Food & Beverage Asia June/July 2020

EDITOR’S NOTE
3
A new normal
Summer is calling. And aer months of staying at home and wearing a mask
whenever outdoor, people are eager to head out to embrace the warm weather,
enjoy their vacaon, and more importantly, get their lives back to what it was
used to.
In coming months, the world will have to find a common ground to live with the
COVID-19 virus as businesses are expected to resume to protect people and their
livelihoods. Yet, we sll have so lile knowledge about COVID-19 – especially
around the cause and spread – and certain measures like working from home
whenever possible and social distancing with one another will soon become a new
normal for people to adopt and pracce in order to minimise human interacons
and contain the spread of the virus.
For the food and beverage industry, these measures pose a challenge for
foodservice outlets and restaurants to implement. Some dining places are
required to reduce dining party sizes or even place an empty table in between
different groups of diners to allow more space between diners. While the
addional “personal” space might be appreciated by some consumers, the
decrease in table turnover rates impact businesses directly and their revenue.
But one thing is for sure – the need to go digital. While food and beverage
businesses are considered essenal services and are permied to remain open
during city shutdowns, many of these establishments are only allowed for
takeaway and delivery opons. This has drawn some businesses to switch to
online food delivery plaorms to connue operaon, and reach out to even wider
audiences in the digital marketplace.
In opening up new digital opportunies, Alan Lim, Blockchain Leader at IBM
Asia-Pacific, discusses the relevance of blockchain technology to Asia-Pacific,
and highlighted, “The need for greater transparency, accountability, traceability
and quality is possible with blockchain technology. This has the potenal to give
consumers greater confidence, because they can know that everything in their
food, and every place that the food products touched, are fully accountable.”
Read more on page 14.
For Kerry, the taste and nutrition company has
leveraged on arficial intelligence (AI) technology
to analyse and provide insighul data that predicts
future trends in foods and beverages, empowering
businesses to make beer decisions. To find out
more, flip to page 38.
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Food & Beverage Asia incorporates the Official Publications of the
Singapore Institute of Food Science & Technology.
As economies go back to business, it is crucial to bear
in mind the lessons we have learnt and the measures
we have taken to curb the spread of COVID-19 –
being physically away, but not digitally apart.
LET’S CONNECT!
@foodandbeverageasia
Josephine Tan
Editor
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FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE / JULY 2020