Only in the front line of real knives and guns can we find the advantages and disadvantages of products and the direction of improvement.
Text: "Chinese Entrepreneur" reporter Li Xin
Edited by Mina
Header image source: Respondents
A 40-minute drive from Zhengzhou East Railway Station, you will arrive at the Zhengzhou High-tech Enterprise Accelerator Industrial Park, where the office buildings resembling villas are scattered, and the Qianwei Central Kitchen Headquarters Office Building, which is known as the "first share of the catering supply chain", is here.
Not long ago, "Chinese Entrepreneur" met Sun Jian, chairman of Qianwei Central Kitchen, in the five-story office building of the headquarters. At the age of 52, he speaks kindly, often smiles, and seems to be very relatable. And this is also related to his many years of career in sales.
"I came from a sales background," Sun Jian mentioned this many times in an exclusive interview with "Chinese Entrepreneur", "I am from Henan, and I just graduated and worked as a sales representative at Synear Food." There is a flang in the FMCG industry called 'street sweeping', and I was holding frozen dumplings and selling them in small shops on the street one after another. ”
When Qianwei Central Kitchen was established in 2012, Sun Jian followed its every move and owned part of its shares.
Prior to that, Sun Jian started as the Zhengzhou business representative of Synear Food, and worked his way up to the manager of the Shanghai company, the manager of the Hong Kong company, and then the person in charge of the national sales work, and then he also temporarily left the food industry to devote himself to the real estate business. In 2018, he officially returned to the food industry and joined Qianwei Central Kitchen as the chairman.
Although he is now the leader of the company, he is still active in the sales line, constantly introducing the company's products to customers and the outside world. "From a certain point of view, sales seems to be a panacea profession that anyone can do. Now recalling the starting point of his career, Sun Jian sighed, "But sales is indeed the most exercised." ”
Sun Jian, who has worked in the food industry for twenty or thirty years, has long been a veteran of the food industry. The industry is highly competitive and changes quickly, but he always believes that opportunity comes from the frontline. Over the years, there has been a subtle rule within Qianwei Central Kitchen, including Sun Jian, that senior executives, including Sun Jian, must often go to the "double line" every month, that is, "sales line" and "production line".
He explained to reporters, "Only in the sales line of real knives and guns, in the real sales scene, can we find the advantages and disadvantages of the product and the direction of improvement." ”
For example, in order to figure out the product characteristics of large single sesame balls, Sun Jian and his colleagues once drove around the countryside of Hubei and Hunan. At the rural banquet in Hubei, one of the dishes that must be served is "fried sesame balls". They followed the gift of 200 yuan, and when they went to the back kitchen to watch a large box of sesame balls being put into the oil pot, they really understood that it was to solve the pain point of "sesame balls are not fried, sesame seeds are not off", and only then can they be suitable for the village banquet. Because of this, Qianwei Central Kitchen's production base now sells about 5.76 million sesame balls a day to the world, ranking first in China.
To a certain extent, it is this pursuit of "front-line" experience that supports the growth of Qianwei Central Kitchen into the "first stock of the catering supply chain".
On September 6, 2021, Qianwei Central Kitchen (Zhengzhou Qianwei Central Kitchen Food Co., Ltd.), which has been established for 9 years, officially landed on the main board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and was successfully listed, known as the "first stock of catering supply chain" and also known as "the first stock of Henan prefabricated dishes".
Some of the cooperative brands of Qianwei Central Kitchen. Photo: Li Xin
The daily contact of the public, such as KFC's fritters and egg tarts, Subway's square flat bread, and real kung fu buns, are all produced by Qianwei Central Kitchen. This has always been a low-key catering supply chain giant, in fact, it has long been a core supplier of Yum China, Haidilao, Wallace, Laoxiang Chicken, Luckin Coffee and other chain catering enterprises, and provides customized and standardized quick-frozen noodles and rice products for catering enterprises, group meals, hotels and banquets.
