For Southeast Asian exporters in the gravies and sauces industry, the latter half of 2025 presented an unprecedented and alarming scenario: a complete and abrupt cessation of buyer activity. Alibaba.com data shows that the number of active buyers (AB count) for this category plummeted to zero in the final months of the year, a stark contrast to previous trends. This was not a gradual decline but a sudden market evaporation, leaving many suppliers stranded without warning [3].
The root cause of this collapse is external and regulatory, not a reflection of waning consumer appetite for sauces. In September 2025, following severe outbreaks of avian influenza (bird flu) in several Southeast Asian nations, the European Union and the United Kingdom enacted emergency temporary bans on the import of all poultry and poultry-derived products from affected countries. Critically, these bans explicitly included processed derivatives such as meat stocks, broths, and gravies [1]. As the US market also tightened its own inspection protocols, the primary export destinations for Southeast Asian meat-based gravy producers were effectively closed overnight.
"The EU Commission's decision... imposes a complete standstill on imports of live poultry, poultry meat, and any product derived from them, including prepared sauces and gravies, from the listed Southeast Asian territories until further notice." — Reuters, September 2025 [1]
