FBIF2019 Successfully Held in Hangzhou

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The Food & Beverage Innovation Forum 2019 (FBIF2019), organized by Simba Events, was held in Hangzhou International Expo Center in China on April 23, 2019. The forum, themed as "Gaining New Momentum from Open Innovation", paid attention to the new format in the food industry. 120+ global speakers and 4000+ decision makers from 700+ leading companies, including Nestle, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Mondelēz International, Nongfu Spring, Yili, Mengniu and etc., were all involved in the discussion of the most cutting-edge industrial trends. 100+ media partners from the UK, Singapore and China also gathered at the FBIF 2019 to disseminate the global F&B industry trends and the views from industrial experts to the world from a variety of perspectives.

Isabella Hsu, Founder & CEO of Simba Events made the opening remark

On the first day of the FBIF2019, the Plenary Session officially started after the opening remark by Isabella Hsu, the Founder & CEO of Simba Events. Isabella pointed  out that FBIF not only kept focusing on its own growth from 2014 to 2019, but also continually observed the trends of global F&B industries, and found that more and more small but promising companies showed their strong product power, which has attracted the great attention of the top 100 companies in the global food industry.

Aalt Dijkhuizen, President of Dutch Topsector Agri & Food; Former President&CEO, Wageningen University&Research

The Conference Chairman Aalt Dijkhuizen, the President of Dutch Topsector Agri & Food and the former President & CEO of Wageningen University & Research, presented his speech and pointed out that the tremendous changes in the F&B markets in China, such as the rising of new middle class, the growing spending power of the Millennials, the increasing demand for healthy aging and individualization, are urging the enterprises to be more open to the changes.

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FBIF2018 Topic Continued: On the Internationalization of China's Domestic Brands

In the FBIF2018, the topic On the Internationalization of China's Domestic Brands was discussed. This year, we started with the same topic, to continue the thinking and start the new journey of this year. What does the global enterprise mean? What challenges does Chinese brands meet while going abroad? How to build and enhance the cultural awareness of the brand? Moderated by Aalt Dijkhuizen, panelists from CHIC Group, Nongfu Spring, Nestlé Xiamen Yinlu Foods, Ausnutria Dairy (China) Co., Ltd. joined the discussion.

From the left to the right are: Edward Y.M Zhu, CEO of CHIC Group&Co-founder of Holland Center; Zhou Li, Secretary of the Board, Ph.D, Nongfu Spring; Aalt Dijkhuizen, President Dutch Topsector Agri & Food; Mayank Trivedi, President & CEO, Nestlé Xiamen Yinlu Foods; Yubiao Liu, Vice President of Ausnutria Dairy (China) Co., Ltd.; CEO of Hyproca Bio-Science Co. Ltd

Edward Y.M Zhu, the CEO of CHIC Group and the Co-founder of Holland Center said, "The biggest challenge for the internationalization of local enterprises is patience, waiting for unforeseen problems." Dr. Zhou Li, the Secretary of the Board of Nongfu Spring, stressed the importance of culture. In his words, the Chinese F&B enterprises already have strong manufacturing capabilities, but need to focus more on the cultural influence.

Yubiao Liu, the Vice President of Ausnutria Dairy (China) Co., Ltd. and the CEO of Hyproca Bio-Science Co. Ltd took the 15-year internationalization process of Ausnutria Dairy as an example, and concluded that enterprises shall not only possess integrity and experience, but also respect for culture and rules, and constantly deepen their understandings on cultures, consumers and government functions to achieve internationalization.

Mayank Trivedi, the President & CEO of Nestlé Xiamen Yinlu Foods, put forward some thoughts from another point of view. In fact, there is a large F&B market in China, with more opportunities comparing with other international markets, and the high speed of market changes. Thus, many internationalized and globalized enterprises are also developing business and looking for opportunities in China.

Afterwards, when answering the question concerning the ways and strategies for Chinese enterprises to acquire and invest in overseas companies, Dr. Zhou Li thought that the first thing for the enterprise to consider is whether the overseas company can bring attractive benefits, such as proprietary technology , skills, brands and etc., and then shall balance the challenges of culture and law.