Looking back at today's node, Sun Jian also sighed that if Qianwei Central Kitchen continued to follow the development route of the head frozen food enterprise in the early years, it would always be behind the industry bosses, like many large and small food processing factories, they can only live their own small lives and will not have much development.
First-mover advantage
The first step in the journey of Qianwei Central Kitchen begins with Miss Food.
In the early years, in order to open up the market, Li Wei, the founder of Synear Food, recruited Li Jinzhou, the director of Zhengrong Quick-Frozen Food Factory, who was famous in the field of quick-freezing at that time. Later, it borrowed from the practice of filling soup dumplings in Kaifeng and launched quick-frozen soup dumplings, which made two micro-innovations before and after, which made it famous.
Synear stands out in the field of frozen food. In April 2012, when Li Wei Holdings' Synear Food invested 14 million yuan in money and in kind to set up Qianwei Central Kitchen, it didn't want to repeat the old path of Synear and compete with it on the same track.
"At that time, in the field of quick-frozen food, there were many predecessors who were C-end bosses, so it was not the best opportunity for C-end to be in Qianwei Central Kitchen. Sun Jian believes that "no matter from the historical development of developed regions or from the actual needs of China, the catering supply chain is a track with great potential, and only by going to the B-end can we make a difference." ”
As a result, from the beginning of its establishment, Qianwei Central Kitchen has embarked on the road of catering B2B, which is mainly for catering enterprises and corporate group meals, focusing on the supply chain of quick-frozen noodles and rice.
The reason why I chose to do catering B2B is because the market has changed, and new business opportunities have emerged - "When Sanquan and Synear developed rapidly, department stores began to wither. On the contrary, supermarkets such as Carrefour and Metro provide self-selection for quick-frozen food. The gradual popularization of refrigerators has also provided families with conditions for storing quick-frozen food. Sun Jian concluded.
When Qianwei Central Kitchen was born, it happened to stand at a new point in time.
At that time, that is, in 2012, the structure of the catering industry was changing from high-end and low-end polarization to mass catering (represented by hot pot, fast food, and snacks), and the branding of mass catering was accelerating.
The chain rate of restaurants is increasing year by year, the demand for group meals and rural banquets is becoming increasingly strong, and the actual demand for "cost reduction" in the industry has been rising under the traditional "three highs" problem. When it is becoming more and more difficult to recruit chefs, the function of the central kitchen to maintain the stability of dishes and improve efficiency is becoming more and more meaningful, which also makes the catering supply chain have great room for development.
Seeing this new change in the catering market, Qianwei quickly seized this opportunity.
Initially, Qianwei Central Kitchen not only started with capital and equipment from Synear Food, but also from Synear Food, including production workshops and warehouses. Until 2019, Qianwei Central Kitchen still leased Zhengzhou Synear No. 4 Workshop as the Yingcai Street factory for the production of quick-frozen noodles and rice food. On the production side, Synear has also transferred some patents to Qianwei Central Kitchen free of charge. With the help of Miss, Qianwei Central Kitchen has been able to grow rapidly.
Location advantage
So far, Qianwei Central Kitchen has built two R&D bases in Zhengzhou and Shanghai, established a number of product R&D platforms such as fritters, steamed dumplings, fried leisure products, baking, etc., and has 5 production bases in Zhengzhou, Xinxiang, Hebi, Anhui, Wuhu, and Fuxin, Liaoning.
Qianwei Central Kitchen Xinxiang Factory. Photo: Li Xin
Qianwei Central Kitchen also plans to build factories in more places. "Quick-frozen food is 'throwing', and the price is cheap, so the freight is a bit expensive, and the freight account can be about four or five points. Sun Jian explained, "So basically we will build branches all over the country to save transportation costs." ”
"However, if 20%~30% of the featured products can be produced locally through the construction of the factory, so that the raw materials are fresher, the supply chain is collaborative, and the production efficiency is higher, it will be meaningful. Sun Jian told "Chinese Entrepreneur".
