China News Service , Chongqing, May 3 Question: "Diplomat" becomes "Chili Officer": Italian Zhang Luka pushes Chinese chili to the world
China News reporter Zhong Yang
The 31-year-old Italian, Zhang Luka, has lived in China for 13 years, from a master's degree in international political economy at Peking University, to the director of the Commercial Office of the Italian Consulate General in Chongqing, to the chairman of Dezhuang International and the secretary general of the World Pepper Alliance, Zhang Luka called himself an "entrepreneur", removed the "diplomat" and turned into a "chili officer", and was willing to use chili as a medium to spread Chinese cuisine and culture to the world.
When Zhang Luka first came to China in 2007, he fell in love with Chinese cuisine. In 2011, he came to Shancheng for the first time. Facing the Chongqing hot pot with "red hot peppers", he was shocked to find that the original Chinese chili is different from the method used for embellishment of dishes. It plays a compound condiment. The role.
The picture shows the Italian Zhang Luka. Photo courtesy of interviewees
After graduating from Peking University in 2013, Zhang Luka entered the Italian Consulate General in Chongqing. As an official, Zhang Luka's job is mainly to build a bridge of diversified communication between China and Italy. As Zhang Luka gradually adapted to the life of "no spicy or unhappy", he also gradually clarified his interests: "I like to cook when I was studying in the UK, and I have a special liking for food when I come to China. It is A good business card for cultural exchange. "
In 2017, Zhang Luka decided to give up his diplomatic career and "go to sea" to run the chili business.
In Zhang Luca ’s mind, to spread the Chinese food culture internationally, first of all, it is necessary to find an entry point. China, Italy, Mexico, South Korea and other countries have the use of chili peppers. Chili peppers are a “borderless” and close to the people. "Fat" with "great commercial potential" is a good medium for international cultural exchange.
Zhang Luka first established a cultural and creative company called "Interchange of Huayi", mainly engaged in the design, development and sales of pepper cultural and creative products. Scarves, cuffs, ties, sculptures, prints ... Zhang Luka cooperated with Italian artists to make "chili" (pattern) not only wearable but also to be viewed at home. Currently, the company's cultural and creative derivatives have developed More than 50 varieties.
The picture shows Zhang Luka (middle) together with the team to promote chili and Chinese cuisine. Photo courtesy of interviewees
The food is still obsessed by Zhang Luca. In 2017, he frequently went in and out of scientific research laboratories to do special research on the properties, spiciness and characteristics of peppers, and also saw the business opportunities. "China's pepper exports are mainly semi-finished products, and the value of pepper is not fully realized. Adding added value is the best way to achieve commercial value." Zhang Luka said.
China has a complete range of peppers, long, short, fat, thin, red, green, yellow ... the application space is vast. After trying hundreds of chili peppers, Zhang Luka decided to proceed from Western consumption habits and lower the “threshold” of Chinese chili compound seasoning, focusing on instant chili sauce and reducing education costs.
At present, the chili sauce brand ChinEAT developed by the company (Note: a co-author of China and EAT, literally translated as "Chinese to eat") includes "Yuwei spicy sauce", "Sichuan style bean paste", "Gongbao sauce", "chili red oil" 7 signature products such as "BBQ Chili Powder", foreigners can also freely choose chili sauces with different degrees of spiciness such as 0 °, 12 °, 36 °, 45 °, 52 °, 65 ° according to their tolerance to spiciness. Now the chili sauce has been exported to 15 countries and regions around the world, with annual sales exceeding 10 million yuan.
Zhang Luka noticed that chili peppers are everywhere and full of international standards. Italy even hosts a chili festival every year and established a special chili academy. "Why not build a platform on a global scale? Provide help for the exchange and development of the chili industry." Based on this idea, in 2017, Zhang Luka and a number of chili industry experts in the world launched the establishment of the World Chili Alliance in Rome, Italy, dedicated to making chili Become a global cross-cultural communication medium, dig deep into the industry's potential, and seek business paths together. At present, the member states of the Union have grown to 12 countries.
"Cultural output is not a simple export of raw materials, but a complete system." Zhang Luka said that he will plan to hold the "International Chili Festival", the establishment of "International Chili Museum" and "International Chili Trading Center" in China. , And expand online and offline channels to allow more people to taste the taste of China and understand Chinese culture.