)
Food & Beverage

McDonald's Japan's supersized growth didn't wow US bosses

Despite unit's comeback, decline in dollar sales paints picture of stagnation

5 August 2020
Ichibanya's Indian restaurant will serve curry containing no pork or beef. (Photo from CoCo Ichibanya's Facebook account)
4 August 2020
Starbucks Coffee Japan recently opened its first cafe in the country to specialize in tea. (Photo by Rina Horisawa)
Food & Beverage

Hold the coffee: Tea shop craze brews in Japan

Colorful, Instagrammable drinks a big hit with women

3 August 2020
Unlike regular sushi, inaka sushi uses plant-based toppings and rice seasoned with both vinegar and yuzu citrus. (Photo from Kochi East Tourism Association's Facebook account)
Food & Beverage

Japan's home of vegetarian sushi seeks global profile

Long before Beyond Meat craze, bamboo shoots, taro and ginger featured instead of fish

2 August 2020
Notices calling for a boycott of Japanese-made products are visible at a store in Seoul, South Korea, last year. Japanese companies' exports and sales in the country have been hard hit as a consequence.
Business trends

South Korean boycott hammers sales of Japanese consumer goods

Beer, clothes and cars hit hard, but video game makers Nintendo and Sony shine

2 August 2020
McDonald's outlets in China are also being investigated.
Companies

China expands Burger King probe to other US chains

KFC and McDonald's also face spot-checks as diplomatic tensions rise

2 August 2020
Budweiser Brewing Co. APAC's sales in China in the second quarter "improved significantly."
Consumer

Well-off Chinese shoppers boost sales at Budweiser and Prada

High-end spending shows uneven nature of China's retail recovery

31 July 2020