Lin Peng, a trainee reporter of Southern Finance and Economics, reported from Guangzhou
Recently, the 2024 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Prefabricated Vegetable Equipment Industry Conference was held in Dongguan, and Zhang Chunhui, chief scientist of the innovation team of the Institute of Agricultural Products Processing of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, shared the theme of "Industrial Technology Reconstruction under the New Definition of Prefabricated Food", which entered an in-depth analysis of the definition of prefabricated vegetables under the new regulations, and made suggestions for the future development of the industry.
Previously, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the State Administration of Market Regulation and other six departments jointly issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Food Safety Supervision of Prefabricated Dishes and Promoting the High-quality Development of the Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), focusing on the scope of prefabricated dishes, the construction of standard systems, food safety supervision, etc., and put forward higher requirements for the development of the prefabricated food industry.
What impact will the new regulations have on the industry, how should enterprises exert their efforts, and what is the trend of industrial development? In this regard, a reporter from Southern Finance and Economics interviewed Zhang Chunhui a few days ago.
As a scientific research expert in the prefabricated food industry, Zhang Chunhui and his team are deeply involved in the promotion of China's prefabricated food industry standards and processing system, established a Chinese food processing and equipment innovation team, and built the largest R&D platform for prefabricated food in China, supporting the high-quality development of the industry with scientific and technological strength. In this interview, he combined his own experience to bring us some in-depth observations and thoughts on the industry.
Zhang Chunhui, Chief Scientist of the Innovation Team of the Institute of Agricultural Products Processing, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Southern Finance and Economics: In recent years, the prefabricated food industry has become popular "out of the circle", what do you think about this?
Zhang Chunhui: In fact, pre-made dishes have existed for a long time, and they have been incorporated into our diet in a form that has not been noticed very much. But in recent years, its development speed is indeed very fast, from the perspective of the main body of enterprises, there are now more than 70,000 enterprises engaged in prefabricated vegetable processing in the country, from the perspective of output value, the annual compound growth rate is more than 20%, and it has reached 516.5 billion yuan in 2023. Although the output value of prefabricated dishes has grown rapidly, it still accounts for a relatively small proportion of the entire catering industry, which is expected to be only about 10%, so there is still a lot of room for development in the future.
Southern Finance and Economics: The development trend of prefabricated dishes is a trillion track, what kind of social development and market logic is behind this?
Zhang Chunhui: There is an internal logic in this, and there are also external factors to promote. First, everyone's living standards have gradually improved, our Engel coefficient has dropped to below 30%, and we have more disposable income. The second is that China's family structure is moving towards a smaller one, which used to be mostly a large family life, but now living alone or small family life has become the majority, and a new form of consumption is needed to meet everyone's demand for convenient and delicious food. The third is that with the acceleration of the pace of life, China's per capita kitchen occupancy time is gradually decreasing. According to some data, the average time spent in the kitchen in Chinese households in the past was 103 minutes/day, while that of Americans was only about 60-70 minutes.
In fact, in the seventies and eighties of the last century, pre-made dishes appeared in foreign countries, such as Japanese bento, McDonald's in Western countries, KFC, etc., which are actually prefabricated foods. However, compared with the current prefabricated dishes in China, there is still some difference, and the staple food and main dishes of foreign prepared foods are generally not distinguished, but Chinese prefabricated dishes are dishes, and staple foods such as rice and steamed buns do not belong, which is also clearly defined by the new regulations of the "Notice" issued by the six national departments on March 21.
Southern Finance & Economics: According to your research across the country, which regions are currently developing better prefabricated dishes, and why are these regions able to take the lead?
Zhang Chunhui: Now the traditional food processing provinces are developing relatively fast, such as Shandong, Guangdong, and Henan, which are at the forefront, and the core is that these regions have an industrial base, as well as food processing technology and food culture. Taking Guangdong as an example, it not only has a profound history and culture of Cantonese cuisine, but also has a strong food industry, especially the developed condiment industry. More importantly, there are many young people in Guangdong, and young people are more receptive to new things and new formats.
Other places, such as Fujian, Jiangsu, Hunan, Sichuan and other places are also trying to catch up, these provinces also have a deep food culture, with the blessing of modern industry, it is easy to graft to produce a 1+1>2 effect, prefabricated dishes can make some local famous dishes go further, into the homes of ordinary people, so that the majority of consumers can taste the world's food at home.
Southern Finance and Economics: Although the current development of prefabricated dishes is in full swing, at the same time, there is also controversy, and 315 will be focused on every year, what do you think about this?
Zhang Chunhui: Many of our consumers are "buying, buying, buying" and "scolding" for prefabricated dishes. But overall, pre-made dishes are the general trend. Moving forward in controversy is a process that many new industries have to go through, and it is also in line with the logic of the development of things. Although there is a certain amount of controversy about prefabricated dishes, we can see that the country's determination to vigorously develop the prefabricated food industry is great. Article 19 of the No. 1 Central Document in 2023 proposes to define prefabricated dishes as an industry to cultivate and develop, and make it independent from the ordinary catering industry. Since it is an industry, there is the logic of the industrial chain, the logic of the innovation chain and the logic of the value chain behind it.
