China News Agency, Nanjing, April 3rd, title: Jiangnan Festival Food Youth League shed the "net celebrity" coat and returned to the traditional flavor
China News Agency reporter Yang Yanci
Another year of Qingming Festival, the festival food youth group has become a "hot spot".
Compared with previous years, everything with "open brains" can be filled with fillings. This year's youth group gradually fades away from the "net celebrity" coat and returns to the traditional flavor.
The outer skin is green and the filling is full of fragrance... Qingtuan was originally a traditional delicacy in the Jiangnan region during the Qingming Festival. Like many seasonal delicacies, Xiaoqingtuan also has its own story of traveling south and north.
"It is said that eating cold food during the Qingming Festival is a custom that has been passed down since ancient times. On this day, people are not allowed to use fire and only eat cold food." Yu Xuerong, president of the Jiangsu Catering Industry Association, said that the Youth League is just right for cold food and suitable for display. It has become a seasonal food for thousands of years.
According to Yu Xuerong, in ancient times, people used to make youth regiments for sacrifice.
With the changes of the times, the sacrificial function of Qingtuan gradually weakened, and turned into a seasonal food.
The upsurge of new retail has made the Youth League go out of the Jiangnan region and into the homes of thousands of people in the north and south of the Yangtze River.
Like zongzi, moon cakes and other seasonal delicacies, Qingtuan has experienced the baptism of "exotic fillings".
Milk tea, snail powder, crayfish... The introduction of various flavors has made Qingtuan loved by the older generation, while also arousing the younger generation's attention to the old flavor, becoming a highly sought after "social tool" for the new national trend .
"In the past, it was rare to take the initiative to buy Qingtuan during the Qingming Festival. In the past two years, there have been many Qingtuan in various flavors and packaging. I will buy and try it with an early adopter mentality." Chen Yang, a Nanjing citizen who bought the Qingtuan in the supermarket, told me A reporter from China News Agency, after tasting various flavors of Qingtuan, decided to buy the traditional bean paste flavor this year.
"You can taste the 'Qihua' stuffing, but traditional food still needs to eat traditional taste."
In various supermarkets, with the Qingming Festival approaching, Qingtuan has been placed in a prominent position in the food section.
A supermarket clerk told a reporter from China News Agency: "Unlike previous years, when we choose products this year, we still focus on the traditional flavors of the Youth League. Judging from the sales in the past few days, the classic flavors are better sold, and we will repurchase. The rate is also higher.”
Not only traditional supermarkets, but also new retailers that once focused on "brain hole" tastes, the research and development direction has also begun to return to rationality.
Tianxi, head of research and development of Hema 3R business department, said that this year Hema Workshop has launched 7 different flavors of freshly steamed Qingtuan in stores across the country, 6 of which are old flavors that have been launched in previous years.
"This year's youth league research and development has gradually returned to its original flavor, still focusing on 'deliciousness'."
A reporter from China News Agency saw at a Hema Fresh Store in Nanjing that the traditional flavor of the time-honored brand, Qingtuan, has regained a prominent position for consumers to buy.
According to statistics from Nanjing Hema Workshop, traditional flavors such as red bean paste, salted egg yolk, seaweed and meat floss are firmly among the top three in sales.
"Early adoption is the starting point for many young people to buy Qingtuan. The taste innovations in the past few years have opened up a broader market for Qingtuan and attracted more people's attention to this seasonal food." Yu Xuerong believes that the classic tastes are now The return reflects the cold thinking of the festival food innovation boom, and it also shows that both businesses and consumers are returning to tradition and tending to be rational.
(over)