Seize the opportunity in the new track of healthy food

　　Provide high-quality products that meet the health needs and eating habits of domestic consumers——

　　Domestic snacks blowing "healthy wind"

　　Food is the paramount necessity of the people.

With the continuous improvement of living standards, people pay more and more attention to health. Not only should three meals a day be eaten well, but also casual snacks outside meals should be eaten healthy.

Casual snacks are foods that people eat during leisure and rest. In a broad sense, nut roasted seeds and nuts, biscuits and cakes, candy cheese, puffed food, marinated meat, tea brewing, etc. all belong to this category.

　　At present, new concepts such as "light diet", "low sugar diet" and "natural without additives" are affecting the trend of the snack industry.

In this regard, some domestic brands accurately grasp the market dynamics, provide consumers with high-quality products that meet their health needs and eating habits through technology research and development and innovation iterations, and strive to seize the opportunity in the new track of healthy food.

　　"Health" has become a major trend

　　The Chinese snack market is a big cake.

The "Research Report on China's Leisure Snack Industry in 2022" shows that in the past seven years, the annual compound growth rate of China's leisure snack market has remained above 11%, and it is expected to exceed 1.5 trillion yuan in 2022.

　　With rapid growth, healthy snacks have become an important trend in the market.

Based on the sales data of various e-commerce platforms, the online sales of leisure snacks in 2022 will increase steadily from mid-February, among which snack foods with "health" as the key word will increase significantly compared with the same period last year.

　　"Beverages need to be sugar-free, snacks should be high-fiber, and staple foods should be easy to digest." Ms. Liu, who is shopping for food in a supermarket in Chaoyang District, Beijing, said, "Now that the living standard has improved, I no longer worry about whether I can't eat enough. Instead, I am worried that excessive and unbalanced nutritional intake will lead to a "sub-healthy" body. Eating healthy and safe food is the main consideration in my daily food selection." Ms. Wang, a post-95 generation in Wuxi, Jiangsu, said: "I I will buy foods without preservatives and additives as much as possible, which I think is more beneficial to my health.”

　　In the face of changes in the consumer market, many snack companies are also adjusting their business strategies.

Some emerging domestic brands aim at the rapid rise of young people, and there are also old-fashioned domestic brands that are innovative and strive to create a younger and healthier image of the brand.

In order to meet the health needs of consumers, Shanghaojia tried to change fruit juices to vitamin-rich carbonated juices and high-end coffee, hard candies to herbal candies, and used small packages to control the intake; BESTORE launched children’s The sub-brand of snacks "Xiaoshixian" and the sub-brand of healthy meal replacement snacks "Liangpin Feiyang"; Qiaqia Foods launched a product called "Kuizhen" with a price of up to 100 yuan, which is labeled as healthy and light luxury...

　　Su Siyu, a national first-level nutritionist, said that in the past, people bought snacks based on whether the packaging was beautiful or the advertisements were well done. Now consumption tends to be more rational, and healthy snacks meet new consumer needs.

　　"Eat well" is even more "delicious"

　　The so-called healthy snacks are based on following the rules of addition and subtraction of ingredients, and further focus on raw materials, technology and functional subdivision.

To become a "healthy snack", it must first satisfy the "one plus one minus": that is, add in the direction of high protein and high fiber, and subtract in the direction of sugar and fat.

At the same time, oats, acai berries, beetroot, turmeric, highland barley, chia seeds, quinoa and other crops are often used as raw materials, and technologies such as low-temperature baking, freeze-drying, non-fried, and low-temperature dehydration are often used in technology, and through Add vitamins, zinc, selenium, probiotics and other elements to increase the functionality of snacks.

　　For example, a few finger-sized protein bars may be able to provide energy for a meal.

In a gym in Jing'an District, Shanghai, citizen Guo Wenqi finished a set of strength training. During the break, he took out two meal replacement protein bars from his backpack and ate them.

After a while, the hunger was gone.

"Meal replacement protein bars not only have a strong sense of satiety, but also are low in calories and rich in nutrients, which are very suitable for me to replenish energy during fitness." Guo Wenqi said.

　　"Protein can provide the human body with the necessary nutrients and energy. Dietary fiber has the property of absorbing water and swelling after reaching the stomach, which can enhance the body's satiety. By eating protein bars, the human body's needs for the above nutrients can be replenished in time to achieve energy. Supplement." Zhang Guangming, the founder and CEO of the ffit8 brand, said, "Take the protein bar of ffit8 as an example. On the premise of ensuring that the product itself is high in fiber and protein, we have specially adopted the protein technology of small molecules and high absorption rate to come Promote the body's high absorption of protein, so as to achieve the purpose of nutrition and satiety."

　　As an old domestic brand deeply involved in the food and beverage industry, Wahaha began to develop healthy food in 2010 to provide consumers with more choices.

　　"From satisfying the needs of food and drink at the beginning to the pursuit of health value today, people have gradually noticed their own sub-health problems and prefer 'low sugar' and 'sugar-free' drinks." The relevant person in charge of Wahaha said.

At present, Wahaha not only continues to develop new healthy drinks, but also carries out low-sugar and sugar-free upgrades to popular drinks such as Nutrition Express and Super Coke. It has launched more than 40 low-sugar or sugar-free products, which are welcomed by consumers.

