As a time-honored brand in China, "Daoxiangcun" has become a well-known large-scale modern food enterprise group at home and abroad after two and a half centuries of continuous operation from a tea and candy shop founded in Suzhou in 1773. How can a time-honored brand be inherited for a hundred years and have an enduring reputation, demonstrate the confidence and self-confidence of "domestic products" in the fierce market competition, and realize the transformation and upgrading from products to brands? Zhou Guangjun, chairman and president of Daoxiangcun Group, gave the answer in an interview with a reporter from China Quality News: practice the "three changes" and create a "quality Daoxiangcun".
Suzhou Guanqian Street store after renovation and upgrading
From "Manufacturing" to "Creation"
"Science and Technology Daoxiang Village" is stable and far-reaching
"The secret of the Daoxiangcun brand is that it is always changing. With the development of the new era, Daoxiangcun Group has invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the transformation of production lines, using scientific and technological means to lead manufacturing and improve productivity. Zhou Guangjun said that in recent years, Daoxiangcun Group has actively sought innovation breakthroughs, explored the road of scientific and technological development, continued to increase R&D investment, set up 3 R&D centers in the country, and cooperated with national scientific research institutions and universities to build research institutes, keep up with the latest international food technology, and carry out integrated innovation with the industrial processing and key technologies of traditional Chinese food. Through the application of big data analysis tools, we independently develop the four major information platforms of logistics, service, report and SMS, rely on the "cloud" service guarantee, empower enterprises with science and technology, improve the quality and industrial standard system, realize the digital transformation and upgrading of the group's whole business chain and informatization and process management, and make the time-honored brand "Daoxiangcun" modern and intelligent. Daoxiangcun Group won the Science and Technology Progress Award issued by the China Light Industry Federation and was awarded the title of "Top 100 Science and Technology Enterprises in China's Light Industry", which has created a new development path that can be promoted and used for reference in order to promote the high-quality development of time-honored enterprises and enhance the brand value of time-honored brands.
Daoxiangcun Group took the initiative to adapt to market changes, and on the basis of making classic and seasonal products such as pastries, moon cakes, and zongzi, it enriched its product line and expanded its categories, including snack food, quick-frozen dumplings, meat series and other products, effectively expanding new consumption scenarios.
At the same time, Daoxiangcun Group has made efforts to create a new consumption track, and through innovative marketing models such as brand linkage, cross-border cooperation, e-commerce live broadcast, and national tide and national style, the golden signboard of the time-honored brand has radiated new brand and market vitality. As early as 2009, Daoxiangcun Group conformed to the development trend of the Internet economy and officially launched the implementation of the "Daoxiangcun + Internet" strategy, becoming the first Chinese pastry brand to explore e-commerce business, and for many years in the Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival and other traditional Chinese festivals, leading Tmall, Jingdong, Douyin and other mainstream e-commerce platforms of Chinese pastry lists.
From "speed" to "quality"
"Quality Daoxiang Village" consolidates the foundation and strengthens the foundation
"The reason why Daoxiang Village has been able to inherit for a hundred years is that the key lies in the pursuit of product quality, from raw materials to the table, and strictly control product quality." With more than 200 years of historical accumulation, insisting on bringing good quality and service to consumers has become the "quality concept" that all employees of Daoxiangcun Group abide by.
"Daoxiangcun Group has always adhered to strict food production standards and continuously improved the production system." Zhou Guangjun said that "Daoxiang Village" has been able to develop from a street store in Suzhou two and a half centuries ago to a large-scale modern food enterprise group today, in addition to integrity and innovation, but also rely on the power of technology and integrity.
At present, Daoxiangcun Group has built 10 processing parks in Suzhou, Beijing, Heze, Shenyang, Chengdu, Tianjin and other places, with more than 120 modern production lines. Each processing center implements fully enclosed management, from raw materials entering the factory to products leaving the factory, each process and key points are strictly controlled in accordance with the standards, and the whole link quality traceability is established, and each product can be tracked forward and reversely. Among them, for the production process, Daoxiangcun Group adheres to the "three same standards", that is, in the same production line, according to the same standards, to achieve the same quality level, and try to maintain the traditional taste of Chinese pastries.
In fact, the production link is only a microcosm of Daoxiang Village's work to promote food safety. Through years of production practice, "Daoxiangcun" has already let the awareness of food safety penetrate into all aspects of the operation of the enterprise, and strictly control the selection of raw materials, product research and development, production and processing, circulation and transportation, after-sales and pre-sales, etc., forming a unique set of "Daoxiangcun standards" in the food industry, achieving the quality of "Daoxiangcun" and winning a good reputation among consumers.
Especially in recent years, Daoxiangcun Group has taken the initiative to cater to the modern health concept, and on the basis of innovative product technology, it has launched low-sugar and low-fat pastries, which not only meet the taste buds, but also take into account the needs of healthy diet.
From "product" to "brand"
"International Daoxiang Village" rides the wind and waves
Daoxiangcun Group continues to tell the story of traditional Chinese pastries, and through the "new" power of the brand brought by modern production, innovative R&D, and national tide marketing, it has made comprehensive efforts in production, R&D, marketing and other aspects, continued to forge the "new" power of high-quality development, and continuously improved the gold content of the brand.
"Daoxiangcun actively promotes the excellent traditional Chinese culture overseas, so that more and more overseas consumers can appreciate the charm of Chinese pastries." Zhou Guangjun said that as early as 2006, Daoxiangcun actively carried out international market research and overseas trademark registration and other aspects of preparation, and formally established an overseas business department in 2013 to accelerate the expansion of overseas markets. Today, Daoxiangcun has registered more than 100 trademarks in more than 60 countries and regions, including "Daoxiangcun", and 7 domestic factories have export qualifications, including Mid-Autumn Festival moon cakes, Dragon Boat Festival zongzi, flower cakes, pine nut jujube mud and sesame cakes, cloud cakes, shortbreads, peach cakes, etc., more than 100 Chinese pastries with Chinese characteristics are exported to nearly 50 countries and regions such as the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates. According to the "2023 Global Chinese Pastry Industry Consumption Insight Research Report" released by iiMedia Consulting, Daoxiangcun (Suzhou) will rank first in the global sales volume of Chinese pastry in 2023.
"In the past 10 years, Daoxiang Village has experienced a cycle of rapid development. But we will not pretend to be a time-honored brand and lie on the credit book and eat the old book. Zhou Guangjun said that Daoxiang Village will carry out strategic upgrades in many aspects such as supply chain ecology, marketing, product innovation, brand rejuvenation, and modern management, and reshape a new "Daoxiang Village" in the next 10 years.
Source: China Quality News