On November 5, the 9th China International Import Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "CIIE") kicked off at the Shanghai National Convention and Exhibition Center. The scale of this CIIE has reached a new high: the number of corporate exhibitors is the highest ever, the corporate exhibition area has exceeded 370,000 square meters for the first time, the number of Fortune 500 and industry-leading exhibitors has exceeded 300 for the first time, and there are more than 480 representative exhibits that are first in the world, first in Asia, and first in China. The open Chinese market is providing a broad stage for global industries to share opportunities.
As a "Quality Student" participating in the CIIE for nine consecutive years, Wilmar International and its subsidiary Yihai Kerry Arowana, with the theme of "Technology Empowers Healthy Sharing", appeared in the agricultural and food product exhibition area as scheduled. Focusing on the main line of "Big Health Product Matrix", they focused on presenting innovative products, independent research and development technologies and circular economy industry models. Yihai Kerry Arowana starts from consumers' demands for balanced nutrition and is supported by the entire industry chain and technological innovation. It upgrades the traditional "1:1:1" concept of fatty acid balance to the "new 1:1:1" under the great health dimension of the new era - safety, nutrition and health. In terms of new products, new faces and big health specialty products such as Arowana Comfort Vinegar, D Allulose, Fengchu 14 Grain Rice Balls, Fengyitang Phytosterol Natto Tablets, and Vitamin E Soft Capsules made their debut at the CIIE. This grain, oil and food company, which has been rooted in China for nearly 40 years, uses the CIIE as a window to respond to the era's proposition of a healthy China, food security and green transformation. It also clearly conveys its long-term choice of being firmly optimistic about China and continuing to deepen its cultivation in China.
Answer with a comprehensive health product matrix, integrating technology and oriental nutrition into three meals a day
On the opening day, there was an endless flow of people in front of the Yihai Kerry Arowana booth, with many consumers coming to experience the great health products. This year, the exhibition area broke from the previous simple classification of "rice, noodles, and oil" and changed to zoning based on nutrient functions, with the oils and fats area, staple food area, protein area, and flavor area spread out in sequence. Each booth incorporates scientific and technological elements to concretely present in front of the audience how scientific research and innovation results can be implemented into a safe, nutritious and healthy comprehensive health product system.
This change is not a simple exhibition adjustment, but a microcosm of the development and changes of the grain, oil and food industry. At present, China has a large number of overweight, obese and chronic disease groups. There are more than 300 million cardiovascular patients and more than 100 million people with diabetes. At the same time, the elderly population has reached more than 200 million. Young people's personalized needs for health are also growing. Residents' consumption needs are moving from "eating full" and "eating well" to "eating healthy." Dietary intervention is regarded as a key part of solving the problem of "emphasis on treatment and neglect of prevention", and is also highly consistent with the direction of the Healthy China strategy. Relying on its profound scientific research accumulation and tens of millions of tons of agricultural product processing capabilities, Yihai Kerry Golden Arowana has launched the big health brand "Arowana Fengyitang", which extracts functional nutrients from natural ingredients on a large scale, creates food "functional chips" through technological empowerment, and integrates Oriental food nutrition concepts into three meals a day for the public, allowing consumers to improve their health conditions without changing their eating habits.
At the booth, functional products such as diglyceride oil and phytosterol series became the focus of the audience's attention. What is the difference between these products and ordinary grain and oil products? How to ensure cost and quality? The staff talked about the core barriers behind the product. Lipase is the key to determining the production efficiency and quality stability of diglyceride oil. After more than ten years of research and development, Yihai Kerry Arowana has mastered the entire chain of food enzyme technology from strain screening, fermentation optimization to process application, which not only ensures the stability and quality of the product, but also has obvious advantages in cost control and by-product utilization. The research and development of phytosterol series products integrates plant nutrition and oil refining technology. The company extracts high-purity natural vitamin E and phytosterols through a self-developed supercritical process. No catalyst is used in the entire process, no wastewater is generated during the esterification stage, and other waste emissions are significantly reduced.