　　Taking soda water as an example, Wahaha began to develop healthier soda water drinks more than ten years ago.

The person in charge of Wahaha introduced: "The 'pH9.0 soda water drink' we launched adopts the fourth-generation water purification technology, that is, nanofiltration water treatment comprehensive purification technology and water electrolysis treatment system, so that soda water is not only healthier, but also tastes better. it is good."

　　In order to stand out in the fierce market competition, in addition to paying attention to the nutritional value and health functions of the food itself, domestic healthy snacks must satisfy consumers' taste buds as much as possible, so as to be healthy and delicious.

　　Zhao Jie, who lives in Wuliqiao Street, Huangpu District, Shanghai, is currently trying to control her weight, which requires her to try to choose low-salt, low-sugar, and low-fat foods. However, the relatively bland taste and rough taste of traditional health foods make her bluntly say " Tasteless to eat."

　　Searching for keywords such as "delicious" and "healthy food" on social platforms, Zhao Jie learned about the popular "Academy of Agricultural Sciences Food" series on the Internet.

"Academy of Agricultural Sciences food" generally refers to healthy foods developed by agricultural institutions of universities. These foods focus on reducing additives and ensuring the deliciousness of the food as much as possible.

Among them, a product named "Xida Konjac" was loved by Zhao Jie.

"This konjac product is not only low in calories, strong in satiety, but also relatively refreshing. The brand also has a variety of meal replacement types including konjac low-fat bars, konjac egg rolls, konjac shreds, etc., which can provide more for my fat loss process. There are many flavor choices." Zhao Jie said.

　　Taste is a housekeeping skill that cannot be lost in snacks.

When explaining the reasons for the popularity of Xida Konjac, Chairman Tang Yulan mentioned the rich taste choices.

"We have given konjac snacks a variety of types and flavors according to consumer needs." This experience has also been confirmed by Zhang Guangming: "According to the taste preferences of Chinese people, we have developed beef-flavored and hot pot-flavored protein bars, which taste good. Only then can we further capture the stomachs of consumers.”

　　Technical content is the key

　　In the increasingly fierce competition in the health food market, how should domestic brands promote their own sustainable development, make their products "healthy and delicious", and win market recognition?

Technological innovation and independent research and development are the key to breaking the situation.

　　Take Wahaha's probiotic products as an example. At the beginning of its development, the group was in trouble due to lack of relevant technologies.

"At that time, due to the relative lack of self-owned probiotic strains, we had to import foreign strains for production, which not only increased the production cost of the enterprise, but sometimes 'foreign strains' were not suitable for Chinese people, which restricted our development function A more complete probiotic product.” Said the relevant person in charge of Wahaha.

　　To this end, Wahaha's scientific research team combined the traditional theory of traditional Chinese medicine diet therapy with bioengineering, modern extraction and other technologies, and focused on the selection and breeding of probiotic strains and their industrialization and application research.

According to Wahaha, after nearly 10 years of hard work, in the field of functional probiotics, Wahaha has successfully developed more than 10 kinds of probiotic strains with completely independent intellectual property rights, and established a strain resource library with more than 4,500 strains, effectively breaking the Relying on the shackles of "foreign strains" also allows the company to flex its muscles in the field of probiotics.

　　"Relying on Southwest University, it is our core focus to increase the development and investment in the integration of production, learning, research and application." According to Tang Yulan, Professor Liu Peiying of Southwest Agricultural University (the predecessor of Southwest University) promoted the establishment of the earliest konjac in China in 1979. The research and development team specializes in various academic research and practice of konjac.

Afterwards, Professor Zhang Shenglin, a student of Liu Peiying and now the director of the Konjac Research Center of Southwest University, followed the steps of his tutor to further in-depth research on konjac varieties, and related scientific and technological achievements were frequently produced.

Today, Xida Konjac is backed by the Konjac Research Center of Southwest University, trying to apply the cutting-edge scientific research results of universities to the production of healthy food.

　　"Inheriting the scientific research achievements of several generations of konjac experts in the field of konjac, Xida Konjac focuses on konjac ingredients for in-depth research and development, and actively promotes the transformation of konjac scientific research towards marketization and industrialization. To this end, our R&D team is increasing konjac new technology. While cultivating varieties, we will benchmark intelligent research and development with market demand, realize iterative upgrades of products, and give full play to the health value of konjac." Tang Yulan said.

　　For ffit8, "independent research and development" is deeply embedded in the brand DNA.

Zhang Guangming is very fond of the company's scientific research and innovation: "ffit8 has opened a special protein innovation laboratory and has a number of national invention patents, such as a new generation of small molecule high absorption rate protein technology and double oat protein technology, etc., which have won national scientific and technological innovations. Award. We are committed to promoting the organic integration of technological innovation and Chinese food values, and strive to make food healthier and ingredient lists cleaner through technology, and provide hardworking and busy Chinese people with a diet that takes into account health and quality of life.”

　　The relevant person in charge of Wahaha said: "In the future, Wahaha will continue to make overall layout from product line, R&D line, manufacturing line, etc., carry out independent research and development of key raw materials, and expand the scale of the strain resource bank. We will also continue to innovate in products, Keenly understand the growing health needs of consumers, and provide more nutritious and healthy foods.”

　　Ding Meidong