how can a single main raw material achieve vertical deep excavation and horizontal divergence, and achieve the first category? Kuda fruit making, the leader of Japanese rice fruit culture, gave us a demonstration.
Text: Giselle Yin
Source: foodaily daily food (ID: foodaily)
A rice man is a rice soul. For many Chinese people, especially southerners, if they don’t eat rice one day, they will be exhausted. China is one of the countries with the longest history of rice farming and the richest genetic resources of rice. It is known that rice is the origin of cultivated rice in the world. Rice has been the staple food of the Chinese people for thousands of years. It is mentioned that rice occupies a dominant position in the food culture Countries with important status, except China, have to mention Japan.
Rice is the foundation of Japanese food culture and one of the few self-sufficient grains in Japan. In addition to being their favorite staple food, rice has also been processed into various dishes, condiments, wines, desserts and snacks in Japan.
Hagi cake, the picture comes from the network
One of the most popular rice snacks is Japanese rice fruit, which first appeared in the literature about 1300 years ago and began to have “rice fruit” in the Showa era The food with this name has been evolving with the efforts of Japanese rice fruit enterprises, large and small, and is still loved by everyone. Even overseas, it has gradually gained popularity. Among many rice fruit enterprises, Kuda fruit making is recognized as the leader.
The length of persimmon seeds produced by kutian fruit making in a year can reach 1.5 times the distance from the earth to the moon
From Japan’s national snack “persimmon seed” to this year’s popular product “unlimited rice fruit”, take “rice” Why can Kuda fruit making, which develops snacks with this kind of raw material, become the first enterprise in Japan’s rice fruit industry? Why can its persimmon seed become a national snack? In addition to persimmon seed, how can rice play new tricks? Where can the footprint of a grain of rice reach the farthest? As a traditional food developer with strong domestic characteristics, what are the successful practices of Kuda fruit making worth mentioning What inspiration can it bring to domestic enterprises?
Explosive products are frequent, and Kuitan persimmon species enter the international space station as space food
Kuda system, headquartered in Niigata, Japan, as a leading rice fruit enterprise with a 30% market share in Japan, has successively launched popular commodity series such as サラダホププピナッツりりのサダうすすすサラダダすすand happy turn. It became the first enterprise in sales in the rice fruit industry in 1975 and took the lead in listing in the industry in 1984.
Photo source: turtle field fruit making official website
In the online survey of “impression on snack manufacturers” launched by Japanese Internet research company myvoice this year, 91.6% of the respondents said they knew the brand of Kuda fruit, and 57.2% of the respondents believed that Kuda fruit was providing delicious products for consumers.
250% magic powder happy turn, picture official website: turtle field fruit official website
In addition to the best-selling Changhong persimmon variety for 55 years and happy turn, which has just ushered in the 45th Anniversary of its launch, Guitian fruit has launched a new big explosive product “unlimited” this year, with sales exceeding 1 million bags in only one week. In December 2020, “Guitian persimmon variety” It also entered the international space station as space food. With the efforts of Kuda fruit making, the rice in Niigata rice field finally flew into space.
Infinity, photo source: Infinity ad hoc website
Times make heroes, eight evolutions,
The way of national snack attack of kutian fruit persimmon
In Japan, when mentioning “persimmon species”, almost all the persimmon species that appear in everyone’s mind are those made of Kuda fruit. Many people think that Kuda fruit is the inventor of persimmon species. However, in fact, persimmon species were not invented by Kuda fruit, but originated from an old rice fruit shop called spray house.
In addition, kutian fruit making was not an enterprise producing rice fruit at first. In the era of food shortage shortly after the war, its predecessor, kutian township farmers’ combination entrusted processing Institute, began to accept the entrustment of local farmers to process rice into water malt ， However, this business is very laborious and gradually becomes unprofitable. In order not to waste the stored rice raw materials, the processing Institute began to turn to the production of rice fruit.
As the representative of national snacks for more than 50 years, persimmon, the representative category of kutian fruit making, has experienced eight evolutions.
First evolution: Persimmon species were commercialized and peanuts were added
Although kutian fruit making is not an enterprise that invented persimmon species, it still plays an extremely important role in the evolution of persimmon species as a national snack, because it is the first enterprise to commercialize persimmon species, which is also the first evolution of persimmon species. Another evolution of persimmon species during this period was the addition of peanuts on the basis of the original simple rice fruit.