The development and growth of the supply chain of Qianwei Central Kitchen is also inseparable from its geographical location - Zhengzhou, Henan.
In Sun Jian's view, Henan is a large agricultural province, the production of quick-frozen flour and rice products required for flour, oil and other raw material resources are abundant, Zhengzhou is the provincial capital, the transportation extends in all directions, Henan population of nearly 100 million not only provides a large number of labor, but also a huge consumer market.
In addition to Qianwei Central Kitchen, Henan also has C-end food companies such as Sanquan and Synear, "Many dealers will first come to Zhengzhou when they look for rice and flour products and quick-frozen food, because this place has formed a food industry cluster, and it has its own unique advantages." Sun Jian said.
Service-oriented company
For Qianwei Central Kitchen, a supply chain enterprise focusing on the B-end, there are many types of catering subdivisions, complex business formats, different consumption scenarios and consumption preferences are changing rapidly, and the requirements for dish innovation and update speed have also been increasing.
In this regard, Sun Jian believes that consumption has always existed, and there is no difference between the old and the new in essence. The difference between the old and the new is only based on the combination of business elements and service objects. What Qianwei Central Kitchen can do is to gain insight into the changes in demand, and then match its own target service scenarios with products.
"Our positioning of Qianwei Central Kitchen has never been a food factory, Qianwei Central Kitchen should be positioned in the service industry, and we are the service personnel. Sun Jian told "Chinese Entrepreneur".
Under the idea of doing a good job in service, Qianwei Central Kitchen has divided the production mode into general product production and customized product production in recent years. Among them, customized products are mainly jointly developed with large B-end customers, or customized processes and packaging according to customer requirements. First there are customized customers, and then there are customized products, the business model is based on customized customers and the core, and there is a close service relationship between enterprises and customized customers. The customized production model starts from the needs of the big B-end and provides targeted solutions, which is service-oriented.
In the mode of "customized product production", Qianwei Central Kitchen, as a supply chain enterprise, has formed an advantage of co-creation with customers.
The most representative case is KFC's spicy soup. Sun Jian recalled that KFC is a very down-to-earth existence among many foreign fast food companies, and it also has a strong willingness to localize, hoping to present more gourmet snacks from all over China.
"From the choice of which school to the formula, to the implementation of the IP, etc., it is all jointly promoted with KFC. Sun Jian recalled, "For example, we first studied the genres of Hu spicy soup in Henan, such as Beiwudu and Xiaoyao Town, and finally selected Xiaoyao Town Hu Spicy Soup, and considering the intellectual property rights, we found Gao Qunsheng, the eighteenth generation descendant of Gao Ji Hu Spicy Soup in Xiaoyao Town, and obtained the intangible cultural heritage certification of Hu Spicy Soup raw materials from him." ”
In the specific practice process, Qianwei Central Kitchen overcame the final problem of Hu spicy soup. A set of standards are set for comprehensive seasoning, color, raw materials, edible standards, etc., to ensure that the soup is not stratified and not staggered, and there is no change within 4 hours, and the raw materials are processed in the factory to be consistent and then put into containers, so that the restaurant can process them for the second time to ensure the consistency of the finished product.
Sun Jian said that Qianwei Central Kitchen always believes in the sensitivity of customers. Because the head catering enterprises are more front-line, especially those that can be the best in the industry, they must have enough sensitivity and insight into consumers and target customers.
"It is said that Yum China has done a good job of localization, but there are so many Chinese foods, Yum does not do everything, and the products it chooses must be based on market insight. Sun Jian said, "Correspondingly, they also have a basic level of trust in Qianwei Central Kitchen." For them, it is the chef in the kitchen who is directly handed over to us, so we also have to have a quick response to the needs of our customers. Sun Jian said.
The experience accumulated in serving the leading catering enterprises, Qianwei Central Kitchen has also taken advantage of the trend to continue to use it in general supplies. The products independently developed according to market demand are sold to all B-end customers, and generally achieve mass production on small and medium-sized B-end customers through dealer channels.
