"Late grown" snail powder reflects the resilience of China's economy
During the epidemic this year, the snail powder that smelled "stinky" unexpectedly became the sweet pastry in the eyes of "foodies".
The topic of Liuzhou snail fans has been on the hot search 10 times, with more than 1 billion views; some well-known internet celebrity anchors rely on selling snail fans to attract countless fans; netizens collectively urged goods, calling for "snail fan freedom"...
Why has this sour local snack become one of the most concerned categories in the food industry?
Some people questioned: This can't be popular without "premeditated". Ni Xiaoyang, president of Liuzhou Snail Fennel Association, believes that Liuzhou Snail Fennel is not so much a new Internet celebrity, as it is a late bloomer, and its industrial development model has long been engraved with popular genes.
"The whole network urges goods", sold nearly 5 billion yuan in half a year
At the beginning of March, our orders have been scheduled to May and June. Due to insufficient production capacity, the online store will refund more than 15 million yuan a month, and the customer service has to explain the reason one by one.
Drive a tricycle to come back from the bamboo forest "suddenly", unload a branch of fresh bamboo shoots that have been dug out for no more than 2 hours, and then take out the bamboo shoots peeling tool and sit next to it... Huang Jihua keeps running-the owner of the bamboo shoots is already there. Reminders".
Bamboo shoots are one of the raw materials of snail noodles. Huang Jihua is located in Baile Village, Taiyang Village, Liunan District, Liuzhou City, where more than 5,000 mu of bamboo are planted. This year, this village ushered in a rare good market: the selling price per catty was nearly 50 cents higher than in previous years, and the bosses rushed to pick up the goods.
"The snail powder is on fire, and the price of bamboo shoots is rising accordingly." Huang Jihua raised his sleeves, flicked the sweat on his face, and grinned. He said that his income from selling bamboo shoots this year will exceed 200,000 yuan.
In the first half of this year, many industries were hit by the impact of the epidemic, but the sales of Liuzhou snail noodles continued to rise.
Opened an e-commerce platform and operated an online store for snail noodles. Monthly sales volume of hundreds of thousands of snail noodles. The monthly sales of Li Ziqi brand Liuzhou snail noodles exceeded 1.5 million.
In addition, network anchor Li Jiaqi sold 26,000 boxes of snail noodles within 2 minutes; entertainment star Chen He’s live broadcast debut, sold 66,000 bags of snail noodles in just 8 minutes, with a turnover of over one million yuan.
"At the beginning of March, our orders have been scheduled to May and June. Due to insufficient production capacity and insufficient supply, the online shop refunds more than 15 million yuan a month, and the customer service has to explain the reasons one by one." Director of Guangxi Luo Bawang Food Co., Ltd. Chief Yao Hanlin said that the supply pressure is huge.
Also facing the same troubles is Guangxi Zhongliu Food Technology Co., Ltd. In October last year, Zhongliu Company began to cooperate with Li Ziqi, creator of short food videos.
At the initial meeting, both sides were in a deep sense. "At that time, I thought that I could sell an average of 30,000 packs a day, which would be pretty good." said Wei Yangnian, general manager of Zhongliu Company. Unexpectedly, the number in the first half of this year had doubled several times. At its peak, the Li Ziqi brand alone sold 5 million packs of snail noodles in 3 days.
In the face of increasing orders from the entire network, Wei Yangnian doubled the number of workers. Two-thirds of the production line is used to produce Li Ziqi's products. The company's own brand sales are also rising.
"After physical stores closed or restricted business, most of the customers were diverted by bagged snail powder. Bagged snail powder mainly relies on the Internet for sales. There are so many live broadcasts and hot topics, people will inevitably have to try it in person." Ni Xiyang said.
According to Tianyan Check data, as of mid-August, about 30% of the nearly 3,000 snail powder-related enterprises newly added this year are located in Guangxi.
Data from Liuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce shows that in the first half of this year, the output value of bagged snail flour in the city has reached 4.98 billion yuan, and is expected to reach 9 billion yuan for the whole year. In the first half of the year, the value of exported snail flour that passed the inspection of Liuzhou Customs was about 7.5 million yuan, which was 8 times the total export value of last year.
"Entering Beijing for exams" is not as good as "release water to raise fish"
A structural reform on the supply side of “powder” is to meet people’s new consumer demand and guide these producers towards standardization, but they cannot be controlled to death.
