Interview | Akita Manman Huang Shuai: Specializing in "grain, oil, rice and noodles" for Chinese babies
"China has a big enough market, as long as you target a circle, there is a big market opportunity. Therefore, there is no need to care about the scale of one field, for China, any subdivision is a large scale. ”
This is the view shared by Yan Ming, managing partner of Xiuyuan Capital, in an exclusive interview with Yimeishang. The maternal and infant food track is a typical subdivision track. But it is such a subdivided track that has run out of the phenomenal baby food brand - Akita Manman. Its development trajectory is as Yan Ming said, and there are great opportunities to do a good job in subdivisions.
At the beginning of Akitaman's birth, co-founder Huang Shuai wanted to find a safe, nutritious and cost-effective product for his children, and made up his mind to deepen the field of maternal and infant complementary food. Recently, in the office located in Binjiang District, Hangzhou, Yi Meishang interviewed Huang Shuai, the co-founder of Akita Manman, to see the story related to love and products behind the birth and development of Akita Manman.
Akita Manman co-founder Huang Shuai
Intensively cultivate and subdivide small categories to sow the large market of mothers and infants
Because of the birth of the child, Huang Shuai entered a new stage of life. As a first-time father, while feeling the joy, Huang Shuai also had new doubts about the feeding of his children. "Why are there not many products to choose from in the baby food category, and almost all of them are imported?" Based on the observation of the baby food market, Huang Shuai and his partners founded Akita Manman. The first product, Akita Manman, started from the refined small category of baby food.
Why is this a small category?
On the one hand, as mentioned earlier, baby food can only be targeted at children of a certain age, and the product can be consumed in a narrow age range. On the other hand, data from Guanyan Report Network shows that from 2013 to 2022, the market penetration rate of infant food in mainland China increased from 20.5% to 35.1%. In mature markets, this figure can reach 80%. This also means that at present, consumers' awareness of baby complementary food is not high enough.
Despite this, Akita Manman chose to start here. "Foreign brands and products are developed for foreign babies, and Chinese babies have different dietary scenes and dietary Xi habits, and more subdivided products are needed to solve the needs of family users", Huang Shuai said, which is why Akita is determined to be the "grain, oil, rice and noodles" in the field of Chinese maternal and infant complementary food, and chooses to make this category deeper and more refined.
"Previously, ordinary rice was the main ingredient of baby food, but in fact, some rice with pesticide residues and stored for too long was not safe and nutritious enough for babies. Huang Shuai said that as a result, Akita Manman decided to innovate the ingredients, choosing the germ rice in the Northeast organic rice as the supplementary food raw material, and creating the first three "90 standards" for germ rice in the industry.
"More than 90% embryo retention rate, 90% germination rate, 90% germ saturation. Huang Shuai said, "To achieve 3 90 standard germ rice, the whole process is organic and traceable, no pesticides, clean and free of impurities, in addition, through the screening of patented technology, the embryo rice embryo retention rate is higher, can retain the most nutrient components of the food itself." "The birth of this embryo rice is the first step of Akita Mantsumi. It is with this high-quality product that understands Chinese babies better that Akita Man began the brand's "hurricane" road.
Four differentiated standards check products
After the embryo rice, Akita has laid out four product lines of staple food, snacks, seasonings and fresh food, which can provide solutions for one-stop feeding for children. According to reports, at present, around the four major product lines, Akita Manman has launched more than 100 products, including rice noodles, nutritious noodles, flour and other staple and auxiliary foods, rice crackers, puff soluble beans, cod intestines and other snacks, seasoning powder, walnut oil, organic soy sauce and other seasonings, cod, salmon and other fresh products, and these products cover almost all the baby's dining scenes and needs. "The category layout is made around the baby's three meals a day", Huang Shuai introduced, the main and auxiliary food is the main meal, snacks and fresh products are added meals, and seasoning is used in the main and auxiliary food products. "The staple food is the baby's first bite, the staple food is done well, the parents recognize the brand, and other categories naturally sell well. ”
Of course, behind the recognition of all categories of products, product quality is the most fundamental. Huang Shuai introduced that in the process of expanding the product line, Akita is full of products and has precipitated four major differentiation requirements. First, "food traceability". "Our ingredients will start from the place of origin", Huang Shuai said, from seeds, planting, harvesting to production, Akita is full of the whole chain control. At present, Akita is full of raw materials from Northeast Rice Wuchang Base, Shanxi Fenyang Walnut Base, Inner Mongolia Wudan Farm, Hebei Chengde Iron Hawthorn Base and other planting bases. Second, insist on making organic products. "Organic products are not easy to make. For example, if you want to make organic products today, the soil you grow must not have chemical pesticide residues within three years. "If you choose organic farming, the cost of the product will more than double." Third, the first industry product standard.
In fact, at present, there are not too many refined regulations and standards for infant food, and this also requires leading enterprises to bear industry responsibilities. Huang Shuai revealed that in order to give consumers more safe choices, Akita Manman has formulated strict internal control standards in the refined category. Starting from the Xi of Chinese family catering, Akita Man has launched the industry's first baby standard embryo rice, the industry's first baby standard low-bacteria flour, the industry's first baby standard milk shell and the industry's first baby standard Chinese fruit puree. Finally, Akita Manman also continues to cooperate with universities and institutions with scientific research strength to improve the technical capabilities of planting and production technology.
Since its establishment, it has been highly recognized by consumers, making Akita a star in the maternal and infant track and even the venture capital circle. But Huang Shuai and his entourage have not forgotten their original intention. Before the interview, Huang Shuai had just completed his task of picking up the "boss" of the family to and from school, no matter how late he worked overtime the day before, this was a "job" that could not be shaken. But because the child's cold had not yet healed and was "returned" by the school, Huang Shuai had to take the child to work in the company. was supposed to go to school, but when he came to the office building, the child was not depressed, but in the corner of the office, digging his own little world. In fact, this boy, who grew up with Akita Manman, has long been familiar with the brand and the company, and has even become a small model in the brand's video. Maintaining a love for life and wanting to give the best to children is the original intention of Akita Manman's birth, and it is also the driving force for the next upward growth. I believe that this brand, which was born from love, will harvest more nutrients from love and take deep roots.