F&B Tech News - December 2020

What's new in China, in Asia and in the rest of the World

for the Food and Restaurant tech businesses?

December 30, 2020

Every month, for now, we are sharing what we found interesting to know in terms of investments, trends, M&A, startups, tech in China, Asia, and in the rest of the World for everything related to Food, F&B and Restaurant Tech, because it's kind of the only thing we do at NextStepStudio.co.

This list is in no way exhaustive and the original purpose was for our team to remain on top of everything that is happening in our industry in link with our existing portfolio companies, and the area we are exploring for future projects.

We just decided to share it with anyone who could be interested.

We can also discover daily publication on our official Linkedin Page.

WHAT'S NEW IN CHINA?

1 - China to bring in law against food waste with fines for promoting overeating

A report by the China Academy Science found that in 2015 residents in big cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, wasted 17 to 18 million tons of food, or enough to feed 30 to 50 million people. A quarter of the waste was staple foods like rice and noodles, and about 18% of it meat, the report said.

[...]The draft law also stipulated potential fines for a broadcaster – radio, TV, or online – which produces publishes or disseminates the promotion of food waste, including overeating. Failing to heed a formal warning by government authorities could result in penalties of up to 100,000 yuan, and the suspension of business “for rectification”.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/23/china-to-bring-in-law-against-food-waste-with-fines-for-promoting-overeating

2 - Food Descends from the Ceiling in This Chinese Robot Restaurant

Guests place an order with one of the bright pink server robots that wheel about on the floor. The cooking robot prepares the meal, which then gets plated and sent out on a modified tray via an overhead rail system. When the meal reaches the ordering table, a tethered tray drops from the ceiling to just above the table where the customer takes the plate of food off the tray. The tray and tether then retract back up to the ceiling to go make another delivery.

https://thespoon.tech/video-food-descends-from-the-ceiling-in-this-chinese-robot-restaurant/

3 - HungryPanda raises $70M for a food delivery app aimed at overseas Chinese consumers

Today came the latest development in that story: HungryPanda, which makes a Mandarin-language app specifically targeting Chinese consumers outside of China, has raised $70 million to continue its global expansion in delivering food from Chinese restaurants and Asian grocery stores targeting the Chinese diaspora.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/11/30/hungrypanda-raises-70m-for-a-food-delivery-app-aimed-at-overseas-chinese-consumers/

4 - The Meituan resistance: why some small restaurants are breaking ties with the app

Meituan is a popular marketing tool for new businesses. But as its marketing fees raises, some business owners are looking for alternatives. Like luxury brands that have grown skeptical of major e-commerce platforms, many are turning to the relatively free-form environment of WeChat stores and selling through direct messages.

https://technode.com/2020/12/29/the-meituan-resistance-small-restaurants-are-breaking-ties-with-the-app/

5 - A glimpse of 2021 global retail trends

For a glimpse of what's to come in retail in the US and other western markets, industry watchers are looking to China. The biggest retail market in the world, China has heavily invested in automating the customer experience to deliver efficiency, convenience and personalized service.

https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2020/12/glimpse-2021-global-retail-trends

6 - The trends to watch in China in 2021

The International Monetary Fund has recently predicted the Chinese economy will grow by 1.9% this year, making it the only G20 economy to register positive growth in 2020. Moreover, China and 14 countries on the East Asian continent and Australia and New Zealand last month signed a free trade agreement [...]. This diverse mix of nations in terms of size, economic system and culture is set to give a significant boost to the intra-zone food trade, with China as the core importer.

https://www.just-food.com/comment/the-trends-to-watch-in-china-in-2021_id144850.aspx

WHAT'S NEW IN ASIA?

