Keep up with consumer demand and radiate new vitality (Consumer Window · Time-honored New Country Tide ④)
Core reading
The market is changing, and consumers are also changing.
Time-honored Chinese pastries should inherit and carry forward the traditional food culture and embark on a path of innovation, so as to make the signature more polished
Rice and millet dry food is called Shangpin, the first village of fragrant and fragrant five flavors.
Since 1895, Guo Yusheng, a native of Jinling, settled in Qianmen, Beijing, until the "old shopkeeper" Liu Zhenying resumed his business in Xiao Hutong in 1983, and then the current "head" Bi Guocai continued the past and pioneered the path of inheritance and innovation. Beijing Daoxiang Village has passed on 100 for many years.
Now, whether it is the most distinctive "Beijing Eight Pieces" of Beijing-style pastries, or products such as beef tongue cakes, jujube cakes, honey cakes, etc., in the minds of customers, the cakes sold in Beijing Daoxiang Village are full of color, fragrance and shape. In people's hearts, what they want to do is to promote Chinese food culture and bring food and health to more people.
Innovating products and expanding channels, the time-honored Chinese pastry brand is radiating new vitality.
Rely on a craft-
Keeping up with new consumer needs and leading the new trend of consumption, time-honored brands can also become "net celebrities"
The Mid-Autumn Festival was just over and the Double Ninth Festival, and the Huaguo was busy everywhere.
"I hurried to buy a few pieces of Double Ninth Flower Cake. I like the sweet and sour taste." Not long ago, Liu Lihua, a retired old man who lives near Dongzhimen in Beijing, came to Beijing Daoxiangcun store early in the morning. She said: The layered flower cake noodles are filled with sweet-scented osmanthus, jujube puree, walnut kernels, hawthorn cakes and other fillings. They are soft in the mouth. There are also sugar-alcohol versions that are suitable for the elderly.
Double Ninth Flower Cake is a seasonal dim sum launched in Daoxiang Village in Beijing. It can only be bought more than 10 days before the Double Ninth Festival each year. Because of its rich taste and beautiful meaning, it often sells out soon after it goes on the market. It can be said to be a "hot item" in seasonal dim sum. ".
Speaking of dim sum in Daoxiang Village in Beijing, many regular customers will say "authentic" with thumbs up.
However, the development of Beijing Daoxiang Village has also experienced twists and turns: a large number of Western-style cakes have poured in in the past few years, while traditional Chinese-style cakes have been hit hard, and Beijing Daoxiang Village is also facing challenges.
Compared with chain western-style pastry brands, although there are a lot of Chinese pastry shops, there are few famous brands.
As a time-honored brand, Daoxiang Village in Beijing has made many attempts to tap the advantages of Chinese pastries.
"Following new consumer demands and leading new trends in consumption, time-honored brands can also become'net celebrities'." Bi Guocai, chairman of Beijing Daoxiang Village, said that people do not dislike Chinese pastries, but they need more innovative products.
With the theme of "I love my motherland", Beijing Daoxiang Village and People's Creative Co., Ltd. jointly launched a series of moon cake gift boxes. In addition to traditional Cantonese fillings such as jujube paste, Bazhen, and lotus seed paste, the product also has fillings that are closer to the tastes of young people. Varieties, such as purple sweet potato, cheese hawthorn, and Shuanghuang Xianglian, have been popular as soon as they hit the market.
The co-branded gift box products launched by Beijing Daoxiang Village and Forbidden City Taobao are also welcomed by consumers.
"The time-honored brand has become a new national trend, and products and channels must be innovated, but we must maintain the'root' of traditional craftsmanship." Bi Guocai said.
Walking into the food factory of Beijing Daoxiang Village in the Science and Technology Park of Beiqijia Town, Changping District, Beijing, a scent of pastries is tangy.
