Author: Pan Xian (original)
"It's one of our core ideas to be involved in the game without playing at the table." Looking back on the brand's journey in China for more than three years, Zhang Zihua, head of Unilever Zhizhuo Butcher China, summed it up like this.
For a plant-based meat brand, this insistence is not easy. Since The Vegetarian Butcher first entered China, China's plant-based meat market has come out of a "roller coaster" market in just a few years, and many brands have lost the "second half" after the popularity plummeted.
However, the "script" that Zhizhuo Butcher got seems to be a bit "alternative".
Although the exact size of the business was not disclosed, according to Zhang, Zhizhuo Butcher's China business has achieved continuous growth in three years. Behind this, the brand has adjusted its business strategy in China, aiming to "create plant-based products suitable for the Chinese and Asian markets".
A few days ago, during a separate communication with Xiaoshidai at the Foodaily FBIC2024 Global Food and Beverage Innovation Conference (the same period as Foodaily Expo), Zhang Zihua also revealed that Zhizhuo Butcher will increase its investment in the Chinese market. Let's hear it together.
Adjust your strategy
In Unilever's food nutrition landscape, Phytozoa Butchers is an emerging business.
According to the data, Zhizhuo Butcher is a plant-based meat brand founded in the Netherlands in 2010 and acquired by Unilever in 2019. By the end of 2023, Zhizhuo Butcher has launched business in 60 countries and regions around the world, and its products include plant-based hamburger steak, plant-based meatballs, plant-based chicken burgers, plant-based sausages, etc.
When he first entered the Chinese market, Zhizhuo Butcher adopted a common trick, that is, to start from the B-end of the restaurant and cooperate with the Western-style fast food chain Burger King to launch a plant-based meat burger. However, this practice of copying foreign experience and products is not ideal.
In the face of these practical problems, the "no table" Zhizhuo meat maker reorganized its strategy in China in 2022 to create products that are closer to local needs.
Zhang Zihua said that from the above review, the plant-based meat maker found that according to the latest scientific research report on the dietary guidelines for Chinese residents, in terms of dietary structure, the overall intake of animal meat by Chinese is not as high as that of Europeans and Americans, and the health problems caused by excessive intake of animal protein are not significant, so the alternative demand for plant-based meat is not prominent. But at the same time, there is still a gap in the intake of plant-based foods among Chinese consumers.
Zhang Zihua, head of Unilever Zhizhuo Butcher China
"For example, we eat more rice and pasta, and the intake of refined carbohydrates is higher, but the intake of dark vegetables, whole grains, grains, and soybeans is still lacking. These are some of the foods that we recommend to add to the diet, but they can also be supplemented with more upgraded plant-based products. He said.
Based on these insights, the positioning of Zhizhuo Butcher in China has shifted from imitating and replacing animal meat to promoting a balanced diet, and the product promotion has gradually shifted from benchmarking the nutrition and taste of animal meat to emphasizing the health benefits of plant raw materials, such as highlighting the richness of plant ingredients and dietary fiber content.
"We are also using some new plant-based ingredients, such as konjac in the seafood flavor steak that we will launch in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai Lawson at the end of May. Its protein content is not too high, but the dietary fiber content is relatively high. Zhang Zihua said.
In addition to the adjustment of product positioning, Zhizhuo Butcher also aims at more consumption scenarios, hoping to develop leisure moments such as afternoon tea and snacks. For example, the brand has previously launched the "Plant Fund Tuna Biscuits" in collaboration with other businesses, in which canned plant-based tuna eaten with biscuits comes from Phytocho Butchers.
"At dinner, people still tend to eat animal meat as a whole, which is difficult to change in the short term." Zhang Zihua pointed out, "In some leisure scenarios we have cut into, consumers may feel that eating animal meat is burdensome, but want to supplement some protein, so plant-based products have become a good source of protein." ”
Xiaoshidai noticed that while changing the business strategy, Zhizhuo Meat Craftsmen still adhered to some basic logics of plant-based meat development, including making delicious food the highest priority for innovation, meeting local taste preferences, and making retail products easy to cook or eat to lower the threshold for plant-based meat promotion.
For example, the brand's plant-based meat sauce series on sale has the selling point of "a good partner for fast food" and "one sauce into a dish", and has two local flavors: Sichuan sprouts and Jiangnan plum vegetables.
Focus on the B-side
At present, Zhizhuo Butcher has established two businesses in China: catering B-end and retail C-end, of which the catering B-end is regarded as a key sector.
"We are focusing on the B-end now, and we will focus on the B-end in the future. Because compared with the C-end, plant-based meat can be cooked by professional restaurant chefs or processed in factories, which can ensure that the product quality is more stable and delicious. Zhang Zihua said that at the same time, Zhizhuo Butcher will continue to explore on the C-side.
