"Compound seasoning industry should say ushered in a rare spring." Zhang Xiqiang, president of Taile, sighed.

Yesterday, the 2020 China Compound Seasoning Industry Summit and the General Assembly of the China Seasoning Association Compound Seasoning Professional Committee was held in Shanghai. The snack agent learned at the scene that Zhang Xiqiang will be the chairman of the new compound seasoning Professional Committee, and he will be responsible for leading the new team after the change.

When communicating with KOL, including snack generation, and the media after the meeting, Zhang Xiqiang said that there are three key tasks to be promoted after taking office. In addition, he also talked about Taitaile's product innovation ideas and how to cultivate "private traffic" among young people.

Please look at the message sent back by the snack generation.

Blue Ocean Market

According to the definition of "GB 31644-2018 National Food Safety Standard Compound Seasoning", compound seasoning refers to condiments made from two or more raw materials. "Compound seasoning should be said to be a sub-category leading the development of the condiment industry." Zhang Xiqiang told the snack generation in the exchange that there are three main reasons behind this.

The first is driven by the needs of young consumers. Zhang Xiqiang said that most young people's demand for cooking is "fast and delicious", but it is difficult for a single condiment such as oil, salt, sauce and vinegar to meet the above needs at the same time. "Therefore, consumers need a better solution, and compound seasonings can provide it".

Followed by the food and beverage enterprises on the food standardization requirements. Taking time-honored brands as an example, Zhang Xiqiang said that when a new generation of young chefs enter the work of time-honored brands, these brands also need standardized condiment schemes to ensure that the quality of dishes is inherited, while the use of compound condiments can be more easily realized.

In addition, with the advancement of technology in the condiment industry, the trend of standardization and specialization is becoming more and more obvious, which provides a guarantee for the large-scale production of stable quality compound condiments.

"So from these aspects, compound seasoning (outbreak) is just beginning." Zhang Xiqiang said.

According to data presented at the meeting yesterday by Bai Yan, secretary-general of the China Condiment Association, the growth rate of compound condiments in 2019 ranked fourth in the sub-category, up 10.91 percent from 2018. The categories ahead of compound seasonings were oyster sauce, soy sauce and seasoning wine, up 22.28 percent, 12.66 percent and 14.42 percent, respectively.

In the subsequent exchange, Bai Yan said that there are two major consumption characteristics in the compound seasoning industry. One is that the rise of the middle class and the post-90s young group has led to the upgrading of condiment consumption, and the other is the rise of online sales channels.

She suggested that in order to seize the growth opportunity, enterprises can develop new products according to the needs of target consumer groups, and can also launch more specifications of products according to the consumption characteristics of different channels.

Bai Yan, Secretary General of China Condiment Association

Zhang Xiqiang also pointed out that in order to promote the faster growth of the compound seasoning industry, he hopes to promote three key tasks in the future, including clarifying the names and industry standards of sub-categories in compound seasonings, improving consumers' awareness and recognition of compound seasonings, and uniting industry participants to continue to make the industry bigger and stronger.

"Natural moat"

In the product innovation of Taitele, the compound seasoning made of various raw materials is still the main direction.

Zhang Xiqiang told the snack generation that this is because the formula of compound seasonings is difficult to replicate accurately compared with single seasonings such as salt, so it can help the brand establish a "natural moat" in the competition ".

In Taitaile's view, doing a good job of innovation is not only to find inspiration in new consumer demand, but also to solve the pain points of existing products. Zhang Xiqiang revealed yesterday that Taitaile is expected to launch a new high-end oyster sauce product in August this year. This product solves the pain point that most oyster sauce "cannot accurately control the dosage.

The snack generation recently introduced that in order to create a new business growth point, the "boss" of chicken essence, Taitaile, is expanding the territory of other condiments and making research and development reserves of new products on condiments such as oyster sauce, cooking wine and vinegar.

In addition to adding new products, how to occupy the minds of young consumers is also one of Taitaile's recent priorities. Zhang Xiqiang had previously told the snack generation that the biggest challenge for Taitaile was to keep the brand younger.

One of the new ideas of Tae Tae is to start with the content that young people are interested in.

Zhang Xiqiang said that in order to interact with young people with different hobbies, Taile has released various types of text and video content. For example, for young consumers who love cooking, Taitaile has launched recipes on different platforms; for those who pursue health and quality, Taitaile also has corresponding popular science content.

"Different interactive content is given to different young people to cultivate the private traffic of Taitaile." Zhang Xiqiang said that among the condiment enterprises, Taitaile's many social official accounts ranked first in the number of fans and interactions.

It is understood that Taitai Le has entered a number of content platforms, including "double micro and one shake", as well as vertical platforms such as lower kitchen and bean fruit delicacies.

Zhang Xiqiang, President of Taigle

Zhang Xiqiang also said that the reason why the company has recently participated in "live selling goods" many times is also to use the influence of the anchor to drain the private traffic of Taitele, increase the number of fans and improve the stickiness of existing users.

Double-digit growth

Despite the epidemic this year, Taitaile has maintained its original goal of achieving double-digit growth this year. "The soy sauce series products developed by Taitaile and a package of finished series products have seen considerable sales." Zhang Xiqiang said yesterday.

For Taitaile, previously during the epidemic, while the food and beverage channel almost stagnated, home consumption increased by 30-40%. According to Zhang Xiqiang, after the epidemic situation stabilized, Taitaile's retail sales still maintained a high double-digit growth, while the food and beverage business has basically returned to pre-epidemic levels.

This is also in line with the overall growth trend of the condiment category.

Yu Jian, general manager of Kaidu Consumer Index Greater China, said at the FBIF2020 Food and Beverage Innovation Forum held recently that the epidemic has allowed consumers to develop some new consumption habits, such as cooking more at home. "An epidemic has made everyone a chef, a baker, and everyone can cook."

"What we see very interesting is that seasonings, soy sauce, oyster sauce and other seasoning products, these categories maintained a relatively good growth state in February and March, but in April and May, when the epidemic slowed down nationwide, this growth rate did not decline, and continued to maintain a double-digit growth after the epidemic." He said.

Snack generation noted that at yesterday's summit, Bai Yan said that although the epidemic has had a certain impact on the condiment industry, as a new product, the development of the condiment industry is "still stable". Zhao Liang, a partner of Jiahua Capital, believes that compared with the international market, China's condiment industry is still in the "fast lane of rising volume and price".

Dong Jingyu, general manager of Zuodashi Restaurant Development Division, mentioned that the new retail of takeout integrated catering will bring new development opportunities for condiments.

This undoubtedly also brings Taitaile a good opportunity for growth. Zhang Xiqiang pointed out to the snack generation a few days ago that Taitaile's current growth strategy mainly has three points: first, do a good job in fundamentals and further expand its core business; Second, do a good job in innovation, subdivide the consumer population, and do a good job in category demand. Third, do a good job in motivating the team to better stimulate team vitality.