Although there is still controversy about who was the first to add peanuts to persimmon seeds, kutian fruit did incorporate this highly praised collocation into its own products at that time. In addition, the hollow cavity and unique crisp taste are also one of the reasons why persimmon is popular.
CT analysis of Guitian persimmon. One of the keys to maintaining crisp taste is its hollow structure. Source: newscast
The second evolution: the introduction of independent small packaging has changed the eating scene of persimmon species
In 1977, kutian fruit production launched a package of persimmon seeds in 6 small bags, realizing the second evolution. Because peanuts are easy to oxidize, KuoDa was the first to introduce the “nitrogen filling method” to keep the products fresh. Independent packaging keeps persimmon delicious and easy to carry.
This evolution has changed the eating scene of persimmon species, which can be enjoyed outdoors and can be eaten at one time. Persimmon species have also changed from the amount eaten by a family in the past to more suitable for one person. Children can also take them into the room and eat them themselves. After evolution, the sales of kutian persimmon species increased significantly.
Six subcontracted persimmon varieties that appeared in 1977, photo source: luoshang memorandum
The third evolution: Beer war, accidentally become a drink snack
In the second half of 1980, the appearance of Asahi’s “superdry” dry beer triggered a “beer war”, which ignited the competition for market share in the beer industry and led to an increase in the demand for drinks and snacks. Due to its good match with beer, the sales volume of kutian persimmon increased three times during this period, which also established its unshakable position in the category of wine and snacks.
In 1994, many products similar to Guitian persimmon began to appear on the market. In order to form differentiation, Guitian fruit added the pattern of blue ribbon on the package of persimmon, which has been retained until now. In 2001, Guitian fruit added the design of persimmon mascot on the package, and this differentiation was further strengthened. In 2004, the persimmon mascot on the package welcomed its new friends, and the designs of two mascots based on persimmon and peanut began to appear on the package
Two mascots of persimmon seed, photo source: Guitian fruit persimmon seed official website
The fourth evolution: the introduction of mustard flavor is refreshing
Since 2000, the first new flavor product of kutian persimmon, mustard persimmon, has been launched, and the third evolution has taken place. Since then, the evolution of kutian fruit in new tastes has never stopped, and hundreds of products have been released so far. In addition to the most classic original soy sauce flavor, with the emergence of new flavors, the taste of conventional products is also increasing. Nowadays, the classic soy sauce flavor, plum perilla flavor and mustard flavor have become the three families of Guitian persimmon.
Persimmon seed dingfanyu three, picture source: Guitian fruit persimmon seed official website
The fifth evolution: improve the process and launch a new slogan “always crisp!”
In 2003, kutian fruit making improved the production technology of persimmon species, made persimmon species more delicious, and realized the fifth evolution.
In 2016, Kuitan persimmon species ushered in the 50th anniversary of its sale. As a commemorative activity, Kuitan fruit production successfully challenged the production of 55.4cm huge persimmon species, which is 3000 times larger than the normal persimmon species, and also won the Guinness world record. At the same time, Guitian persimmon species has also launched a new slogan of “forever crisp”. Inspired by persimmon species that look like “1” and peanuts that look like “0”, October 10 is set as the “day of Guitian persimmon species”.
In terms of products, as a commemorative enterprise plan, Kamata fruit has launched a mixed gift box with limited regional flavors in Japan, and also launched the “world record of spicy persimmon varieties” plan to find “new spicy flavor” suitable for persimmon varieties all over the world and develop a series of new products.
Comparison between giant persimmon species and ordinary persimmon species source: Official Website of fruit persimmon species in kutian
The sixth evolution: subversive attempts and changes from packaging to content
In 2018, Kuitan persimmon species faced a challenge in product form and realized the sixth evolution. Among them, “tanezack – タネザック -” released this year is very subversive to traditional persimmon varieties from packaging to contents. This new product, aimed at male consumers aged 20-50, suppresses crushed persimmon and peanuts into a hemispherical shape. It has a simple and novel taste, a pleasant chewing sound, a strong taste, a convenient bite size and is not easy to dirty your hands. People can’t help but want to eat one by one. Packaging has also changed from traditional bag packaging to paper cup packaging, which looks “fashionable” a lot.