02

The Overview of Trends in 2019: Consumption & Marketing

In the forum, Gisele Gurgel, the Director Global Business Information and Insights of Tetra Pak, shared the global consumption trend in 2019. "Today, at this moment, you are experiencing the slowest change in your future life." Gisele Gurgel conceived some future scenarios of the F&B industry: door-to-door delivery and small community stores will gradually replace large and medium-sized supermarkets; personalization will become the norm of manufacturing; brands will keep segmenting; sustainable food and packaging will become new rules all over the world.

Gisele Gurgel, Director Global Business Information and Insights, Tetra Pak

Future consumers will be more interested in 360-degree health and sustainable choices, as well as convenience and personalized experience. Under this trend, products that have clear goals, that can bring obvious benefits and convenience to consumers and provide customized nutrition service, are more likely to achieve success.

Helen Luan, General Manager of Tencent Marketing Solution

Accordingly, brand marketing strategies also need to be upgraded and innovated. Helen Luan, the General Manager of Tencent Marketing Solution, delivered a speech entitled " Succession after facing difficulties, from operating to sales: the Chinese smart way of global food and drinks industry". Under the new situation, the synergy and linkage between branding and effect-based advertising are the issues that all advertising practitioners and brand companies need to consider. Trends like consumer digitalization, retail’s full involvement in marketing, and real industry brands turning to online operation, will bring more effective communication solutions for brand marketing in China's market.

03

Transformation of Large Food Corporations: Open Innovation

In face of the rapidly changing market and business environment, many food giants at home and abroad has carried out joint innovation through external cooperation, or cooperated with start-ups to complement each other. In the panel discussion moderated by Aalt Dijkhuizen, panelists from General Mills and PepsiCo shared the innovative experience of large food enterprises with the theme "Embrace Open Innovation, Welcome New Growth".

From the left to the right are: Dr. Olaf Gruess, Technology Manager & Global Connector of General Mills; Aalt Dijkhuizen, President Dutch Topsector Agri & Food; Daniel Grubbs, Managing Director of PepsiCo Ventures Group

Dr. Olaf Gruess, the Technology Manager & Global Connector of General Mills, believed that open innovation has long-term and short-term goals; its short-term goals are to make products meet the demand and sustain growth, and long-term goals are to better support their businesses. "Innovation needs cooperation and many large corporations need to implement the entrepreneurial mindset in order to sustain in this rough landscape as more start-ups come onto the plate." In the cooperation with new force, like start-ups, large corporations should clearly understand each other's interests, values and related points, to find the best partnership for each other, to create value for both sides, and finally to benefit from it.

Daniel Grubbs, the Managing Director of PepsiCo Ventures Group, PepsiCo, added that brands need to be proactive in collaborative innovation. Meanwhile, for the strategic partnership, it is needed to find the right way to pilot and test before further investment. Brands need to try out some attractive and innovative ideas and develop them through investment or incubation.

Daniel Grubbs, Managing Director of PepsiCo Ventures Group, PepsiCo.

Daniel Grubbs also shared How Do Food Giants Realize Transformation, Growth and Arrange for the Future by CVC (Corporate Venture Capital). When making investment choices, PepsiCo will first find out the strategic growth potential of start-ups or dual-ventures, and then to see its real potential after full commercialization. The following are some questions need to be fully considered before investing: Will this business concept bring loyalty and satisfaction to consumers? Are products unique and different in the minds of consumers? Can the brand continue to develop?

Nini Chiang, CMO of Greater China Region, Nestle (China) Ltd.

Innovation means doing the same thing in different ways. Nini Chiang, the CMO of Greater China Region from Nestle (China) Ltd., delivered a speech on the theme of “Innovation Accelerates Business Transformation", introducing Nestle's innovations from four aspects, including core category innovation, experiential innovation, exploring gaps, and marketing innovation. Among those four aspects, the incubator model for exploring gaps is customized for Chinese consumers, which focuses on developing new and cross-category products. The incubator model shortens the research and development time from 18-24 months to 6-8 months.

04

CEO Grand Meeting: Opportunities & Challenges

FBIF2019 specially planned the CEO Grand Meeting, a high-level closed-door meeting. Senior executives from brand companies home and abroad, trends experts, and leaders in the investment organizations gathered together and discussed the F&B industry’s future strategies.

