Deepening The Standardization Of Sichuan Flavors: The Second Haoji Science Of Sichuan Flavors Conference Held In Chengdu

On October 20th, the "2023 Haoji Science of Sichuan Flavors Conference" was grandly held in Chengdu with the theme of "Scientific Sichuan Flavors, Creating the Future of Taste".

As the organizer of the Science of Sichuan Flavors Conference, Haoji, a local Sichuan flavor brand under Nestlé, specially invited experts from the academic, seasoning, and catering industries as well as media to gather together to discuss the future development trends of Sichuan cuisine, reach a consensus on the standardization of Sichuan seasoning, and demonstrate the scientificity and necessity of the "Flavor Pyramid" theory.

As a major announcement of this conference, Haoji announced the launch of the "Scientific Sichuan Flavors China Tour" project, which plans to hold over 1,000 promotional activities for chefs specializing in the Flavor Pyramid theory across the country in 2024. This will help popularize the concept of the "Haoji Flavor Pyramid" and promote the theory from scientific theory to practical application. It will assist chefs across the country in mastering the accuracy of Sichuan cuisine flavors, promote the standardization of Sichuan cuisine, and help Sichuan cuisine gain popularity and expand internationally.

This also marks the official entry of the "Haoji Flavor Pyramid Concept" into a new stage of practical development.

"Haoji Flavor Pyramid Concept" Becomes Industry Consensus

Last year's "Science of Sichuan Flavors Conference" saw Haoji, with more than 30 years of experience in the field of Sichuan seasoning, release the "Haoji Flavor Pyramid Concept", a scientific theory focusing on Sichuan cuisine seasoning, in collaboration with global research resources, Sichuan University, and senior Sichuan cuisine chefs.

As we all know, Sichuan cuisine emphasizes "one dish, one style: a hundred dishes, a hundred flavors". Therefore, the complex seasoning of Sichuan cuisine has become a major pain point for chefs and catering industry professionals. How to create authentic Sichuan flavors has become a top concern for everyone.

Leveraging its own advantages, Haoji has spent years of research and development to demonstrate the three-layer structure of basic flavors (the base of the pyramid), main flavors (the waist of the pyramid), and volatile aromas (the top of the pyramid) through the Flavor Pyramid theory. These three layers support each other, evolve sequentially, blend harmoniously, and achieve a coordinated and unified presentation of the overall taste.

It is understood that the "Haoji Flavor Pyramid Concept" has been officially published in the May 2023 issue of the domestic core journal "Modern Food Technology", marking the authority and recognition of this theory.

"Both at home and internationally, we have high expectations for the future development of Sichuan cuisine," Cao Hui, head of Nestlé's cooking food business in Greater China, said in his speech at the conference. In recent years, Sichuan cuisine has been a leader among regional cuisines. In the international market, Sichuan restaurants (including hotpot) also account for the largest proportion of overseas Chinese restaurants. Chinese cuisine is profound and extensive. Unlike Western cooking that focuses on ingredients, Chinese catering emphasizes seasoning. How to stably and high-quality output the 24 basic flavors and more and more innovative flavors of Sichuan cuisine will create a market with unlimited potential.
According to Cao Hui, Nestlé's cooking food business in Greater China will usher in a historic moment this year, with the entire business unit expected to exceed 10 billion yuan for the first time. As Nestlé's internally positioned "authentic Sichuan seasoning expert" brand, HaoJi is also the second largest brand in the business unit, and has maintained good double-digit growth in recent years. "Our philosophy and goal of building HaoJi into the 'first Sichuan seasoning brand' has not changed, and in the past year, we have laid out HaoJi's sales network in more regions throughout the country, believing that HaoJi will rapidly grow into a national brand," Cao Hui said.

From big data to case sharing, they discussed together what "Sichuan Flavor Science" is.

Driven by the rapid development of the Sichuan cuisine industry, an increasing number of catering, seasoning, and food companies are entering the market. Opportunities and risks often coexist in the chaotic market waves, and only those who have a keen insight into the opportunities can stand at the forefront. This conference specially invited five experts from the industry, media, and catering to jointly interpret what "Sichuan Flavor Science" is through data, examples, achievements, and perseverance.