Even in the advertisement, in order to emphasize the taste and chewing sound of the product, such a lens is designed: the popular voice is excellent, eat a tanezack, and then get close to the male’s ear, and the chewing sound that stimulates appetite is amplified. Finally, Shengyou whispered in his ear, “is there a heartbeat?”. These designs and changes have had an impact on persimmon varieties with a solidified impression. They are considered to have overcome all the shortcomings of traditional persimmon varieties, such as “inconvenient to eat one grain”, “old-fashioned”, “wine and snacks only eaten by Uncle”, “too big bag”, and have also won a lot of praise.
Tanezack – タネザッククククククタネザッククククククククク12463
The seventh evolution: the golden ratio of persimmon species changes again
By 2020, Kuitan persimmon species will usher in a new evolution again. One of the reasons why Guitian persimmon is delicious is its “golden ratio”. However, Guitian fruit making believes that this “golden ratio” will not remain unchanged because the people who eat persimmon are changing. At the initial sale, the ratio of persimmon to peanut in kutian persimmon was 7:3, and then it became 5:5 according to the opinions of consumers. However, this change received a lot of bad comments and poor sales, so the ratio became 6:4.
In 2019, the turtle field fruit system launched the activity of “I want to change the turtle field fruit system! Doubt the” rightful “national vote!”. According to the consumer voting results, Kuitan fruit production once again changed the ratio of persimmon to peanut to 7:3.
The eighth evolution: it took 7 years and finally became space food
In 2021, the evolution of Kuitan persimmon species entered space. After three years of research and development, Kuitan persimmon species obtained the space Japan food certification (JAXA) in 2017 and was finally sent to the international space station on December 8, 2020. In 2021, cosmonaut Satoshi Noguchi introduced and tried this space food persimmon in the video of the international space station. So far, it took seven years, and the space food story of KuoDa persimmon finally came to an end.
Space food persimmon species, photo source: Guitian fruit persimmon species official website
This is the evolution of kutian persimmon in the 55 years since its birth in 1966. In the past five years, the popularity of persimmon species has not decreased. As the king of sales in all products of kutian fruit making, it has contributed a lot of sales and become the driving force for the rapid development of the enterprise. How will kutian persimmon species evolve in the future? This is very expected.
There are more than 200 kinds of products. Kutian fruit is famous for its persimmon varieties,
But it didn’t start with persimmon
As the first Japanese rice fruit enterprise, Kuda has more than 200 kinds of fruit products, and the products are far more than persimmons. Many people think that kutian fruit making started with persimmon species, but in fact, the first hot single product of this brand is not persimmon species, but “persimmon species”.
It is said that the sales of “サラダホプププププ” sold in 1961 laid the foundation for kutian fruit to become a large company. The reason why this product became popular is that as a rice fruit, it is seasoned with salad oil and salt, which is completely different from the most orthodox soy sauce flavor of traditional rice fruit. Since then, there have been many popular products of kutian fruit making, among which the most prominent are persimmon and happy turn scallops, especially the completely self-developed happy turn, which can be said to be the representative products of the company.
Happyturn was launched in 1976. At that time, Japan was affected by the oil crisis and was in the dark of depression. The R & D personnel developed this product with the good wish of “let happiness return to the guests”. Different from the traditional Japanese hard salty soy sauce flavor Xianbei, this is a “western style” Xianbei. It is a long strip shape that is easy to eat. It is baked on both sides with an iron plate, and the texture is crisp and light.
The powder, which was very rare at that time, was used for seasoning to make a unique sweet and salty taste. In order to prevent the powder on Xianbei from falling and dirty hands when eating Xianbei, it was made into an independent package. These were unprecedented at that time.
Another delicious key of happy turn is the “magic powder” on its surface, which brings a sweet and salty taste that is difficult to copy, which is different from the traditional soy sauce flavor Xianbei. After improvement, the “powder capture” technology is adopted to process a “concave convex area” on the surface of Xianbei, and more “magic powder” is left in the groove called “powder pocket” on the surface of Xianbei.
