Text丨Fang Wen
出品丨牛刀财经(niudaocaijing)
1. Why can consumers buy it if they continue to increase freshness?
Freshness is the core criterion for selecting ingredients in Chinese families, and it is also the key factor that determines the future direction of fresh food enterprises.
According to McKinsey's China Fresh Market Survey, Chinese consumers are becoming more conscious of their food choices and are looking for healthier, natural and additive-free foods. At the same time, consumers are becoming more concerned about where food comes from and how it is produced.
Especially after the epidemic, with the general improvement of Chinese consumers' health awareness, a general trend of consumption in the field of fresh food is taking shape.
Aunt Qian is one of China's fresh food companies that implants the "mind" of freshness into the impression of consumers.
In the past 12 years, Aunt Qian has brought surprises to the domestic community fresh food model by pioneering the "Don't Sell Overnight Meat" and the Nissin model.
At the heart of the "no overnight meat" and Nissin models is that they quantify the concept of freshness for consumers and redefine the industry standard.
Aunt Qian's popularity also proves that consumers are willing to "buy" for freshness. However, it is not easy for companies to achieve Nissin without selling overnight meat and ingredients.
You must know that the domestic fresh food industry has the characteristics of high loss, which itself has limited profit margins, which has led to the current surplus of raw food in the fresh industry, from supermarkets to stalls.
Aunt Qian's place can achieve "no overnight meat" and the freshness of the ingredients in the whole venue, behind which is a complete set of efficient circulation system that Aunt Qian has explored in the past 12 years.
Previously, Aunt Qian's executives shared the secret, behind the "regular clearance" of step-by-step discounts starting at 7 o'clock every night is a set of efficient turnover and zero inventory mechanism, that is, three efficient operation systems based on digitalization:" The efficient linkage of orders solves the inventory problem of stores, the efficient linkage of prices solves the problem of timely response to market changes and store price differentiation, and the efficient linkage of warehousing and distribution, combined with the characteristics of categories, establishes different warehouse and distribution management systems to meet the efficient coordination of the whole process from receiving to sorting and logistics distribution stores. ”
You must know that Aunt Qian's concept of not selling overnight meat has been adhered to until the beginning of the brand's establishment. In 2012, based on the realistic prediction of the rapid improvement of people's living standards, Feng Jisheng had a keen insight into the importance that consumers attach to the health of food, refreshed the industry standard with the word "fresh", and the brand concept of "not selling overnight meat" quickly seized the minds of consumers.
Through 12 years of hard work, Aunt Qian's dedication to freshness has been recognized by more consumers. Data shows that in the past 12 years, 2,900 stores have been opened, realizing the freedom of consumers to buy groceries at their doorstep.
Aunt Qian's popularity among consumers is fundamentally due to the freshness of the ingredients. Since ancient times, there has been a saying of "food nourishment" in China's living habits, which supplements the necessities of the human body and improves the health of the body through the nutrients in the ingredients. One of the core factors is that the ingredients are fresh and can ensure that the nutrients are sufficient.
At present, under the trend of vigorously advocating health in China, a healthy diet, especially fresh food from the source, will be the general direction of fresh consumption in the future.
The Healthy China 2030 Plan puts forward higher requirements for food health. It is mentioned that by 2030, the food safety risk monitoring and foodborne disease reporting network will be fully covered, the guidance and supervision of food origin will be strengthened, the market access system for agricultural products will be improved, the whole traceability and coordination mechanism for edible agricultural products will be established, and the unified and authoritative food safety supervision system will be improved, which will put forward higher requirements for the health, safety and freshness of food.
2. Directly picked from the production area, fresh to the table
This year coincides with the 12th anniversary of Aunt Qian, with the theme of "Fresh Future", showing consumers its adherence to the concept of freshness. At present, in addition to not selling overnight meat, Aunt Qian's insistence on the freshness of ingredients for many years has realized the freshness of all ingredients.
Of course, Aunt Qian is more than on the road to "rolling" freshness. Controlling the quality of the ingredients from the source and ensuring the health and freshness of the ingredients is what Aunt Qian has been doing in recent years.
Aunt Qian is also enough "volume" in terms of freshness. Taking Aunt Qian's Qingyuan free-range chicken, which was welcomed in the South China store, as an example, there is a saying in South China that "no chicken is not a feast" since ancient times, and chicken occupies an important position in the dietary life of Guangdong people.
