Asia Pulse: Q3 2021

FMCG in Asia Pacific continued to perform strongly through Q3 2021, with people favouring convenience – and buying more in the Beverages category.

Total FMCG value sales grew by 3.6% in the Asia Pacific region in the third quarter, according to our latest Asia Pulse data that looks at the performance of food, drink, and other FMCG categories. 

Beverages shone brightly as the fastest growing sector, recovering rapidly with a 5.3% increase in value. This was mainly driven by the Chinese Mainland market.

Nutritional and hygiene categories are still benefiting from the pandemic, with value sales in Dairy and Personal Care rising by 3.1% and 4.2% respectively during Q3. Meanwhile, Food and Home Care slowed down following their peak in 2020.

Convenience channel formats – especially ecommerce – continue to perform well, leading growth in the APAC region with a significant increase in transactions.

Reviewing the performance of each market in depth, the report reveals the following:

• Chinese Mainland: Instant retail (online to offline or O2O) has maintained a strong growth trend since 2020, with 57% of urban households using O2O home delivery services to purchase FMCG products in the first nine months of this year.
• Taiwan: Taiwanese shoppers have become more used to purchasing FMCG products online, across all categories and age groups.
• South Korea: In-home beverage consumption is likely to decrease in the coming months as COVID-19 restrictions ease.
• Indonesia: Despite a slowdown, Food and Dairy continue to lead the market’s total FMCG growth.
• Malaysia: All sectors continue to record growth except Beverages, due to the implementation of a national lockdown in 2021.
• Thailand: Consumers keep reducing their shopping trips, with larger basket sizes a result of stockpiling during the pandemic.
• Philippines: Households continue to value traditional trade and proximity stores over other channels.
• Vietnam: The level of FMCG spending remains higher than before the pandemic, driven by another peak in the purchasing of packaged foods during periods of lockdown in the country’s fourth wave of COVID-19.