Schematic diagram of “powder capture” technology of happyturn, picture source: j-net21
Since about 1979, western Japan, which likes sweet soy sauce and miso, first accepted the taste of happy turn and spread it all over the country by word of mouth. The main buyers are the parenting generation in their 30s to 40s, who share this snack with their children, thus successfully cultivating young users. From its launch in 1976 to today, it has been supported by consumers. It has grown into a best-selling product with annual sales of nearly 10 billion yen.
In addition to happy turn, there are many popular products for kutian fruit making. For example, “サゅダホプププソフトサダ” which ushered in the 60th anniversary of its launch, and “ソトサダ” which was launched in 1970. This year, a new explosive product “infinite エビビ” was launched. This fluffy, crisp, salty and fresh product became a topic on the social media platform before its launch, and sold out quickly, with sales exceeding 1 million bags in just one week.
Now, after adjustment, Kuitan has retained a total of 12 rice fruit product lines, and all products, including rice fruit, involve 15 categories.
Guitian fruit making product line, photo source: Guitian fruit making official website
Founded for more than 70 years, it is the first in the industry,
Why does the fruit made in turtle field grow red?
Guitian’s ingenious thinking of fruit making: preference research, product naming, channel differentiated products
In kutian fruit production, product development begins with goal setting. Subdivide and dig deep into the needs of consumers, and develop targeted products.
Take the above-mentioned “infinite” that immediately exploded once it was sold this year as an example. The main consumers of rice fruit are 50 ~ 60 generations. In order to obtain 30 ~ 40 generations of consumers and expand the rice fruit market, Kuitan has developed “unlimited fruit”. Kuda found that customers in the age group of 30 ~ 40 generations usually eat more potato chips and chocolate, and they are still “mild users” in rice fruit consumption.
By analyzing the preferences of this target group and some trends in the group, Kuitan fruit making found that among all kinds of rice fruit products, the young group consumed the most for the category of “fried rice fruit”. Compared with the hard traditional soy sauce pancakes, which are difficult to get started, because the preparation and seasoning of fried rice fruit are similar to potato chips, there are more snack users who choose to buy. According to this analysis result, the category of “fried rice fruit” was selected by Kuitan fruit making, and the shrimp flavor was selected after discussion.
Infinity, image source: Infinity
Product naming is also determined according to the “reverse push” of the target. It is found that the word “unlimited x ingredients” has become a trend in recent years, and there is also the experience of selling the taste of “unlimited salt flavor sauce (unlimited salt flavor)” of Guitian persimmon. In addition, four word product names are often better read and easier to remember. Based on these reasons, Kuitan fruit named the new product “infinite”.
Another example is that Guitian fruit has developed differentiated products for different shopping channels. On June 28, 2017, Amazon’s special product persimmon for male users was put on sale. On September 5, products for women of 20 ~ 30 generations began to be limited on rohaco, the daily necessities EC website. In 2013, Guitian fruit compared the proportion of persimmon and peanut in its main product persimmon An online questionnaire survey was conducted.
The results show that women prefer those with a large proportion of persimmons, while men prefer those with a large amount of peanuts.
Persimmon seeds with a mixed ratio of 3:7 on Amazon. Source: Amazon
In general, the ratio of persimmon to peanut sold in supermarkets is 6:4, while in Amazon, where male users account for 60%, kutian fruit has increased the proportion of peanuts in products according to the above analysis results, and adjusted the ratio of persimmon to peanut to 3:7. Although the specific sales volume has not been announced, the company said that “the sales volume has far exceeded the original expectation”.
Among the users of lohaco, there are more women of 20 ~ 30 generations. For this group, with the concept of “close to life”, we have developed website limited products with fashionable and exquisite packaging. The persimmon seeds and nuts inside are also the original collocation limited by lohaco. The taste is also determined according to the needs of women, such as the persimmon seeds with “truffle chocolate and cashew nut” flavor.
Shopping website lohaco limited persimmon species, photo source: @ press
In addition, persimmon consumers in supermarkets are mainly 40 ~ 60 generations. Therefore, Guitian fruit has sold products such as “Grapefruit Prince Ming” taste for women, “thick double cheese” taste for couples and wine, and “yuhaoshao” taste that can be shared by adults and children by reducing the spicy taste.