From the left to the right are: Isabella Hsu, Founder & CEO of Simba Events; Jingyue Wang, Co-founder, Baicaowei and Tenghe Hu, Managing Director, CITICPE

Moderated by Isabella, the first discussion was started with the topic "Consumption Upgrade". Jingyue Wang, the Co-founder of Baicaowei, and Tenghe Hu, the Managing Director of CITICPE took part in the discussion. Jingyue Wang believed that the current market is full of products, but consumers' desires are declining because their demands are stricter, and enterprises need to have more touching proposals, more subtle insight and real empathy.

Lewis Choi, Vice President, Digital Solutions China, Thermo Fisher Scientific

Another topic of great concern is food safety. Lewis Choi, the Vice President of Digital Solutions China from Thermo Fisher Scientific, revealed the question How Can Food and Beverage Producers Benefit from the Digital Transformation of the Laboratory?. Lewis Choi believed that the digital transformation of laboratories can help ensure the traceability from raw materials to finished product and prevent inferior or potentially dangerous products from being mistakenly distributed on the market, and it can finally ensure product quality, consumer safety and brand safety.

From the left to the right are: Alick Zhou, President of Ipsos China; David Zhang, CEO, Shanghai Totole Food Ltd., Mayank Trivedi, President & CEO, Nestlé Xiamen Yinlu Foods

China has become the second largest economy in the world. However, the awareness of Chinese brands in the international market is surprisingly low. Alick Zhou, the President of Ipsos China, moderated the topic What’s the road for Chinese F&B brands overseas expansion. David Zhang, the CEO of Shanghai Totole Food Ltd., and Mayank Trivedi took part in the discussion. David Zhang shared that few Chinese brands can occupy the minds of global consumers, and Totole did not make much achievement until today since its overseas expansion for nearly 20 years.

From the left to the right are: Huang Hai, Principal, FREES FUND; Dr. Zhou Li, Secretary of the Board, Nongfu Spring; Kathy Chen, Business Development Manager, Australian Consulates-General; Guo Qi, VP of MissFresh and Co-founder, TCA Venture Capital; Himanshu Chaturvedi, Country Head, Olam

As the final topic of this CEO Grand Meeting, "Opportunities and Challenges in the 10 Trillion Agricultural Market" was discussed under the chairmanship of Huang Hai, the Principal of FREES FUND, and the panelists were Dr. Zhou Li, the Secretary of the Board of Nongfu Spring, Kathy Chen, the Business Development Manager of Australian Consulates-General, Guo Qi, the VP of MissFresh as well as the Co-founder of TCA Venture Capital, Himanshu Chaturvedi, the Country Head of Olam.

Referring to the opportunities and challenges in China's agricultural market, Guo Qi thought that the younger generations are willing to pay a premium for enjoying life, which brings great opportunities to the market, while the challenge is that the value chain from production, supply to circulation is too long. Himanshu Chaturvedi, pointed out that there are still many shortcomings in China's agricultural industry, especially in the processing of agricultural products.

05

Marking Awards 2019 Ceremony: Art & Business

Marking Awards 2019 Ceremony

As the last part of the first day of FBIF2019, the ceremony of Marking Awards 2019, a global food & beverage packaging design award, was successfully host by Shushu Li, the Awards Director of Simba Events, and Christophe Pradere, the CEO & Founder of BETC Design & BETC Asia. At the Marking Awards 2019 Ceremony, the world-wide excellent packaging designs that well balance art and business were presented, illustrating the forward-looking power of design. 37 works were awarded among the over 500 entries from 200 enterprises and institutes, and the winning rate was only about 7%.

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About the Food & Beverage Innovation Forum

The Food & Beverage Innovation Forum (FBIF) is one of the most influential F&B industry forums in Asia-Pacific. It is dedicated to collecting, analyzing and sharing the most representative business cases and the most innovative idea and technologies, in order to help decision-makers gain the insight into market trends and push the F&B industry forward. From 2014 to 2018, the annual FBIF has been held five times, with the number of participants increasing from 250+ in 2014 to 2000+ in 2018, almost eight times growth.

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