On the streets of Liuzhou, you can see snail noodle shops everywhere. Whether morning or evening, eating a bowl of snail noodles is a daily habit of the locals.
Snail noodles need to use Liuzhou's unique soft, tough and refreshing rice noodles, with sour bamboo shoots, peanuts, yuba, capers and other auxiliary materials, add green oily seasonal vegetables, and top with carefully boiled snail soup. A layer of red chili oil floats on top, and the delicious soup penetrates each vermicelli.
As early as 2010, Liuzhou proposed to turn the special gourmet snail noodles into the city's name card.
Liuzhou is an important industrial town with a quarter of Guangxi’s total industrial output value. It is also one of the five largest automobile production bases in the country, with the highest annual production and sales of automobiles exceeding 2.5 million.
Jia Jiangong, deputy director of the Liuzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, believes that although 1 out of every 10 cars sold in the country is produced in Liuzhou, these products did not carry the name "Liuzhou". For a long time, Liuzhou did not have much popularity. .
In Liuzhou’s industrial output value of more than 500 billion yuan in 2019, the snail flour industry contributed only 6 billion yuan, but snail flour has high hopes in creating a city card.
"According to the development experience of many cities,'city + gourmet' can often form an influential business card, such as Chongqing hot pot, Wuhan hot dry noodles, Lanzhou beef noodles and so on." Jia Jiangong said, from this, Liuzhou City opened "Snail fans enter Beijing" action.
In 2011, under the guidance of relevant departments, some entrepreneurs went north to Beijing and opened more than ten Liuzhou snail noodle shops in densely populated places such as Haidian and Chaoyang.
"Local delicacies will often lose their souls if they leave the place." Jia Jiangong said that in order to ensure the authentic Liuzhou flavor of snail noodles, many ingredients could only be transported by air from Liuzhou to Beijing, which greatly increased the operating costs of the noodle shops.
High rents are the biggest expense faced by physical stores. The staff of the Liuzhou City government department stated that many of the first batch of stores that "came into Beijing to rush for the exam" had already closed, "opening physical stores for promotion and publicity was extremely inefficient."
This situation was broken by a few small workshops in 2014: bagged snail powder appeared.
"There were many people working in Liuzhou. At that time, it was difficult to see the snail noodles in other provinces. Some people asked, can the snail noodles be taken out of Liuzhou?" Yao Hanlin said.
When there is demand in the market, someone will develop the product.
Luo Jinbo, a partner of Zhongliu Company, recalled that the bagged snail noodles were almost all produced by small workshops at the time. “Rent a house, close the door, and fry the ingredients inside. Some packaging is made of plastic bags and bottles. The shelf life is no more than 10 days.” Luo Jinbo said, some small workshops almost fought with their neighbors because the taste of fried sour bamboo shoots was too strong; others were blocked by law enforcement agencies due to hygiene problems.
"Some workshop owners with long-term development consciousness thought of applying for a license for production." Luo Jinbo said, but there was no production standard for snail noodles at that time. "If you can't get a license, everyone still works behind closed doors, and government departments are also very troubled."
Ni Jiaoyang said that more and more producers are discovering strong consumer demand. In 2014 alone, there were more than 40 so-called brands of bagged snail noodles produced by Xiaozhaofang.
"Take care of it!" Jia Jiangong said. At that time, Liuzhou had already sensed that what was coming was a supply-side structural reform on "powder". "It is necessary to meet people's new consumer demand and guide these producers to standardize. , But you can't control them to death."
"Release water to raise fish" is the guiding thinking of Liuzhou Municipal Government for snail meal producers. "From the end of 2014, the factory area reached 300 square meters, and the Food and Drug Administration issued a license. The industry quickly prospered, and the number of related enterprises increased to more than 80. In this process, industry standards have been continuously formulated to raise the barriers to entry. Small workshops with insufficient qualifications are naturally eliminated." Jia Jiangong said that the era of barbarous growth of bagged snail powder is over.
"Industrial Revolution", local cuisine goes out of place
Many companies have begun to innovate in technology and processes. After a package of snail noodles has gone through a series of processes such as production, logistics, and shelves, there is still enough time to wait quietly for the day when it is tasted
The second plant of Luo Bawang is located in Hexi Industrial Park, Liuzhou City. On the production line, more than a dozen large iron basins containing tube bones, snails, ginger, and spice packets are arranged in an orderly manner next to the large pot for boiling the soup. The soup has been tumbling for several hours. At the other end of the production line, sour bamboo shoots, capers, peanuts and other materials are continuously conveyed through the conveyor belt.
