Food & Beverage Asia June/July 2022

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MARKET INSIGHTS
environments. That’s the sort of
crop we could collaborate with
Singapore on. On the other hand,
Singapore works on leafy greens
and herbs, and I think, again, there’s
another collaboration point — where
we’ve worked on different things,
we can join our skills together
to create quite exciting new
opportunities,” remarked Hughes.
“The signing of these agreements
is a good exemplar of the sort of
things countries can do. Because,
again, we’re showing that we can
work together, we recognise that we
have complementary capabilities
that mesh well together. And I
think the timing of this is perfect
because with COVID-19, we have
been denied a lot of opportunities to
increase the level of collaboration,
and what we do with each other. As
the country starts moving through
COVID-19 and what the future
holds, we need to start connecting
even more, and to be building
on the skills that we have got,
strengthening those relationships.”
SMALL BUT VALUABLE
Moving away from national and
bilateral collaborations, to a regional
level, the need for sustainable
food systems is also clear. Forming
the backbone of the agricultural
landscape in Asia are smallholder
farmers to whom agri-tech startups
can reach out. Hence, Hughes
suggested that it is important
for smallholders to not be drawn
into the low-cost trap and to
create value for consumers by
understanding what consumers
in their region care about and
are willing to pay for their food.
“Smallholder farmers are perfectly
placed to deliver that value as
they are close to the food they
produce. We have seen this
with Plant & Food Research’s
international development work
where farmers have moved away
from rice production that goes
into a large pool of rice with none of
the farmer’s identity attached to it.
Instead, smallholder or subsistence
farmers have moved into higher
value crops delivered to a nearby
city. With careful attention to food
safety and good agricultural practice,
farmers can increase the value of
these crops and the supermarket
can stock them with pride. We have
seen smallholder incomes increase
dramatically just through ensuring
that farmers grow the right stuff in the
right way and that this is connected
to what the end users value.”
As producers and farmers concentrate
more on creating value as opposed
to keeping costs low, he added that
consumers will be able to appreciate
the benefits of the food they consume,
thus encouraging them to spend
more on a product. At the same time,
focusing on value-centric products
also emphasises greater care for the
planet and the people, leading to
better outcomes for the environment.
“It comes down to adopting a value
creation mindset instead of a cost
reduction mindset, which often
delivers bad health and environmental
outcomes. It is important to identify
what people value and provide
that, rather than just focusing on
cost,” concluded Hughes. FBA
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA JUNE / JULY 2022