7 - Tesco finalizes sale of Asia business

Following the announcement on 9th March 2020 that Tesco had agreed to sell its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to C.P. Retail Development Company Limited (CPRD) [...], Tesco confirms that CP Group has now reviewed and is satisfied [...].

https://retailinasia.com/in-trends/tesco-finalizes-sale-of-asia-business

8 - WhatsApp launches Carts for small businesses to sell in app, online

The Carts feature will allow customers to quickly add goods or services they want from a business’ catalog, and then send the order as one message to the business. WhatsApp says this makes it easier for customers to order products and for businesses to keep track of order inquiries.

https://www.retailnews.asia/whatsapp-launches-carts-for-small-businesses-to-sell-in-app-online

9 - Delivery Hero Gets Approval for the $4B Woowa Bros. Deal, Will Sell Its South Korea Business

Even with the requirement to sell 100 percent of its stake in Yogiyo, Berlin-based Delivery Hero will access a massive user base with the purchase of Woowa Bros.: roughly 15.8 million monthly active users, or 82 percent of the marketshare in South Korea.

https://thespoon.tech/delivery-hero-gets-approval-for-the-4b-woowa-bros-deal-will-sell-its-south-korea-business/

10 - Zomato Teams With InCred For Loans To Restaurants In India

In an effort to provide credit facilities to its eatery partners, India-based food delivery platform Zomato is said to have collaborated with FinTech firm InCred. The country’s flourishing food delivery sector is among the segments most impacted by the pandemic, according to a report from IBS intelligence.

https://www.pymnts.com/news/b2b-payments/2020/report-zomato-teams-with-incred-loans-restaurants-india/

11 - Airasia Food to democratise food delivery business

Airasia Food’s flat-rates are equivalent to a 10% commission rate—much lower than Grab and Foodpanda’s 30% service fee. Fernandez said that this will enable merchants to “earn more while having full control of their menu, pricing and also easy access to data by being able to communicate directly to customers”.

https://www.soyacincau.com/2020/12/29/tony-fernandes-airasia-food-to-democratise-food-delivery-business/

WHAT'S NEW IN THE REST OF THE WORLD?

12 - See where the fight for ghost kitchen dominance is heating up (in the US)

"CloudKitchens is more like an Amazon fulfillment center, while REEF is more like a 7-Eleven". While "Travis Kalanick, the ousted founder CEO of Uber, has been quietly purchasing real estate in major cities across the country while simultaneously investing in ghost kitchen business internationally for his ghost kitchen startup, CloudKitchens" [...] "REEF's core bet is that as we move towards shared autonomous vehicles, the demand for parking will plummet."

https://www.businessinsider.com/map-where-travis-kalanicks-cloudkitchen-and-reef-have-ghost-kitchens-2020-12

13 - Indoor Farming Got Big in 2020. Literally

What all of these [companies named in the article] have in common is that they are trying to bring the concept of healthier, fresher food to more people at a price point the majority of households can manage. Many of them also provide much-needed jobs for local communities.

https://thespoon.tech/indoor-farming-got-big-in-2020-literally/

14 - Nestle to invest $100 million in frozen foods facility

“Consumers are embracing eating at home like never before and rediscovering the frozen category, an evolution brought on by the pandemic that is showing signs of taking hold for the long term,” said Mike Mahon, plant manager in Jonesboro. “As we embrace the trend and plan for the future, we’re excited to be investing in our Jonesboro factory to support our Hot Pockets business.”

https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/17578-nestle-to-invest-100-million-in-frozen-foods-facility

15 - Oat Milk, Yeast And . . . Crab? The Foods That Saw Sales Surge In 2020

Using data that tracks the largest year-over-year sales increases at supermarkets nationwide, Nielsen has identified the groceries U.S. shoppers clamored to buy during 2020, and not all of it is what you might expect.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chloesorvino/2021/12/29/oat-milk-yeast-and-crab-the-foods-that-saw-sales-surge-in-2020

16 - 2021 Food Tech Predictions: Screens Invade Stores and Commerce Goes Mobile

Next year will be the year grocery stores go all Vegas on us, and food commerce will hit the road.

https://thespoon.tech/2021-food-tech-predictions-screens-invade-stores-and-commerce-goes-mobile/

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