The Knowledge to Decide

Britain still attracts substantial investment from Asia. Many Asian firms have established European Head Quarters in the country. How hard will Brexit hit Asian markets? Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, shared his insights in China Daily – Asia Weekly. Brexit will impact companies from Asia with operations in the UK, since they will no longer benefit from any of the EU’s Free Trade Agreement’s (FTA) with non-EU countries. Britain will need to replace these with bilateral FTAs – and fast. Perera noted that beyond the short-term effects on foreign exchange markets and global capital, the effect will be to depress the long-term outlook for the UK. Having said that, Brexit may induce portfolio managers to divert funds to Asia. This could strengthen Asian asset prices and currencies. What remains to be seen is if any city can replace London as the financial center of the EU. https://www.spireresearch.com/newsroom/media/how-will-br

How would you like to eat delicious fried food which contains less oil, calories and cholesterol? Oil-free air fryers offer this prospect – and are taking the cook-ware market by storm. For instance, Royal Philips – a consumer electronics company –launched the Philips Air fryer in 2012. It is an innovative kitchen appliance that enables consumers to prepare a variety of meals in a healthier way. It is now available in more than 100 countries. Moreover, it accounts for almost 50% of the global market for ‘light’ fryers – which confirms it as the number one low-fat fryer brand. The latest innovation in this field is the eco-stove. The stove operates on an internal air system that heats up the rocks to provide heat for cooking. It works by rapid circulation of hot air around the food – cooking it in a similar fashion to oil. At the same time, the solar panels charge up and provide more heat for the stove. Many companies are now venturing into this product category. For

Leon Perera, Chief Executive Officer of Spire Research and Consulting, was invited to share his views on sugar consumption trends on Channel NewsAsia – Money Mind. He observed that sugar consumption in Singapore will decline in the long term, akin to what has been seen in North America and Europe, thanks to rising health literacy and government health campaigns. Natural sweetener producers would need to work hard to find their niche in terms of taste, pricing and a fact-based health message. Sugar is now into its 4th year of global surplus production, primarily thanks to Brazil, Thailand and India. This has exerted downward pressure on prices. Sugar consumption is foreseen to grow below the growth rate of the global population in the next 5 to 10 years. High intensity natural sweetener is now a niche market that faces good growth prospects. However, there are regulatory hurdles facing the industry. What’s more, there is a lot to be done in educating and convincing consumers t