According to him, on the B-side, the typical customers of Zhizhuo Butcher include three categories: chain convenience stores, coffee and roasters, corporate and international school canteens.
Among them, the entry into the coffee and bakery refers to the path of oat milk OATLY, hoping to attract young people, who are actively trying new things. "For some international schools or foreign companies, they think that the canteen menu needs to have plant-based options, so plant-based meat is in demand in this channel and has continuous sales."
In addition, convenience store chains are a channel that Zhizhuo Butcher will vigorously explore. Similar to coffee and roastery, the main consumer group of this channel is also young people, but it covers a wider range of food scenes, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, afternoon tea, and supper.
Zhang Zihua revealed that the brand will launch co-branded seafood-flavored rice balls and Sichuan-flavored sprouts-flavored pasta in about 2,700 stores in Lawson, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai at the end of May. "We will continue to deepen the convenience store channel, and we are also reaching out to other chain brands."
The reason why it can open up the situation on the B side is also inseparable from a big pain point solved by Zhizhuo Butcher: price. In the case of plant-based meat, the higher cost and price than animal meat is a challenge that is often cited.
Phytozo Butcher Seafood Flavor Steak
"B-end customers are more sensitive to cost control, and the basic requirements are to hope that our price can be equal to or even smaller than that of similar animal protein products." Zhang Zihua said, "Of course, if your quality impresses customers very much, everyone can also accept a certain premium." But this is actually equivalent to the same pricing logic as it benchmarks better quality animal meat. ”
It is reported that among the B-end products of Zhizhuo Butcher's Chinese products, some of its beef products have been lower than the price of similar animal meat, and seafood products have basically achieved parity. This is due to its idea of focusing on the two core items at this stage - seafood flavor steak and plant-based beef cubes.
"The cost of many raw materials is not high, such as soybeans and konjac. A large part of the high cost of plant-based meat is due to the small production and the high cost of other production to be amortized. Therefore, in the case that the demand has not been fully opened at present, the product line still needs to be focused enough. Zhang Zihua said.
Plant-based beef cubes by Phytocarpan Butcher
In addition, unlike many brands that invested in large-scale factories after the plant-based meat boom, Plant-based Meat Makers took a lighter and more flexible approach to building production capacity. At present, the brand has two foundries in China, one in Shanghai and one in Shandong Shuangta Food Enterprise. Among them, Shuangta Foods has set up an exclusive production line for Zhizhuo Butcher products, and the equipment comes from Unilever.
Zhang Zihua revealed that in the future, the products produced in the Chinese market will also be exported to Japan, South Korea and more Asian countries to help expand production and further reduce costs.
Invest more
After exploring the direction of China's plant-based meat, Zhizhuo Meat Makers is also investing more in future growth.
In March this year, the Zhizhuo Butcher Asia Product Innovation Center was inaugurated in Jiangsu. The center will further improve the brand's upstream and downstream industry chain capabilities and provide more high-quality and diversified plant-based foods.
Zhang Zihua told Xiaoshidai that the location of the Asian innovation center was "carefully selected and well considered", and finally China was selected from a number of regional markets, because of the huge consumption potential in China and the long history of plant-based diets, and many of Asia's food cultures originated in China. In addition, the Chinese market has a strong supply chain and can provide high-quality and cost-effective products.
At the same time as the establishment of the innovation center, Zhizhuo Butcher also reached a cooperation with Jiangsu Kitchen Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kitchen"). Zhang Zihua revealed that the current division of labor between the two sides is that the plant-based meat maker provides plant-based raw materials and application inspiration, and the kitchen is responsible for the application formula landing and production.
This cooperation is equivalent to "pressing the accelerator button" for local innovation.
"Fresh food convenience stores are one of the main channels we will serve in the future, so they need a lot of good applications, and they have very high requirements for the iteration speed of product applications." Zhang Zihua said that Kitchen is one of the Rosen fresh food foundries and has rich experience in product application and rapid innovation.
He also said that both sides are very optimistic about China's plant-based market and will make corresponding development plans for different stages. "At present, we are still focusing on research and application, and the next step will be to consider upstream production planning."
Looking to the future, Zhizhuo Butcher hopes to rely on the Asian Innovation Center to help build China's plant-based industry cluster.
"Because we are only one part of the plant-based food market, upstream raw material suppliers are also very important, such as the flavor, texture and juice of the product, which may require different suppliers to provide solutions." Zhang Zihua said that Zhizhuo Meat Maker hopes to play the role of "link" and cooperate with partners who are optimistic about the plant-based track to provide professional and integrated solutions.