The reporter came to the production workshop of Chongyang Flower Cake. In a small space, more than 30 workers had clear division of labor and skillful actions: 1 person was responsible for putting the bread on the cake and kneading the ingredients, and 2 people passing the dough to the person in charge. The mold workers and others are responsible for placing the jujube cakes, hawthorn cakes, peach kernels, peach preserves and other fruit materials in order, and finally covering them with a layer of skin as a "lid". There are more than 20 processes.
"It may take a few days to learn the code plate and arrange the fruit material, but the whole process is learned and mastered, and it will not work within a year or a half." said Lian Shuhong, the seventh-generation inheritor of Beijing Daoxiang Village, such as Chongyang Flower Cake Carving In the process of moulding, people saw that the flattened dough was placed in the mould and pressed and then "knocked" on the table, and the dough with the Chongyang pattern fell off.
In fact, if the strength is not well controlled, the pressed pie may be uneven and of different thickness; if you do not master the skills, you may not be able to knock down even with the strength of your wrist.
The manual process is so complicated, how about machine processing?
Why can't all the pastries be produced by machines?
"It doesn't feel crisp in that way," Lian Shuhong said.
For example, the characteristic of the fluffy mooncake is its meringue. After it is made, it looks like a complete layer of meringue, but as long as you put it on the table and shake it hard, the meringue will be broken, and it is difficult for the machine to control the strength. Not to mention making 25 layers of meringue.
Another example is the filling of Wuren, which must be hand-mixed by the masters. If it is stirred by a machine, it will become muddy. Without the essence of Wuren, if the rock candy in the tapas is replaced by a machine, it may be made The leather is punctured.
There are also beef tongue cakes, snowflake crisps, black gold crisps, etc., which must be made by hand.
Bi Guocai told reporters that 40% of the daily pastries in Daoxiang Village in Beijing are handmade, and 50% are handmade during the festival.
In order to pass on this kind of handicraft skills, Beijing Daoxiang Village has always had the tradition of passing on from master to apprentice.
Highly skilled masters will be rated as craft inheritors and can take apprentices to pass on the pastry craftsmanship and craftsmanship.
Eat a taste--
Mooncakes, dumplings, and Yuanxiao can always taste like a monk
Time-honored brands are famous, and imitators often follow one after another. Beijing Daoxiang Village has similar experiences.
Competing on the same stage, how can Beijing Daoxiang Village be better?
"It is the goal of Beijing Daoxiangcun to make customers feel at home. Be what customers love and let customers taste the taste of home in the food." Bi Guocai said.
A few days ago, Liu Shufen, who lives near Hongmiao, Chaoyang District, Beijing, went to Beijing Daoxiang Village Jintai Specialty Store to buy pastries. The old mother at home wanted to eat but sold out. “The salesperson was afraid that I would be disappointed and returned, so she was very patient to recommend other pastries to me. I believe my mother will like it." Liu Shufen went home with satisfaction with a bag full of pastries.
At the cooked food counter opposite, Li Jun, a retired uncle who also lives nearby, also came to buy some cooked food, ready to make snacks for lunch.
"I often come to Beijing Daoxiang Village. A few vegetarian meatballs, a bit of'Eight Treasures of the Palace', and another garlic sausage. They are delicious, especially in summer." Uncle Li said.
A few pieces of pastries, half a catty of cooked food, a box of moon cakes, a bag of dumplings... In Daoxiang Village, Beijing, it seems that you can always buy what you want.
It is understood that Beijing Daoxiangcun Food Factory produces more than 600 varieties of specialty foods in 16 categories, including pastries, meats, quick-frozen foods, moon cakes, Lantern Festival, and rice dumplings.
Consumers are eating in their mouths, sweet in their hearts, and feeling a Chinese traditional food culture.
On the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival this year, the reporter came to the third sales department of Daoxiang Village in Beijing. As soon as he entered the door, he was attracted by the "Tuerye Mountain" with a height of 1 meter and a width of 1.5 meters. The Tuerye Mountain on the "Tuerye Mountain" is full of traditional Beijing flavor. The other is holding a pestle and pounding medicine. The Tu'erye wears a golden armor and has tigers and elephants as mounts. There are rows of flags behind him.