In order to make the health concept perceptible and experienceable, the large health interactive area and product tasting activities specially set up at the booth are one of the most popular areas. When the audience stands on the body fat scale, the staff will combine their health needs such as blood lipids, blood sugar, intestines, muscles, body weight and body fat, and integrate the concept of the 24 solar terms to match appropriate healthy recipes for three meals a day. Tasting activities such as comprehensive health and plant-based meat products, central kitchen products, and food industry products were presented in turn, and the real taste of healthy meals was directly presented to the audience. The audience tasted and asked questions, truly "turning the booth into a dining table."
Based on circular economy and intensive processing, we will reshape the industrial value in the process of "eating everything and squeezing it all out"
If big health products answer "what to provide consumers", then the circular economy and intensive processing model answer "what to support and how to be sustainable". The nutrients in functional foods do not come out of thin air, but come from the in-depth development of the full value of agricultural products.
At present, the ratio of China's agricultural processing output value to total agricultural output value is about 2.65:1, while that of developed countries is about 4:1. To become an agricultural power, we must pay attention to the development of the grain and oil processing industry, improve the level of intensive processing of agricultural products, and maximize the value of every grain. Yihai Kerry Arowana has innovatively developed a series of circular economy and intensive processing industry models such as "rice circular economy, intensive wheat processing, soybean intensive processing, corn intensive processing, and green processing and utilization of oil by-products", and uses agricultural scientific research and innovation to effectively promote the development of high-quality agricultural modernization.
A rice circular economy exhibition area was set up at the booth, and the world's first rice circular economy model - "eating dry and squeezing out" every grain of rice - was presented on site: rice bran was squeezed into rice oil, from which high value-added nutrients such as oryzanol, phytosterols, and natural vitamin E were extracted; rice husk was burned and converted into steam and electricity; the burned rice husk ash was then used to extract silica, which is used as a wear-resistant additive in industrial products such as tires and sports shoes, and the rest can also be made into activated carbon. At present, one grain of rice can produce more than 40 kinds of products, all of which are high value-added products. Once regarded as a by-product of waste, value is added layer by layer under the influence of technology, creating a green path for efficient resource utilization.
The value of this model is even more significant when placed in the coordinate system of national food security and the "double carbon" strategy. It is estimated that all the rice bran contained in the country's annual 200 million tons of rice production is used for oil extraction, which can produce about 2.3 million tons of rice oil, which is about 5% of the country's small packaged oil supply. This is equivalent to saving 110 million acres of soybean farmland for the country and significantly increasing China's oil self-sufficiency rate without competing for land with grain. All rice husks are burned, which can save 19 million tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 53 million tons (calculated based on 5,000 kcal/kg of raw coal). The "6-step fresh rice precision control technology" developed on this basis can reduce field losses caused by late harvesting by an average of 5% and increase the rice yield by 1% to 4%. Based on rice production estimates in the northern one-crop cropping areas, if the fresh-cut model is widely adopted, the production can be increased by about 2.35 million tons, equivalent to the annual rice consumption of about 21 million people, truly responding to the national grain-saving and loss-reducing policy advocacy.
The nine-year CIIE has witnessed China's firm pace of high-level opening up to the outside world, and also recorded the growth trajectory of a patriotic overseas Chinese enterprise and the Chinese market that have achieved mutual success. Rooted in China for nearly 40 years, Yihai Kerry Arowana has invested approximately RMB 100 billion in China, of which approximately RMB 60 billion has been invested since 2018, exceeding the total of the previous 30 years. The continuous increase in real money is proof of the company's confidence in the long-term improvement of China's economy, and is also its solemn commitment to deeply explore the Chinese market and integrate into China's development.
Standing at a new development node, the construction of a healthy China continues to advance, food security is the country's top priority, and green transformation is the general trend of the industry. Wilmar International and Yihai Kerry Arowana will continue to be optimistic about China, invest in China, and deeply cultivate China. They will continue to use scientific and technological innovation as the core driving force to transform more scientific research results into healthy products on the national table, promote the circular economy model to a broader industrial scene, and grow and prosper together with the Chinese market.
