Food Processing - August 2008 - (Page 15)

Special report Seaweed chips and chunky Water aside from a few oddities, thailand’s foods – and consumers’ tastes – mirror our interests in organics, healthful food and the sanctity of processing. eaweed chips, anyone? You might want to wash those down with some chunky water. A visit to a processed food show in Thailand turned up some products that, even though popular over there, would die a quick death over here. But also some that would appear to hit a healthy/wholesome sweet spot in the U.S. And many that might succeed here if accompanied by some education of American consumers. Thaifex World of Food was held in May in Bangkok’s Impact Exhibition Center. It was a huge show, comprising some 1,011 exhibitors from 33 countries, 210,000 sq. ft. and 70,000 attendees (22,000 during the trade-only days, 48,000 when open to the public) in its five-day run. It’s organized by the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Dept. of Export Promotion. One of our first observations was the number of booths carrying quality certification marks. ISO 9001:2000, GMP and HACCP shouted from many of the displays (as did Halal certification), as if to allay any Westerner’s doubts that modern, sanitary techniques are used in that country. In addition, several certifying organizations were exhibitors, including Bureau Veritas, IQA Laboratory and Central Laboratory (Thailand) Co. Weeks after the show, NSF Intl. announced it was opening a regional headquarters in Bangkok to oversee certifications throughout the Asia Pacific region. Avian flu was “very bad here three yeas ago,” one of our escorts told us, “but it has been eradicated.” Chicken products are strongly rebounding as a key animal protein for Thais. Both in discussions at the show and in visits to processing plants, one of them very remote, sanitation and food safety foodprocessing.com S clearly are paramount with Thai food companies. A traceability system exists for vital export commodities, and its use is growing for domestic products. Another big label was organic. Organic farming is strongly suggested by Thai agricultural officials, and genetically modified organisms appear to be unwelcome, if not outlawed. Many of the products at the show proudly wore organic declarations. Some of Thailand’s biggest export hopes are pinned on its fruits and other forms of produce. Durian, while virtually unheard of here, is called the “king of fruits” in Thailand. It may be the country’s most plentiful fruit. It’s packed with protein, carbohydrates, fiber and minerals … but is definitely an acquired taste. Neither sweet nor juicy and with a pungent smell, its outside looks like a pineapple, only with more painful spikes, and the fruit has the texture of avocado or banana. The Westerners sampling it for the first time seemed to reach consensus that it had a strange, garlic initial taste, followed by that of an apricot (maybe). Don’t look for that one making a mark here. More familiar, and with good reason, are dragonfruit, lychee, starfruit and mangosteen. Two that seemed unfamiliar, yet impressed most in the group of visiting Westerners, were rambutan, a scary-looking fruit covered in red tentacles, and longan, resembling large green olives. Both have sweet, succulent fruit resembling grapes. While fresh fruits were everywhere at the show, dried and otherwise processed ones weren’t far behind. Sunshine Intl. Co. operates a freeze-drying plant in Chanthaburi, exporting fruits as dried snacks and ingredients. Most of its success is in other Asian markets. August 2008 food processing • 15 http://foodprocessing.com

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Food Processing - August 2008 Contents Editor’s Plate NewsBites Special Report Rollout Food Biz Kids The Top 100 Ingredients Show Report Plant Operations MRO Q&A Case History New Supplier Products Toops Scoops

Food Processing - August 2008

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