For another example, even for convenience stores, the customer base of convenience stores under various enterprises is also different, so the salesperson of kutian fruit making will investigate what kind of customers will come and what products will be popular. Then the marketing department will analyze these customers and compare them with the data of other enterprises, so as to determine the tastes that may hit the target consumers and what may appear in this year It is very important to distribute the taste pursued by consumers to the corresponding stores, which is also an effort made by sales and R & D to cooperate with each other for the launch of new products.
Such examples are numerous in the product development stories of Guitian fruit making, which is also one of the reasons why Guitian fruit making can continuously launch popular commodities.
Technical support and product improvement keeping pace with the times
Among the nearly 400 rice fruit enterprises in Japan, only six rice fruit enterprises in Niigata County, including Kuda fruit making, account for 70% of the sales of rice fruit products. In an interview, President Tanaka Tongtai, CEO of Kuda fruit making, said that one of the reasons why these six enterprises are so powerful is that they have achieved mechanization first and invested in equipment that can realize mass production. Another reason In order to expand its business scope to the whole country and expand its own circle, all enterprises can lead to industrialization in the early stage, which is inseparable from the help of the Food Research Institute in Niigata county.
In Niigata County, which is the largest rice producing county in Japan, the development of local rice fruit industry is based on the research results of industry university synergy of the collaborative combination of Niigata Agricultural Comprehensive Research Institute and Niigata rice fruit industry. The food research center used the production theory and processing methods established in the 1950s to guide the production and experiment of local rice and fruit enterprises. On the basis of these preliminary studies, kutian fruit making continued to study, put the research results into practical production and application, realized product production and achieved growth. Since then, each enterprise has also been committed to independent commodity development and technological innovation, which has laid the strength foundation of the enterprise.
Photo source: Official Website of Niigata New Rice Industry Innovation Technology Research Association
As an old rice fruit enterprise with a history of more than 70 years, Kuitan fruit making has been making efforts to prevent “brand aging” and will regularly “wake up the topic”. Most of the long-term best-selling products have changed compared with the products originally released. They will change the taste, packaging, price and size according to the changes of the times and environment, so as to increase the number of their “fans”. This can also make their products different from competitive products in the market.
Take another popular product “Grandma’s baked scallop (ぽぽた焼)” produced by Guitian as an example. This product has undergone many changes in its 35 year history.
- In 1986, the product was put on sale;
- In 1991, the formula of sugar soy sauce was adjusted;
- In 1998, the types of soy sauce and sugar were changed;
- In 2000, the product taste was improved and became more palatable;
- In 2002, it improved the taste again and became crisp and refreshing;
- In 2003, it continued to improve the taste and changed the dosage of sugar soy sauce;
- In 2005, the taste was improved to make the sweet taste more refreshing;
- In 2006, Xianbei became more fluffy and dry in taste;
- In 2011, the balance between soy sauce and sweetness in sugar soy sauce was adjusted to make the aftertaste more refreshing and not easy to get tired of;
- In 2016, without adding chemical seasoning, the soy sauce flavor was improved, and the taste was crisp but chewy.
From these changes, the products will change in flavor and taste every few years.
ぽたぽた焼, picture source: turtle field fruit making official website
At the same time, its packaging has been changing. Grandma, who has been on the package since it was put on sale, initially appeared as she slowly baked Xianbei for her grandchildren on a small stove. With the development of the times, people’s life scenes are constantly changing, which is also reflected in the old woman on the package. For example, people no longer use the stove, and the stove for baking Xianbei on the package has disappeared. Grandma is either taking Xianbei out of the package, or enjoying Xianbei, or wiping her mouth with a handkerchief, or holding a cup of hot tea.
On the package of baked scallops with limited tastes, such as honey and ginger, grandma is preparing honey and ground ginger in the kitchen, while on the package of maple sugar scallops, grandma is brushing maple syrup on the scallops. The change of the grandmother even caused discussion among fans for a time.
On the left is grandma on the packaging of the first generation products, and on the right is the current packaging. The stove has disappeared. Photo source: withnews
From eating for yourself, to eating for your children, and then to children, from snacks to big, this Xianbei loved by generations may not be because its taste remains the same, but because it has been changing to meet the needs of consumers in different times.
