Consolidate the foundation of frozen food technology and promote the stable and long-term development of the prepared vegetable industry

Reporter of this newspaper Lian He

5 minutes out of the pot of shredded fish, 10 minutes to get sauerkraut fish, 20 minutes to serve the Buddha jumping off the wall.
.
.
In recent years, all kinds of prepared vegetable products have emerged one after another
.
Nowadays, searching for "pre-made dishes" on shopping platforms, countless tempting dishes are "chaotic and glamorous"
.
In recent years, China's prepared vegetable industry has developed vigorously, and the introduction of relevant policies and the influx of a large amount of capital have expanded the market, which has also promoted the upgrading and transformation
of frozen food enterprises.
During the 22nd China Convenience Food Conference held recently, the thematic forum "Vent and Foundation - Opportunities for Prepared Dishes and Frozen Foods", hosted by the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology and undertaken by the Frozen and Frozen Food Branch of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology, was held
concurrently.
Participants discussed how to rely on technology to empower product R&D and innovation and promote the high-quality development of
frozen food and prepared vegetable industries.

The frozen food industry has a promising prospect of both supply and demand

Relevant data show that the proportion of the main business income of the frozen food industry in the food manufacturing industry has increased three times in a row, reaching 101.
5 billion yuan in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 13%; Total profit reached a record high in 2021, and its share in the food manufacturing industry remained relatively stable
from 2017 to 2021.
At the same time, the rapid development of the cold chain logistics industry has also provided assistance
for the transportation of frozen food.

Fan Daming, vice president of the Frozen and Refrigerated Food Branch of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology and dean of the Institute of Science and Technology of Jiangnan University, pointed out that with the development of society, the types of frozen foods have gradually expanded
.
From 2017 to 2021, the industry developed steadily, the market scale continued to expand, the development momentum was strong, and the market competition was more intense
.
The frozen food industry shows a trend of strong supply and demand and continuous growth in scale, among which the concentration of market segments varies greatly, and the prospects of emerging categories are considerable
.
At the same time, leading enterprises attach importance to R&D and capacity expansion, break the bottleneck by building factories in different places, and rapidly improve the technical content and added value of products
.

Cold chain logistics is about frozen food safety
.
Xie Jing, vice president of the Frozen and Refrigerated Food Branch of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology and dean of the School of Food Science and Technology of Shanghai Ocean University, said that in November last year, the state issued the "14th Five-Year Plan" cold chain logistics development plan, which for the first time proposed the overall layout plan of China's cold chain logistics system and proposed to build China's modern cold chain logistics system
.
"Although China's cold chain logistics started late and the foundation is relatively weak, the scale of the cold chain market has continued to expand
in recent years.
Data show that the market size will be 380 billion yuan in 2020, 450 billion yuan in 2021, and is expected to reach 550 billion yuan in 2024, with an annual growth rate of more than
20%.
Xie Jing introduced
.

Achieve rapid development with an efficient supply chain

China's catering industry has grown rapidly since 2012, and the expansion of the catering market has provided opportunities
for the development of the semi-finished catering market.
"From 2018 to 2021, the chain rate of restaurants in China has continued to increase
.
Standardization, cost savings, and quality assurance are basic requirements for companies, and frozen products can help companies achieve these goals
.
At present, frozen food enterprises are optimistic about the development potential of the catering market, taking advantage of the trend of continuous strengthening of the chain of the catering market and the acceleration of industrialization to replace manual work, and make efforts in the catering market to achieve a new leap
in frozen food.
Xu Zhenjiang, deputy general manager of Zhengzhou Qianwei Central Kitchen Food Co.
, Ltd.
, said
.

Li Peng, general manager of Sichuan Wangjiadu Food Co.
, Ltd.
, believes that the development of chain catering enterprises is inseparable from the support of efficient supply chains, and prepared dishes have become a necessary factor for the development of
efficient supply chains.
Li Peng introduced that Wangjiadu Food is a subsidiary of Meizhou Dongpo Group, committed to the research and practice
of Chinese food standardization.
The epidemic has brought new challenges to chain catering enterprises, and the industrialization and standardization of dishes are the choices
of many chain catering enterprises.
The company uses food processing innovation technology to break through the bottleneck of Sichuan cuisine standardization, achieve Sichuan cuisine standardization and technological production, and realize industrialization, so as to ensure the operation of the supply chain system and lay the foundation
for the rapid development of catering enterprises.
At the same time, it brings new business growth points and provides support
for the chain development of catering enterprises.