"Seasoning is the soul of Sichuan cuisine, and digital seasoning is the key to the soul," said Chen Gong, chief expert of food research in Sichuan Province. He believes that the "HaoJi Flavor Pyramid Concept" has greatly helped and promoted the accuracy of Sichuan flavor, as well as the standardization of ingredients and products. "Flavor-oriented innovative flavor control technology can solve problems such as uncontrollable flavor, difficulty in standardization, and poor flavor in the industrial processing of Sichuan cuisine."

Fanning, co-founder of Hongcan Network and director of Hongcan Brand Research Institute, used a set of big data to demonstrate the development potential and challenges of Sichuan cuisine. "The number of Sichuan restaurants is second to none among all cuisines, especially in the new first-tier cities where the distribution ratio is extremely high, indicating huge growth potential." He also pointed out that the speed of innovation in Sichuan cuisine is relatively slow, "mainly because Sichuan cuisine has higher requirements for seasoning." The HaoJi Flavor Pyramid theory can well empower the innovation of Sichuan cuisine products and create new dishes that are more popular with the public.

Zhong Fanghua, former vice president of Yum! Brands, shared his experience in creating popular Sichuan-flavored dishes for large global catering companies. "Customer-centered business philosophy, continuously listening to consumer voices, coupled with scientific management and research and development processes, are crucial to ensuring the development of new products."

"The success of Zhu Guangyu comes from its replicable business model, which makes digitization implementable, standardization executable, and supply chain coverage achievable..." Li Yang, founding partner of the popular hotpot brand "Zhu Guangyu," stated that "only reproducible good taste can cultivate more stores and attract more customers."

Scientific process management is the guarantee for the sustained development of catering companies. Stable and high-quality output of the "hundreds of dishes with hundreds of flavors" of Sichuan cuisine is the top priority for seasoning companies. Imed Makhlouf, head of quality assurance for Nestlé's Greater China region, shared the experience of global food and beverage manufacturers. "HaoJi follows Nestlé's quality management system throughout the entire value chain, from the source production of agricultural products to processing, product release, and downstream quality management such as retail. We ensure that HaoJi delivers innovative, scientific, authentic, and professional Sichuan seasoning products to the market."

From theory to practice, the Scientific Sichuan Flavor China Tour officially kicked off.

 

"Practice is theonly criterion for testing truth." As a scientific theory for seasoning dishes, how it can play a role in practical applications and contribute to the standardized development of Sichuan cuisine has become the focus of the "HaoJi Flavor Pyramid Concept" in the future.

At the Sichuan Flavor Science Conference, Liu Shirong, General Manager of Sichuan Haoji Food Co., Ltd., announced that Haoji would launch the "Scientific Sichuan Flavor China Tour" project. He joined forces with Master Peng Ziyu, Master Xiao Jianming, Imed Makhlouf, Head of Quality Assurance for Nestlé's Greater China region, Yu Fei, Deputy Marketing Director of Tatler, Li Xiang, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Culinary College of Sichuan Tourism College, and Ge Huiwei, Vice President of Sichuan Business School, to jointly launch the project. According to reports, the project plans to hold more than 1,000 "Pyramid" chef-specific educational promotion activities nationwide in 2024, assisting chefs in various regions to scientifically master the accuracy of Sichuan cuisine flavors, proficiency in more authentic Sichuan seasoning application scenarios, and driving the development of the Sichuan cuisine industry nationwide.

With the rapid development of China's food industry and the continuous advancement of food science and technology, seasoning for Sichuan cuisine cooking no longer relies solely on empiricism. As more scientific seasoning concepts such as the "HaoJi Flavor Pyramid Concept" enter the practical stage, empowered by technology and management links in the new era, the entire Sichuan cuisine industry will undoubtedly create more popular products in the future, providing global consumers with more high-quality, stable, and authentic professional Sichuan-flavored products. This will also lay a solid foundation for the global development and layout of the Sichuan cuisine industry.