The second growth space developed by scene expansion and catering cross-border
One of the reasons for the significant increase in sales of kutian persimmon species in 1977 is that the emergence of independently packaged persimmon species has expanded the food scene of products. Persimmon species share large packaging at home to small quantities suitable for one person, and are easy to carry outdoors. Since then, Kuda fruit making has been making efforts to “reform the use method of persimmon seeds”, such as kakitane Cafe series suitable for coffee, Padron flavor persimmon seeds developed for restaurants and sold in the British bar chain hub, etc.
One of the most eye-catching reforms is the second growth space of Persimmon in the catering field.
Kakitane caf É series, suitable for persimmon varieties with coffee, picture source: やんごとねぇブログ
In the online questionnaire survey of “what is the kind of kutian persimmon?” launched by kutian fruit making in 2020, there is an unexpected and reasonable answer: “the kind of kutian persimmon is a universal seasoning.”
In fact, by opening the official website of persimmon seeds, you can see the display of various persimmon dishes and recipe teaching. Even in the staff canteen of kutian fruit making, you can eat persimmon dishes. In the kakitanex labo plan of Kuitan fruit making, as a project to explore and challenge the new eating methods and forms of “the next generation of persimmon seeds”, Kuitan fruit making has even developed equipment for grinding persimmon seeds into rice materials. By the way, space food persimmon is the second activity in this plan.
Example of persimmon seed recipe, picture source: Guitian fruit persimmon seed official website
Furikakix, which can grind persimmon seeds, photo source: withnews
In addition to its own official website, Guitian fruit has also launched cooperation projects such as and recipe website to develop new persimmon recipes and promote them. Take the cooperation between persimmon seed and delish kitchen as an example. In this cooperation promotion, in order to change the impression that “persimmon seeds are Dad’s wine and snacks” and let young people buy persimmon seeds themselves, the “10 on 10 best match” activity was planned with women of 20 ~ 30 generations as the center.
During the activity, many new recipes using persimmon seeds were developed. This cooperation with delish kitchen has directly driven the transformation from content creation to online advertising communication, and improved the target consumers’ understanding of products. The expansion of use methods and scenes gives more reasons for women of 20 ~ 30 generations to buy persimmon seeds and increases their possibility of buying persimmon seeds.
An example of a recipe in the Guitian persimmon x delish kitchen activity, photo source: advantimes
Persimmon cuisine not only provides a new use scenario, but also adds interest to consumers, provides high-quality content and new discussion topics, and becomes the material for communication on social media. The expansion of use scenarios ultimately leads to the expansion of consumer groups, which is also one of the powerful means for turtle field fruit making to win customers.
Actively listen to the opinions of consumers
Just this year, Kuda fruit production launched a new program “Kameda future research institute”. This plan focuses on five young employees aged 20-30, with the desire of “creating new products with customers”, and aims to develop products based on the voice of consumers. Kuda Zhiguo believes that among a large number of customer ideas and opinions, only a few can realize commercialization. Nevertheless, we also hope to make these valuable customer opinions materialize, and finally turn them into real goods and deliver them to customers.
The first product of this plan is “Zero sugar happy turn”. Although the project is still under crowdfunding, and if it can be successful, the product can only be delivered in January 2022, this is not the first attempt of Kuda fruit to improve or develop the product according to the opinions of consumers.
The first bomb trial product of the future research institute, picture source: newscast
Now known as the “seed of persimmon, dingfanyusanjia”, the seed of plum and perilla persimmon was actually a limited taste during the period, and became a regular commodity at the request of customers. In recent years, Kuitan fruit has made many new moves in communicating with consumers. In the “I want to change the fruit production in the turtle field! Doubt the” deserved “national vote!” implemented in 2019, according to the voting results, the proportion of persimmon seeds and peanuts was adjusted to 7:3, and the new proportion of persimmon seeds began to be sold in May 2020.
According to the customer opinions collected in the voting activities in 2019, Guitian Zhiguo held the “Guitian persimmon seed online summit” on September 6, 2020, received many unimaginable customer opinions and found some problems that customers noticed but didn’t notice. According to the questions raised by customers in the summit, Kuitan fruit has launched the investigation activity of “what is the persimmon seed in Kuitan? (what is the persimmon seed in Kuitan?” and reviewed more than 100000 suggestions. Based on these suggestions, Kuda produced the “guest voice” review report. At present, the report has been released to the fourth round ， Each time is accompanied by the sale of new products developed according to customer expectations.