We expect pre-made dishes to be delicious, convenient, nutritious, and safe, and now that convenience has been recognized, the main existing controversy revolves around deliciousness, nutrition, and safety. In this regard, the state should improve the standard system of prefabricated dishes, the relevant departments should strengthen the quality and safety supervision of prefabricated dishes, and enterprises should strictly control the safety of ingredients to ensure the nutrition and health of the products produced;
Southern Finance and Economics: In your opinion, what are the important details of the new prefabricated food regulations, and what positive effects will they have on the prefabricated food industry?
Zhang Chunhui: The new regulations will reconstruct the prefabricated food industry, including standards and technologies. First of all, the prefabricated dishes are clearly defined, that is, the prefabricated dishes are industrialized pre-packaged dishes or dish products, which emphasizes the industrial production subject, which also clarifies the future regulatory subject.
The new regulations also highlight "two reductions and one increase". The first is to eliminate the clean vegetables and the central kitchen, which will not belong to prefabricated dishes in the future, because the clean vegetables and the central kitchen have relevant standards and management norms before. The second is to eliminate the staple food, the new regulations highlight the attributes of the dish, prefabricated dishes are first and foremost, so steamed buns, dumplings, and glutinous rice balls are not considered prefabricated dishes in the future. Finally, an additional standard requirement is added, that is, no preservatives can be used in the processing process, which also puts forward higher requirements for the quality control of prefabricated dishes.
Overall, the new regulations make a very clear boundary between the food and prepared food industries, eliminating the public's doubts, and also helping to prevent the many problems caused by "prefabricated food is a basket and everything can be loaded into it". At the same time, it also laid the foundation for the formulation of relevant standards for the prefabricated food industry.
Southern Finance and Economics: In the field of prefabricated food production and processing, do you think that cold chain logistics and equipment manufacturing can support such a rapid development speed of prefabricated food?
Zhang Chunhui: There is no doubt that prefabricated dishes are industrialized pre-packaged dishes that require the support of intelligent equipment and cold chain logistics. In fact, the development of cold chain logistics has been very mature, and the application is also very wide, and there is no big problem, and the processing equipment still needs to be improved.
The prefabricated food industry equipment and processing technology pay attention to two points, one is "three transfers and one guarantee", and the other is "four synchronization". Cooking to technology, chefs to workers, kitchens to factories, and quality maintenance are "three changes and one guarantee". The digitalization of culinary arts, the standardization of processes, the equipment of production and the traditionalization of quality are the "synchronization of the four modernizations". How to solve the "three transformations and one guarantee" and "four synchronizations" in the production process of prefabricated dishes is a common key issue in our industry at present, and it is also the key direction we need to study.
Southern Finance and Economics: At present, AI artificial intelligence is hot, and Guangdong has set up an agricultural AI laboratory, do you think there is any possibility of combining AI and prefabricated dishes, and what kind of boosting role can it play?
Zhang Chunhui: There is a lot of room for the development of the combination of AI and prefabricated dishes, and our team has a special R&D team to do this. For example, how to grasp the mass and heat transfer, flavor development, quality development, and quality change in our frying process, and how to reproduce the flavor quality of traditional dishes, relying only on simple instrument analysis and sensory evaluation, the efficiency is too slow, and it must be with the help of artificial intelligence technology. I'll give you an example, some time ago, the world's top journal "Science" published an article, the main content of which is to use AI to help identify odors by looking at molecular structures. Therefore, this AI technology is ubiquitous, and AI will also play a huge role in the development and production of prefabricated dishes.
In addition, in the field of processing equipment manufacturing, the development of intelligent frying equipment also needs to be based on big data and AI technology to develop a traditional process that can simulate the traditional process to solve the problem of loss of flavor quality after industrial processing. We have been investing in R&D for many years.
We have a Chinese food processing and equipment innovation team, which is currently the largest R&D platform for prefabricated dishes in China, with a "4+2+1" R&D unit, equipped with a culinary laboratory, a process laboratory, a physical and chemical laboratory, a nuclear magnetic mass spectrometry room, a digital equipment center, a taste R&D center and a Chinese workshop. At present, we have applied a lot of processing technology and equipment research results to production, and have cooperated with leading food companies such as Yihai Kerry, Xibei, Huixiangxuan, Tieqi Lux, Guoquan Shihui, etc., to promote the transformation of R&D achievements and apply them to the market.
Guide|Gu Guozhen Ding Qingyun
Planning|Liang Chaowen, Li Zhen, Tan Ting
Coordinator | Yu Shuqin Yu Changhuan
Video|Zhu Jinghui, Xiao Hang, Zhang Qiliang, Liu Runying
Design|Deng Feng, Chen Zeshen, Lin Junming, Zheng Jiaqi
Correspondent|Wan Fangfang, He Chenhui
Intern: Cheng Bingyu, Zhang Mengqi, Wei Jiayan
Produced by the "Prefabricated Vegetable Economy" Research Group of the "Ho He" Laboratory of Southern Finance and Economics
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