In order to ensure the quality of the chicken, at the source, Aunt Qian carefully selected, and the original breed 139 Qingyuan free-ground chicken was selected, which not only meets the double certification standards for Hong Kong, but also has a municipal ancestral farm, which is a national geographical indication protection product.
On the food processing side, Qian Dama has established a state-level food processing laboratory and R&D room, and realized the "freshness and nutrition locking" of the product through the "double pre-cooling process";
It can be seen that Aunt Qian has really "rolled" the freshness to the extreme from direct procurement to transportation and preservation to the consumer's table.
Among them, the source direct procurement is particularly particular.
There are two layers of direct procurement at the source, one is through the local planting and breeding sites closer to the market, which shortens the transportation time of fresh products and ensures the freshness of ingredients to the greatest extent.
Second, due to the unique natural conditions in many regions of China, fresh products have unique nutritional value.
Take Aunt Qian's other star product, Guizhou grain eggs, as an example.
Guizhou is located on the eastern slope of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, which is a plateau mountainous terrain with low latitude and high altitude, known as "eight mountains, one water and one field". Thanks to the good ecological and climatic advantages, Tongren City naturally has unique geographical conditions for breeding laying hens. The eggs produced here are rich and tender, and are recognized as high-quality eggs.
Through the cooperation with the source of origin, Aunt Qian has opened up the integrated link of production and marketing. It is understood that in 2023, the sales amount of Guizhou grain eggs will exceed 200 million yuan.
3. 2,900 stores, "rolling" fresh to the end
Therefore, when we see that Aunt Qian can "roll" to the extreme in freshness, there are actually two core magic weapons, one is direct sourcing from the source, closer to the ingredients, and the other is community stores, closer to consumers.
Aunt Qian's positioning as a "high-quality leader focusing on community fresh food" means that it can bring ingredients closer to consumers and make them more convenient.
According to the McKinsey report, 85% of respondents said they would only buy fresh goods offline, and 88% of respondents had been to the wet market at least once in the past three weeks, but only 19% had visited a supermarket during the same period, and only 16% had been to a large general supermarket.
Community stores are the best format for fresh consumption in China.
In fact, through the scale of downstream industries and the coverage of 2,900 stores, Qian Dama provides high-quality sales channels for industrial fresh products.
For high-quality fresh products such as Qingyuan chicken and grain eggs, Aunt Qian actively responded to the "Millions and Thousands Project" and selected counties and strong villages with agricultural advantages across the country, relying on the unique resource endowment of each county and village.
It is with the help of Aunt Qian's powerful sales channels that she can smoothly enter the dining table of Chinese consumers.
Taking garlic sprouts in Pixian District of Chengdu as an example, in 2023, the sales of garlic moss in Chengdu area of Aunt Qian will reach 500,000. Garlic sprouts from the base in Pidu District, Chengdu, arrive at the store every morning to ensure that consumers can buy the freshest local garlic sprouts.
In last year's fishing season, Qian Dama and suppliers launched the first 26 fishing boats to participate in Yangjiang sea fishing, using the first-mover advantage of the supply chain and many stores, and realizing the direct supply of seafood from the sea to the table with community stores across the country as a unit.
From beginning to end, Aunt Qian put freshness in the first place, and "rolled" to the extreme. In the operation of seafood products, Aunt Qian follows the principle of connecting the "first kilometer" of the production area and the "last kilometer" of the community, and gradually increases the two ends of the cold chain chain.
It is understood that since Aunt Qian participated in the fishing season in 2019, she has continuously shortened the time for seafood to go to the people's table, and now within 48 hours, consumers in inland areas can also really buy fresh seafood that has just gone to sea, realizing "seafood freedom".
High-quality circulation means that we are responsible for the freshness of consumers, farmers in the production area, and franchisees. This mentality of being responsible for the production chain and the determination to carry out the freshness to the end have brought Aunt Qian's "freshness" concept to the minds of consumers.
The word "freshness" has been on the lips of Chinese consumers, but what has been overlooked is that this basic need has not been well met.
Nowadays, freshness has become the general trend of the development of the fresh food industry, and enterprises have begun to "roll" freshness, which can also be better seen by consumers.
This kind of trust has become Aunt Qian's most solid consumer base.
According to reports, this year, Aunt Qian will continue to encrypt the layout of stores and continue to provide fresh ingredients for more community consumers.