Matthew Miller
Aug 26, 2021

The top 10 snacks and candies in Asia-Pacific

We can't settle international arguments over controversial terms such as 'cookies' versus 'biscuits' or 'crisps' versus 'chips'. But thanks to our Asia's Top 1000 Brands research, we can give you not one but three top 10 lists about the brands people in Asia turn to when they're feeling peckish.

(Shutterstock)
(Shutterstock)

Everyone's got their guilty pleasures when it comes to what they put in their mouth. Whether you like your treats sweet, savory, baked, fried, spicy, buttery, minty, chewy, chocolately, on a stick, or covered in cheese dust, the world's makers of snacks and confections have something for you. 

But what goodies do people in Asia turn to when they just need a little nosh? That's what we're here to find out.

The following facts about Asia's favourite snacks and candies are derived from the 2021 edition of Campaign Asia-Pacific's exclusive Asia's Top 1000 Brands research, done in partnership with Nielsen IQ. The region's most comprehensive research on consumer brand perception, Asia's Top 1000 Brands asks consumers in 14 Asia-Pacific markets to name the brands they consider the best in 15 major product and service categories. From this, we compile the overall Asia's Top 1000 Brands ranking, a list of the top 100 brands in each market, and a variety of features and category-based reports like this one.

As alluded to above, snack foods cover a wide array of choices, so we're actually giving you not one but three top 10 lists, covering three sub-categories of the food category. Without further ado, we give you...

ASIA's TOP SNACK FOODS

Rank

Biscuits, crackers and cookies

Candy

Salty snacks and nuts

1

Oreo

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

 

Category: Biscuits, crackers and cookies Candy Nuts and salty snacks
Rank 2021 2020 2021 2020 2021 2020
1 Oreo Oreo Cadbury Ferrero Rocher Lay's Pringles
2 Ritz Ritz Ferrero Rocher Cadbury Pringles Lay's
3 Meiji Meiji Kit Kat Nestle Calbee Calbee
4 Quaker Arnotts Nestle Kit Kat Cadbury Doritos
5 Orion Glico Snickers Hershey's Lotte Cadbury
6 Kjeldsens Quaker Hershey's Lindt Orion Lotte
7 Arnotts Loacker Mentos Godiva Doritos Orion
8 Parle Griffin's M&M's Toblerone Cheetos Garuda
9 Britannia Orion Lotte M&M's Meiji Jack'n Jill
10 Good Day I Mei Chupa Chups Dairy Milk Three Squirrels Cheetos

 

MORE FACTS TO CHEW ON
Still hungry for knowledge? Here's some more tasty morsels from our survey of the region's favourite snack and candy brands.

Biscuits, crackers and cookies

Regional No. 1 Oreo tops the charts in five specific markets:

  • China
  • Indonesia
  • Malaysia
  • Thailand
  • Vietnam

Oreo also finishes in second place in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan and in third in Australia, Japan and Philippines.

Regional No. 2 Ritz ranks highly in many markets but is the top choice nowhere. Its highest rankings are 4th (Taiwan and Thailand) and 5th (Australia and Indonesia).    

Market-specific No. 1 rankings for brands in the regional top 10:

  • Oreo: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam
  • Meiji: Singapore
  • Orion: South Korea
  • Kjeldsens: Hong Kong
  • Arnotts: Australia
  • Parle: India 

Market-specific No. 1 rankings for brands not in the regional top 10:

  • Griffin's: New Zealand
  • Morinaga: Japan
  • I Mei: Taiwan
  • Sky Flakes: Philippines

It's interesting to note that both Brittania and its Good Day brand earn spots on the ranking in this category.

Candy

Regional No. 1 Cadbury is the top choice in three markets (Australia, India, Malaysia). It also comes in second in New Zealand and Singapore, and third in Indonesia.

Market-specific No. 1 rankings for brands in the regional top 10:

  • Cadbury: Australia, India, Malaysia
  • Ferrero Rocher: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
  • Kitkat: Singapore, Vietnam
  • Hershey's: Philippines
  • Mentos: Indonesia
  • Chupa Chups: Korea

Market-specific No. 1 rankings for brands not in the regional top 10:

  • Meiji: Japan
  • Glico: Taiwan
  • Whittakers: New Zealand

Salty snacks

Regional No. 1 Lay's is the top brand in only two markets: China and Taiwan. It comes in second in Hong Kong, India and Taiwan, and third in Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam. 

Regional No. 2 Pringles attains its spot despite being No. 1 in no markets. It finishes second in Korea and Philippines, third in Australia, and fourth in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore.   

Market-specific No. 1 rankings for brands in the regional top 10:

  • Lay's: China, Taiwan
  • Calbee: Hong Kong, Japan
  • Orion: Korea, Vietnam
  • Doritos: Australia

Market-specific No. 1 rankings for brands not in the regional top 10:

  • Haldiram: India
  • Jack'n Jill: Philippines
  • GarudaFood: Indonesia
  • Tong Garden: Singapore
  • Mister Potato: Malaysia
  • Viva: Taiwan
  • Eta: New Zealand 

Nope, we don't know why Cadbury shows up at No. 5 on a ranking of salty snacks and nuts. We're guessing it's because of the chocolate maker's nutty varieties?

Now, who's hungry?

This article is filed under...
Top 10: Asia-Pacific's favourite brands in specific product and service categories

 

Source:
Campaign Asia

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