In 2021, Guitian fruit again held “Guitian persimmon seed online summit 2021”, and discussed with the participants “when and where will you eat persimmon seed?” “for you, persimmon seed is a snack? Wine and vegetables? Or…?” “what needs to be done to get the love of 10 and 20 generations of women?” “what is Guitian persimmon seed for you?” and so on, Many interesting answers were obtained and the activity was a complete success.
The review report of “voice of guests” has been released to the fourth bomb. Photo source: Official Website
of fruit persimmon seeds made in kutian
For Guitian fruit making, through these actions of active communication with consumers, we can not only more accurately grasp the needs of the target population, develop new products targeted, but also form a good publicity effect, trigger active discussion and independent secondary communication, and even enhance the “loyalty” of some customers. This is one of the reasons why kutian fruit making can maintain its popularity for a long time.
Business development around rice
In the new medium-term management plan, Kuitan fruit production believes that these changes pose a threat to the diversification of tastes and the reduction of domestic population, which may lead to the loss of competitiveness of the traditional rice fruit market. In order to cope with the changing environment of the food industry, Kuitan fruit making plan conveys customer value from the perspective of “better for you” – contributing to a healthy lifestyle of choosing, eating and enjoying delicious and nutritious food, and expanding its business from snacks to other categories of food.
“Rice”, as the most important raw material of rice fruit, has always been the key research topic of turtle field fruit making. As an expert in rice research, Kuitan fruit has established a comprehensive Rice Research Institute to conduct various research on the taste, function, new materials and production technology of rice. These research results are also the cornerstone of Kuitan fruit food industry.
In addition to the well-known rice fruit, kutian fruit making is also using the rice related technology and experience accumulated over the years to study functional food. Its first product developed in fields other than rice fruit is low protein rice “YUME Gohan” for patients with chronic kidney disease.
Photo source: Official Website of kutian fruit Rice Research Institute
In addition, the products currently developed include “fluffy porridge” (ふ っ く ら お ゆ) “, which is suitable for people with chewing and swallowing difficulties according to the needs of the aging society. Plant lactic acid bacteria k-1, derived from rice, has the function of regulating intestine and moisturizing skin. Plant lactic acid bacteria K-2, from distiller’s grains, has anti allergic effect and can reduce the symptoms of atopic dermatitis and pollinosis.
With the aging of Japan’s population and the enhancement of health awareness, Kuda fruit making is continuing to study rice as a functional raw material in order to cooperate with external institutions to develop new health products.
Photo source: Official Website
of the Rice Research Institute for fruit making in kutian
In addition, in 2013, Kuda fruit acquired Weixi Food Co., Ltd., a pioneer company in the production and sales of long-term preserved food, as a subsidiary, expanding its new business in emergency food. Maisen and its subsidiaries, which produce xuanmi bread and vegetable meat, were acquired in February 2019, laying a foundation for further development of domestic vegetable food business. In 2021, Kuda fruit announced to cooperate with next meat to carry out plant protein business.
Applying the professional knowledge of rice fruit to new fields and actively looking for and developing new businesses is an attempt of kutian fruit making to transform research results into actual production and solve practical problems. It is also an enterprise with a “sense of crisis” to improve its ability to deal with crises and prepare for the future.
Japanese rice fruit goes to the world and Kuda’s future plan
As the No. 1 rice fruit company in Japan, Kuda fruit is far from satisfied with this, but will become a global food enterprise as the goal, hoping that rice fruit will be loved all over the world.
Kutian fruit making expanded overseas for the first time in 1989. Invested in sesame foods (now th foods) in the United States and began to produce and sell rice fruits in North America. With the help of health awareness and Japanese food boom, KuoDa fruit making has grown rapidly with low sensitization and low-fat rice biscuits. Kameda USA was established in California in 2008. In 2012, Mary’s gone crackers, an advanced rice biscuit company, was established as a subsidiary, consolidating its position in the North American market.
Kuda hopes to develop the brand in the North American market into a brand that can contribute both sales and profits. However, the road of development in the United States is not smooth. Due to the differences in food culture, although rice fruit is loved by some people overseas, its “Japanese attribute” is too strong, which is a resistance to the acceptance of products because this kind of food has never appeared in the daily diet of the United States.
