Yuanqi Forest Official Announcement: The layout of the five major factories of "0 preservatives" for the whole line of sparkling water products has been completed

On October 26, Yuanqi Forest held a supply chain and food safety strategy press conference today, officially released the "three 0 factories" strategy, and announced that its full line of sparkling water products will no longer add preservatives such as sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate. Yuanqi Forest has thus taken the lead in becoming a domestic food enterprise that does not add the above preservatives in carbonated beverages.

"Many consumers don't like preservatives such as sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate, and want to drink carbonated drinks that are not preserved with preservatives." Li Bingqian, general manager of Yuanqi Forest Production Center, said that the three factories that Yuanqi Forest has put into production have completed the deployment of the industry's leading sterile carbonic acid production line, and through this product process upgrade, Yuanqi Forest hopes to enhance consumers' awareness of the use of food preservatives.

At present, China has approved dozens of food preservatives that can be used, the most commonly used of which are sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate and so on. Preservatives can extend the shelf life of food, and there is little harm to the human body under reasonable use. However, the abuse of preservatives is common in the global food industry.

At the same time, Yuanqi Forest also officially disclosed some business data for the first time: in the past 12 months, more than 30 new beverage flavors have been added, and the product research and development cycle has averaged 5.5 months. As of September this year, the company's R& D costs increased by 350% year-on-year, and the total R& D expenses accounted for the highest proportion of beverage companies of the same size. Due to the steady improvement of user reputation, Yuanqi Forest has won the sales star of the beverage category in the Tmall 618 Shopping Festival and the Tmall Double 11 Shopping Festival for two consecutive years.

At a cost of 5.5 billion yuan, the strategic layout of "super city cluster + 5 self-built factories" was completed

On October 6, the fourth Hubei Xianning plant invested by Yuanqi Forest officially entered the equipment installation and commissioning stage, mainly for central China, and is expected to be put into operation as soon as the end of this year. On September 30, the fifth yuanqi forest plant also broke ground in Dujiangyan, Sichuan Province, and is expected to be put into operation next spring. In the previous year, Yuanqi Forest's Chuzhou, Tianjin Xiqing and Guangdong Zhaoqing factories were all completed and put into operation.

It is reported that the Yuanqi Forest Hubei Xianning Factory will be an open "ecological garden factory", and the Sichuan Dujiangyan Factory will be positioned in the industry-tourism integration production base, and it is also the R&D, sales and settlement headquarters of the western part of the Yuanqi Forest, which will further enhance the local green industrial development level after completion.

This series of actions also marks the completion of the national strategic layout of "5 super city clusters + self-built factories" that Yuanqi Forest has laid out since 2019. The above-mentioned self-built factories correspond to the five major urban clusters in North China, East China, South China, Central China and Southwest China, focusing on the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Sichuan-Chongqing, and the Central and Southern Regions of the Two Lakes, directly covering 700 million people.

Up to now, the five major factories of Yuanqi Forest plan a total investment of 5.5 billion yuan, covering a total area of more than 1,000 acres, with a total production capacity of more than 5 billion bottles after all put into operation, and the product development and supply chain of Yuanqi Forest are also more geographically targeted because of the construction of its own factories, as well as the flexibility and response ability to quickly adapt to market changes.

According to previous media reports, Yuanqi Forest has encountered a number of production "supply cuts" incidents in recent years, the reason is that most of the domestic carbonated beverage production lines are in the hands of international giants. The completion of the national factory layout of Yuanqi Forest also means that in the field of supply chain, domestic enterprises have broken through the "iron curtain" of international giants in a large area and achieved basic independence.

"When we were weak, no one paid attention to us. But when we developed, we found that the game behind the supply chain was everywhere. Li Bingqian recalled. Because of these reasons, when the revenue of Yuanqi Forest was only 200 million yuan in 2018, it resolutely decided to invest 1 billion yuan to build the first factory the next year, and has since embarked on a development path of "from light to heavy".

Released the "Three 0 Factories" strategy: say "goodbye" to preservatives for all sparkling water products

According to Li Bingqian, general manager of Yuanqi Forest Production Center, based on the background of the increasing demand for healthy diets from young consumers, Yuanqi Forest released the "three 0 factories" strategy, hoping to further improve the process standards on the basis of self-built factories, and gradually achieve the three goals of "0 preservatives", "0 pollution" and "0 carbon".

The first is "0 preservatives". According to Li Bingqian, Yuanqi Forest officially launched the "0 preservatives" plan at the beginning of this year, which has now covered the full production capacity of sparkling water. Yuanqi Forest no longer needs to add preservatives such as sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate to preserve freshness, realizing the sterility of the whole process in the material liquid, packaging and environment, so as to ensure that the product quality is better and healthier.

Genki Forest's "0 Preservatives" initiative stems from the aseptic carbonic acid filling technology used in its production line. The technology achieves the industry-leading level of log6 microbial control, which means that the probability of microbial influence in every million bottles of beverage in Yuanqi Forest is not higher than one bottle.

It is reported that the number of sterile carbonic acid production lines of the same scale is currently less than 30 in the world, and the Yuanqi Forest has been put into production at present, and 24 are expected to be put into production next year. At that time, Yuanqi Forest will also become a beverage company with more sterile carbonic acid production lines in the world.

"Our ideal beverage factory is one that has fewer non-essential additives, is more sterile and is more environmentally friendly." Li Bingqian said.

Because preservatives are conducive to long-term storage, transportation and distribution, almost all traditional carbonated beverage companies in the world will use preservatives that meet national standard doses, especially sodium benzoate. However, with the improvement of the health concept of modern consumer groups, and people drinking various beverages and foods more frequently in multiple scenarios, reducing the addition of preservatives has also become an inevitable trend in the upgrading of the food industry.

"Yuanqi Forest just wants to tell everyone that carbonated drinks can be more healthy, not only sugar-free, but also without adding preservatives such as sodium benzoate." This time, we are at the forefront of the international giants. Li Bingqian said.

The second is "0 pollution". In terms of sewage, yuanqi forest factory improves the utilization rate of water resources through RO concentrated water recovery, water-saving management at key water points, reclaimed water utilization of sewage treatment, and upgrading of oxygen-consuming sewage treatment processes. Through the high standard of water treatment technology, the reclaimed water that has been treated in the future can also be used for urban municipal greening to achieve water recycling. In terms of solid waste emissions, the plant will move towards "zero landfill" to protect soil health and reduce environmental impact.

Finally, there is "zero carbon". Yuanqi Forest promises that by 2025, it will achieve the goal of five self-built factories becoming domestic carbon-neutral beverage demonstration plants and become a real "zero carbon factory". Yuanqi Forest revealed that since the first day of the company's establishment, Yuanqi Forest has not used a PVC label, from bottles to packaging all using PET environmentally friendly materials. Yuanqi Forest attaches great importance to green and low carbon, and all self-built factories are equipped with rooftop solar photovoltaic systems, and renewable and clean energy such as photovoltaics are used in energy supply.

Li Bingqian said that Yuanqi Forest hopes that through several efforts, it will eventually promote the whole society to achieve "unburdened consumption", so that consumers have no physical and psychological burdens, and the environment has no pollution burden. Industry analysis believes that the "0 sugar" sparkling water launched by Yuanqi Forest has ignited the domestic sugar-free beverage market, and the launch of the "0 preservatives" and "three 0 factories" strategies will also promote the further popularization of the beverage industry and consumers' health concepts.