These production scenes are completely different from shop making snail noodles. "After all, the transition from the tertiary industry to the secondary industry has to use the idea of industrialization." Yao Hanlin said.
In Liuzhou, many companies have begun to innovate technology and processes around all aspects of the production of snail powder. Some companies continue to explore the production technology of rice noodles, and some focus on the improvement of production technologies such as physical sterilization and vacuum packaging.
"Taking the shelf life as an example, the bagged snail powder has increased from 10 days to 6 months." Wei Yangnian said, this makes the bagged snail powder have the conditions to ride the "Internet Express". After a package of snail noodles has gone through a series of processes such as production, logistics, and shelves, there is still enough time to quietly wait for the day when it is tasted.
"Technological breakthroughs have enabled bagged snail powder to quickly form an industry." Jia Jiangong said, as an industrial town with automobile, steel, and machinery manufacturing as its dominant industries, the genes of industry are rooted in the blood of Liuzhou. "It is still to use technology to speak. Guarantee quality by standards."
At the beginning of 2015, Liuzhou City held the snail powder industry development conference, and for the first time put forward the development concept of "industrialization, standardization, branding, and scale" of Liuzhou snail powder, and determined that the Liuzhou snail powder industry will be packaged in bags to take the road of mechanized production.
Since then, Liuzhou has successively promulgated a series of standards and developments for the production of snail powder, including the "Prepackaged Liuzhou Snail Noodles Local Standards", the "Implementation Plan for the Upgrading and Development of Liuzhou Snail Noodles Industry", and "Several Policies and Measures for Comprehensively Promoting the Upgrading and Development of Liuzhou Snail Noodles Industry". planning.
"We use the concept of industry to plan to promote the upgrading and development of Liuzhou snail flour industry, and build the 2.0 version of Liuzhou snail flour industry." said Liang Xuhui, deputy secretary of the Liuzhou Municipal Party Committee.
In order to ensure the quality of each package of snail noodles, many companies standardize every aspect of production. "For example, the marinating time of sour bamboo shoots, what temperature is controlled, the steps of snail soup, how many grams of ingredients are put in, and in what order are all quantified, to ensure that each package of snail powder can have the same taste." Yao Hanlin Say.
The bagged snail noodles seems to be the "industrial revolution" of the rice noodle industry. "It has rewritten the situation that snail noodles have been trapped in the local area for a long time, and it has become a reality to export Liuzhou's most authentic delicacy to the whole country through express delivery." Jia Jiangong said.
At the National Two Sessions in 2016, Liuzhou Municipal Party Committee Secretary Zheng Junkang took out a bag of Liuzhou snail noodles. From the point of view that the local snacks were sold from "freshly cooked dinning" to "bag fast food", Liuzhou's supply The effectiveness of the side reform has attracted the attention of many media.
As an "edible city card", Liuzhou snail noodles become more famous.
"Selling water on the gold rush can also make money"
Relying on the popularity of snail powder, aiming at the blank space in snail-related industries, there is a lot of room for diversified products
A bowl of noodles has not only become a popular Internet celebrity delicacy, but also brought out the "snail noodle +" industrial chain.
In the 1,000-mu standardized rice snail cultivation demonstration base in Liunan District, many snails are attached to the roots of rice. The rice has matured, and some villagers are holding their trousers and wearing straw hats to harvest rice in the fields. The base is planted with ratooning rice, which will grow again after cutting.
"The life span of ratooning rice is the same as the maturity time of snail breeding. This co-cultivation mode can make full use of space and obtain double benefits." said He Qingcao, manager of Guangxi Zhongzhirun Liuzhou Company. "Snail noodles are popular, and the demand for raw materials is increasing. Optimistic about the market prospects of snail breeding."
In Liuzhou, with the vigorous development of the snail powder industry, many people participate in the raw material supply chain of snail powder.
"For manufacturers, the localization of raw materials not only facilitates source quality control, but also enables the snail flour industry to benefit the local area." Yao Hanlin said
Through vigorous development of raw material bases, Liuzhou’s snail cultivation area has reached 48,000 mu, rice base 20,000 mu, bamboo shoot base more than 8,400 mu, and fungus base 1.8 million square meters...