"This Rabbit Ye'er is the unique culture of our old Beijing Mid-Autumn Festival! I have to buy a few yuan of Rabbit Ye'er moon cakes to taste." said a customer who stopped to take pictures.
It turns out that this year Beijing Daoxiang Village will use the elements of Yutu and Tuerye in moon cake products and gift box design, injecting new charm into traditional gift boxes and conveying the strong Beijing flavor of Mid-Autumn Festival.
For example, the cake noodles of cheese and hawthorn moon cakes are two cute little rabbits running, expressing the beautiful meaning of jade rabbits praying for blessings and riding the wind and waves.
To many old Beijing’s surprises, the "oil paper bag" moon cakes also reproduced more than 40 stores in Daoxiang Village, Beijing. Buy them now and evoke the memories of many people when they were young.
On the eve of Double Ninth Festival this year, Beijing Daoxiang Village and Yucha Shanfang jointly launched a handmade custom-made birthday peach gift box.
The gift boxes of Shou Tao have different shapes, including Shou Taoshan composed of Xiao Shou peaches, as well as large and small Shou peaches. The big Shou Tao contains small gourds, small apples, small Shou peaches and other pastries. The fillings are the most popular among the daily cakes sold. Several flavors.
Bi Guocai told reporters: "Resuming the sale of longevity peaches is to further explore some products in the traditional food culture and add more sense of ritual for birthday celebrations."
Take a new path——
Introduce 24 solar terms seasonal food, online sales are not as good as offline
Inheritance and innovation, almost all time-honored brands will face a problem.
Over the years, some old stores have lost their market position due to sticking to the old traditions, and some have lost their original characteristics despite keeping up with the trend.
How can Beijing Daoxiang Village solve this problem?
"Beijing Daoxiang Village embodies the unique life and emotions passed down from generation to generation in Beijing. It is our responsibility to create the most beautiful business card of Beijing culture." Bi Guocai said.
As a century-old Beijing Daoxiang Village, how should innovation and inheritance be balanced?
Bi Guocai believes that Beijing Daoxiang Village must take the road of innovation, but it must not lose its original tradition.
In the past two years, Beijing Daoxiang Village relied on traditional Chinese solar terms and food culture to launch 24 solar terms products.
Lichun Bite Spring Rolls, Qingming Youth League, Xiaoshu Sorbet, Frosty Rabbit Meat...Beijing Daoxiang Village combines the characteristics of solar terms, and each kind of pastry and cooked food is sold about 10 days before the solar term starts. The concept of "eat in time" quickly gained customers' approval. And love.
"In the spring equinox, we should reduce acidity and eat sweets appropriately to protect the spleen and stomach. Beijing Daoxiang Village launched the vernal equinox jasmine cake." Bi Guocai said, watching the next solar term is approaching, many old customers actively urge us to introduce new products and collect various items. A packaging box for a variety of seasonal foods.
Beijing Daoxiang Village is also actively trying to better adapt to the habits of young people in terms of sales methods, including live broadcast delivery, e-commerce platforms, etc., but it is also stable and stable, ensuring quality and quantity.
Because of the particularity of pastries, many products are not suitable for online sales.
For example, some shortcrust pastries, after logistics and transportation, may be mixed with skin and stuffing in the hands of customers, with no shape.
Therefore, after strict consideration, Beijing Daoxiang Village chose to move some products less affected by transportation to online sales to meet the needs of different customers.
This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, online moon cake gift boxes in Beijing Daoxiang Village accounted for 46% of the total gift boxes.
Bi Guocai believes that the market is changing and consumers are changing. Time-honored Chinese pastries should inherit and carry forward the traditional food culture and embark on a path of innovation, so as to make the brand more and more bright.
Our reporter Wang Guan