Innovative technology promotes industrial upgrading

The epidemic has brought many consumers back to the family table, and this change has also affected the company's product research and development thinking
.
Zhou Wenguo, technical director of Anjing Food Group Co.
, Ltd.
, said that China's eight major cuisines are rich in varieties, Sichuan cuisine and Cantonese cuisine are highly accepted in the country, and Lu cuisine and Fujian cuisine are slowly being understood
by consumers.
Pre-made vegetable products such as sauerkraut fish, boiled series, diced Kung Pao chicken, pork ribs with soy sauce, Buddha jumping over the wall, Dongpo meat, and stinky mandarin fish are popular
with consumers.
He believes that the selection of prepared dishes should follow eight principles: household name, complex processing, high degree of reduction, home-cooked dishes, high-frequency repurchase, strong replication, BC balance, and north-south eating
.
At the same time, pre-made dishes should achieve flavor differentiation, "first the public and then the niche, first home style and then private cooking" in the selection of products, and achieve a solid foundation and excellent technology in research and development
.
In addition, we must make efforts through all channels, strive to create a series of explosive products, and pay attention to returning to the origin and presenting natural flavors
in product flavor.

Li Dongqi, founder and general manager of Shandong Zhuangkou Food Co.
, Ltd.
, said that "low cost and good quality" are the driving force
behind the development of the prepared vegetable industry.
He believes that the era of big and complete is slowly passing, and the ultimate cost control of single products will once again promote industrial upgrading
.
The upgrading of process technology will promote the quality closer to traditional cooking, and the perfect regulations and standards will also promote the improvement
of product quality.

The combination of smart kitchen appliances and prepared dishes allows consumers to make delicious dishes
at home.
Zhang Yu, CEO of Qingdao Food Network Technology Co.
, Ltd.

, shared the application of intelligent small household appliances in the C-end of prefabricated dishes.
Zhang Yu said that around solving the problem of eating, the home appliance industry, like the food industry, is trying to provide consumers with home cooking solutions
from the dimensions of taste, taste, convenience and health.
Haier Food Network connects kitchen appliances in the home, and each ingredient has a standardized cooking program, which can be automatically cooked
by scanning the code.

The rapid development of pre-made dishes has spawned a 100-billion-level pre-made vegetable packaging market
.
Ye Lei, director of the technology center of Jiangsu Longjun Environmental Protection Industrial Development Co.
, Ltd.
, said that at present, the packaging of prefabricated vegetables is mainly vacuum prefabricated bags and prefabricated boxes
.
Under the "plastic restriction order", pre-made vegetable packaging began to evolve
to bio-based materials.
If the raw material is cornstarch-based, the manufacturing process can reduce carbon dioxide emissions
through clean production and terminal treatment.
Ye Lei introduced Longjun's green innovation in prefabricated vegetable packaging, including bio-based multi-layer co-extrusion high-barrier film that blocks water, oxygen and gas, bio-based high-temperature resistant meal bowl boxes, bio-based freezer-resistant trays and bio-based antibacterial plastic wrap
.
"The introduction of the new plastic restriction policy has brought huge market space to the industry, and packaging material companies must firmly seize the policy opportunity and continue to develop renewable and recyclable technologies
.
"

Technology consolidates the foundation for the development of the industry

Limited types of raw materials and processing methods, and large differences in consumer acceptance, are problems in the development of frozen food
.
Fan Daming pointed out that frozen prefabricated dishes with great potential are still in the pioneering stage, and the development of frozen prefabricated dishes currently has problems such as
poor color and aroma reduction, high degree of product homogenization, difficulty in synchronizing taste and nutrition, and low industry standardization 。 He put forward a solution to this: first, the digitalization of dish products, through the collection of key parameters of raw materials, pretreatment, and thermal processing and database construction, to achieve the detailed characterization of the dish production process; The second is the regularization of dish technology, avoiding quality differences caused by changes in processing conditions, and clarifying the law of dish quality changes and the essence of regulation; The third is to master the key processes in the industrial production process of dishes, clarify the technical and equipment needs, and innovate the engineering production path
of dishes.

Xie Jing said that cold chain logistics currently has many problems
such as prominent structural contradictions and uneven distribution, insufficient cold chain facilities and equipment, high loss of agricultural products, low cold chain management level, high energy consumption indicators, backward information construction, difficult to implement supervision, lack of technical standards, imperfect systems, difficulties in the industry itself, imperfect supporting policies, insufficient talents in the field of cold chain logistics, and imperfect training mechanisms.