"The energy of every enterprise is limited, and it is impossible to serve all sizes of catering enterprises and carry out personalized docking, so we can only understand the whole chain of the entire catering subdivision through the service head. Sun Jian further explained, "For example, by serving Haidilao, a hot pot company, you can understand the real needs of users in the entire hot pot dining scene, and then use the experience in general products." ”
In Sun Jian's view, it is this long-term accumulation that makes Qianwei Central Kitchen one step ahead in terms of channels and research and development compared with other supply chain enterprises.
Reduce costs and increase efficiency
For supply chain enterprises, refined management and cost reduction and efficiency increase are "commonplace" problems hanging over their heads.
"Reducing costs and increasing efficiency is something that every factory and enterprise must do, but where is its boundary?" Sun Jian's many years of experience in the food industry has never seen a company that lives entirely on low prices, "Reducing costs and increasing efficiency is by no means unprincipled low, relying entirely on low prices, and ultimately harming quality." ”
In his opinion, if reducing the price is one of the contents of reducing costs and increasing efficiency, it is better to make more "cost-effective products". It is not so much that Qianwei Central Kitchen is insisting on reducing costs and increasing efficiency, but that it is continuing to improve.
"For supply chain enterprises, first of all, we must maintain stability, stable supply, stable quality, on this basis, if you want to develop better, you can only continue to improve, provide more cost-effective products, rather than blindly emphasizing low-cost products. Sun Jian explained.
The advancement of the fritter production line is one example. Sun Jian recalled that at the beginning, the fritters were manually fried by workers in the oil pan, which was very slow. Later, from the beginning of the dough to the pot, a production line came out, and the oil temperature control and packaging were all connected to automation. "It's all about continuous improvement. ”
Photo: Li Xin
This line of thinking is also reflected in the sales of general goods. "In the past, frozen food companies, including Qianwei Central Kitchen, were accustomed to looking for distributors who focused on the small B-end, could accommodate one or two thousand SKUs (minimum stock keeping units), and docked hundreds of customers, but now Qianwei Central Kitchen's requirements for business personnel are to find channel providers. Sun Jian told "Chinese Entrepreneur".
Channel chambers of commerce are more focused on a certain segment. "For example, if a channel provider mainly makes breakfast products, then we will provide it with a series of breakfast products, focusing on Western-style fast food channel providers, and we only provide corresponding products. Sun Jian said.
In practice, Qianwei Central Kitchen also found that this more targeted plan not only reduces the time cost of Qianwei Central Kitchen on the sales side, but also reduces the trial and error cost of channel providers. "And the product feedback given by the channel will also be more targeted. ”
Relying on the advantages accumulated on the B-side, in 2022, Qianwei Central Kitchen also established Henan Yuzhicai Food Technology Co., Ltd. to develop prefabricated food products for market demand.
In the field of prefabricated dishes, Sun Jian also has some thoughts: "The name of prefabricated dishes is not very accurate, it should be called prefabricated ingredients - Chinese cuisine is broad and profound, a single braised pork, Henan, Hebei, Jiangxi, Anhui and other practices are not the same, if it is really made into a dish, the audience's face will be narrow." Taking it a step further and making it into pre-made ingredients and having local chefs follow local recipes will not only match their tastes, but also reach a wider range of customers. The finer it is, the worse it is. ”
In January 2024, Sun Jian prepared his passport, and under the craze of catering to go to sea, he also decided to go out for a walk and have a look.
Qianwei Central Kitchen is also happy to see Chinese restaurant companies go overseas: on the one hand, catering enterprises going overseas will inevitably put forward higher requirements for the construction of the supply chain, and they can't go out without bullets to shoot, which is an opportunity for Qianwei Central Kitchen; While doing a good job in service, we will also lay out overseas markets.
"We do not rule out going overseas first, and then continue to build the local supply chain, these visions are the directions we will consider in the future. Sun Jian said.