At the market in Pingshan Town, Luzhai County, Liuzhou City, many villagers took the picked beans to the purchase point for sale. After inspecting the goods, setting prices, and claiming, the villagers joyfully counted the banknotes they received.
"When it is more, it is four to five hundred catties a day, and when it is less, one or two hundred catties, the average daily income is two to three hundred yuan." Wu Cuilan, a villager in Pingshan Community of Pingshan Town, said that some poor households in the village got out of poverty by growing beans.
Jia Jiangong calculated an account: 1 mu of beans can generate at least 5,000 yuan in income each year, and growers do not need to spend too much energy.
Public information shows that the Liuzhou snail powder industry has created more than 250,000 jobs, which has led to a 500,000 acres of snail powder raw material base including rice, bamboo shoots, beans, and fungus, and covers agriculture, food industry, e-commerce and other fields. The development of the industrial chain.
In addition, the supporting industries derived from snail powder have also attracted the attention of many entrepreneurs. Liao Tongwei, a young man in Liuzhou after the "90s", returned home last year and founded Guangxi Tongyi Food Technology Co., Ltd., whose main product is "snail sauce."
Liao Tongwei believes that relying on the enthusiasm of snail noodles, and aiming at the gaps in snail-related industries, there is a lot of room for diversified products. "On the way to gold, water sellers can also make money."
"Snail powder drives the development of raw materials and derivative products. On the one hand, it extends the industry chain of snail powder. On the other hand, it feeds back the development of snail powder itself, forming a win-win situation." Ni Xiyang believes.
How to get rid of "Red fast and cool fast"
The more popular it is, the more quality inspection and market supervision must be strengthened. Don’t smash the brand of Liuzhou snail noodles
"We always say that pigs can fly when standing on the vent. I don't know if the pigs fly, but our Liuzhou snail noodle industry has braved the wind and waves under the spring breeze of the Internet economy in recent years." Once this year During the live broadcast, Hou Gang, the deputy mayor of Liuzhou, said so.
The rapid growth of sales data is inseparable from Liuzhou's love and protection of local snacks. From formulating the standards for bagged snail powder, applying for "Liuzhou snail powder" national geographical indication products, to establishing the snail powder product quality testing center and snail powder raw material base, the city’s "industrial thinking" has been incorporated.
Regarding the phenomenon of netizens urging shipments, Liuzhou City Party Secretary Zheng Junkang has repeatedly emphasized: “The more popular it is, the more quality inspection and market supervision must be strengthened. Don’t smash the Liuzhou snail powder brand.”
After snail noodles "touched the net", there were about 80 e-commerce brands of snail noodles in Liuzhou during the peak period.
After screening by the regulatory authorities, snail noodle businesses that did not meet the standards were gradually eliminated. In the daily spot check, once the spot check fails, the company will face a fine and publicize it online.
Especially this year, Liuzhou snail noodles quickly became popular, and some problems were also exposed.
When Haohuanluo cooperated with the web anchor Wei Ya in June this year, the factory was still out of stock. The regular sales channel took 45 days to ship, but the staff in the live broadcast room required 72 hours to ship. The entire company worked overtime to complete the cooperation, and then took the initiative to control sales.
Zhongliu Co., Ltd. cooperated with Li Ziqi, and online sales frequently "exploded orders", and production capacity was difficult to meet. In order to prevent snail noodles from missing ingredients and poor quality, they once removed the product from the shelves and adjusted the production line.
"The Internet becomes popular quickly, and it also cools quickly. In the process of enterprise development, the quality of products must not be compromised." Ni Jiaoyang said.
"As much as we have raw materials, we can only produce the corresponding quantity of products, and absolutely can't cut corners. You can't fool people just because you don't have snails, take a bone and boil some bone soup and say it's snail powder and sell it." Zheng Junkang said. Now is the time when the market is good. Liuzhou should use incentive policies to guide enterprises to expand factories, increase equipment, increase production capacity, and expand production scale. At the same time, they should eliminate some backward small enterprises and support large enterprises.
Some people believe that the snail powder’s rise in the first half of the year is a manifestation of the resilience of the Chinese economy. The root cause of the “snail powder phenomenon” is the continuous optimization and adjustment of China’s economic structure in recent years, which has played a key role in overcoming the impact of the epidemic.
But in any case, food has to return to safety and deliciousness itself. "If it is done well, the market will give back. If it is not done well, the market will retaliate. Other brands have many lessons learned." Zheng Junkang said. Reporter Nong Guanbin