Xie Jing put forward 7 suggestions for the development of the industry: first, optimize the layout and operation network structure of cold chain logistics facilities; Secondly, according to the main links of production and marketing, key categories of cold chain products and the operation characteristics of cold chain logistics, systematically promote the high-quality development of cold chain logistics in different regions and categories; Third, it is necessary to coordinate the coordinated development of eastern, central and western regions, north and south, and urban and rural areas, and promote the optimal integration and integrated operation of cold chain logistics resources in urban and metropolitan areas; Fourth, we should strengthen the integrated development of cold chain logistics and modern agriculture, cold chain product processing, commercial circulation and other industries; Fifth, we should comply with the needs of green production and lifestyle and promote carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, and reduce operating costs with energy-saving, digital and efficient management; Sixth, we should promote the digitalization of the whole process and all elements of cold chain logistics, and realize the automatic collection and transportation of data in each operation link; Seventh, we should build a nationwide and multi-level digital cold chain warehouse network
.

Industry, education and research work together to promote the high-quality development of the industry

In the "Discussion" session, 6 representatives from the scientific and technological circles and business circles discussed from multiple perspectives of industry, education and research around the theme of the frozen food industry leading the high-quality development of the prepared vegetable industry
.

Huang Zhongmin, vice chairman of the Frozen and Refrigerated Food Branch of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology and professor of the College of Food Science and Technology of Henan Agricultural University, said that the high-quality development of the prepared vegetable industry can be made from the establishment and improvement of the standard system of prepared vegetables, the realization of the transformation of industrialized products to the quality of family kitchens, the acceleration of the application of new modern technologies in the prepared vegetable industry and the double-layer sterilization technology
of room temperature prepared vegetables 。 Huang Zhongmin said that vacuum pre-cooling technology has a short cooling time and fast cooling, liquid nitrogen freezing technology freezes quickly, and new modern technologies such as acid oxidation starch water raw material pretreatment and sterilization reduction technology can effectively reduce the amount of bacteria in raw materials and extend the shelf life of cold and fresh products.

Wang Shaoyun, dean of the School of Food Science of Fuzhou University, said that aquatic products are a relatively large category of prepared dishes, and the frozen prepared vegetable industry and aquatic product processing industry have a high degree of compatibility, from raw material attributes, processing process, marketing channels to nutritional convenience, there are close connections
.
In addition, the research and development foundation of frozen aquatic food is relatively solid, which can effectively inhibit the growth and recrystallization of ice crystals in a low-temperature cold chain environment, inhibit low-temperature denaturation and oxidation of proteins, and improve the water holding capacity and recovery of products
.

Jiang Junwu, vice chairman of the Food Additives Branch of the Chinese Society of Food Science and Technology and general manager of Yantai Xinhe Enterprise Food Co.
, Ltd.
, pointed out from the perspective of seasoning enterprises that pre-made dishes are one of the solutions after the upgrade of consumers' health needs, and enterprises should have more, more flexible and healthier solutions in the face of the needs of Generation Z, lazy economy and silver-haired people
.
As a condiment manufacturer committed to healthy eating, Shinho hopes to help the development of the prepared vegetable industry and provide more delicious solutions
for the industry.

Wang Lin, general manager of Lixiangguo, said that Lixiangguo insists on deeply restoring the flavor of food, so that consumers can break geographical restrictions and eat more food
without leaving home.
Lixiangguo is a young brand that has successively developed old Shanghai onion oil cake, chicken soup wonton and Chengdu Zhengjing pork series products using innovative technology, which are loved by consumers
.

In recent years, the emergence of intelligent kitchen appliances has provided a solution
for families to make food.
How to cooperate with the development of prepared dishes and make food reheating more convenient and faster has become the main direction
of research.
Tang Xiangwei, director of the innovation center of Guangdong Midea Kitchen Appliance Manufacturing Co.
, Ltd.
, said that there are three main aspects of reheating intelligent technology, one is thawing technology, which uses different microwave processes to realize multi-stage infrared thawing algorithms, shortening the thawing time by 95% and reducing the total number of colonies by 44%.

The second is automatic reheating, to identify the type and maturity of ingredients, and judge the degree of
cookedness of food.
The third is the health research
of reheating of prepared dishes.
Midea pioneered the defatting algorithm, organically combined with the three cooking processes of micro-steaming, while effectively controlling humidity in the reheating process of prefabricated ingredients barbecue, realizing heterocyclic amine reduction control, and learning from the residual oxygen emission technology in the aviation field to create an oxygen-free environment during the cooking process, thereby improving the retention rate
of some beneficial substances.

Hu Wulian, director of the pre-product business department of China Resources Wufeng, said that if enterprises want to win survival space in the market competition, they must take the road of differentiation, combine their own advantages, and create advantageous products; Develop special dishes, develop the C-end market, and customize products for consumers' tastes and preferences; At the same time, it takes into account the mid-to-high-end business market and customizes special dishes
.

China Food News(Version 04, December 07, 2022)

(Editor-in-charge: Gao Na).