The trend of health awareness and gluten free food in the United States has given kutian fruit products with rice as raw materials new opportunities to manufacture and sell products based on the concepts of organic, gluten free, vegetarian and whole grain ， Achieved tremendous growth. With the business enhancement of existing companies and the acquisition of healthy snacks business, it is expected that the sales in the United States will reach 16.525 billion yen by March 2024.
Example of products sold in the United States by Guitian fruit making source: Guitian fruit making official website
In Asia, “Qingdao Guitian Food Co., Ltd.” was established as a production base in Qingdao, China in 2003. At present, it is strengthening its sales to the Chinese market. In 2009, Thailand SMTC (now thaikameda) became a subsidiary and a supply base in Japan, Europe and the United States, including the Asian market. In 2020, “Singha Kameda (Thailand) Co., Ltd.” in Thailand will be established as a subsidiary and used as a platform for cross-border transactions to sell rice fruits all over the world. In recent years, Kuitan fruit has expanded its base to Vietnam, India and Cambodia, aiming to meet the needs of customers in various countries and expand cross-border transactions.
In 2013, Guitian fruit Making Co., Ltd. and thienha Corporation, a top Vietnamese rice fruit company, jointly established Thien ha Kameda, JSC to produce and sell localized products based on Guitian fruit making products for the fast-growing Vietnamese rice fruit market. Among them, Ichi, launched in 2014, performed very well in the Vietnamese market.
Product Ichi of Kuda fruit on sale in Vietnam, photo source: danang.style
Based on the “promotion” of kutian fruit making, Ichi increases sweetness and softer texture through honey. Perhaps these are the reasons why Ichi has quickly gained recognition in the Vietnamese market. Vietnam is a market with economic development and growing population, and has the habit of eating rice, so it is easier to accept rice fruit. In addition, Vietnam has a high degree of goodwill and trust in Japan. The active local sales staff and excellent partner companies are also the reasons for this success.
From a grain of rice in Niigata to a well-known rice fruit in Japan, and then to enter the world and fly to the universe, the success of Kuda fruit production is inseparable from R & D and technical foundation, vertical and horizontal excavation and divergence of categories, research on target consumer groups, and can effectively reflect the research results in their own products to achieve accurate touch and interesting marketing. At the same time, Kuitan fruit making pursues innovation and has a sense of crisis and challenge spirit, which is also a necessary characteristic for the long-term development of the enterprise.
In contrast, in China, in addition to being the staple food directly, rice is also made into rice noodles, rice cakes, rice wine, rice tofu, rice flower candy, dumplings, New Year cakes, Ciba, bait pieces, grinding Zhai, river noodles, sausage noodles and other snacks by Chinese people who love and can eat rice. It is spread all over the north and south of the river and has become the soul food loved by many people.
The revolution of modern agricultural technology, especially the vigorous promotion of hybrid rice, has significantly increased the yield of rice in China. According to the data of grain and oil center, China’s rice market has been in a situation of structural surplus for a long time. With the upgrading of Chinese consumption, the change of consumer demand and the development of world technology, the rice market also began to have consumption classification.
A number of new consumer brands cut into the subdivided demand and designed a variety of rice food. The high-end rice market has developed the selling point of “fresh rice”, and also developed the subdivided demand for different groups, such as germ rice and milled rice in the main mother and baby market; Non washable rice, small cans of rice, instant rice, etc. aimed at the single market. Meanwhile, there are also low carbon water rice products for the weight loss and body shaping, blackberry black rice with high anthocyanin content, low sugar rice suitable for diabetics, and functional rice products suitable for patients with kidney disease. In the industrial grain and food manufacturing industry, new categories such as self heating rice, instant porridge, rice pudding and rice sparkling wine emerge one after another, “rice” is appearing in front of consumers with a variety of more and more interesting new images.
But generally speaking, China’s rice industry has been in rough processing for a long time, and the branding rate and packaging rate of the market are very low. As an excellent case of local traditional raw materials, local development and overseas export of traditional food, can turtle field fruit production bring some inspiration and reference to China’s rice industry and even other industries? Will there be similar brands and products in China in the future?
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