Oxford Economics estimates that Philippines and Thailand experienced a 7% and 4% drop respectively in their F&B manufacturing sector.
For Vietnam and Indonesia, their F&B manufacturing sectors were estimated to have expanded by 5% and 3% in 2020 respectively.
In the report, F&B manufacturing comprised the production of food and non-alcoholic beverages.
Along with F&B distribution (retail, catering, hospitality) and agricultural production, the three components make up the main agri-food sector.
According to the report, commissioned by Food Industry Asia, this is the first of its kind study analysing five years of economic activity across the entire food value chain, from farm-to-fork.
Despite the challenging economic conditions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the agri-food sector in all four countries remained resilient.
For the Philippines, the F&B manufacturing component makes up 46%…
