"With the improvement of government service and enterprise management, the canned food industry in Haixi has taken a step forward and become a barometer of the same industry in the country in terms of exports." In August 26th, Liang Zhongkang, director of China canned industry association, said in his research in Zhangzhou. During his stay in Zhangzhou, Liang Zhongkang brought in a group of experts to advise the canned food enterprises in Zhangzhou, and to discuss the next step with the local trade associations. In an interview with reporters, Liang Zhongkang believed that Fujian's canned food industry had bright prospects for development.

 

Liang Zhongkang, formerly in charge of the canned food industry in the State Ministry of Light Industry, is a treasure to the development of Fujian in this industry. Before the 1990s, Fujian canneries were state-owned enterprises, such as Zhangzhou Cannery and Xiamen Cannery, he said. Since 1999, the private canned food enterprises have risen and become the backbone of the industry. Some state-owned enterprises have successfully transformed. Fujian has thus become the main canned food producing area in China. In 2008, canned food export value of 3.6 billion U.S. dollars, canned food industry has become a leader in foreign exchange earnings, Fujian enterprises contributed. At present, Fujian canned products have formed four series of fruits, vegetables, meat, aquatic products, and mushrooms and asparagus canned products become competitive advantages.

 

Liang Zhongkang said that in just a few years, a number of large-scale canned food enterprises have flourished in Fujian, Lixing, Gulong, Tongfa, Zishan and other enterprises have become the national industry leader. In the face of the international financial crisis, driven by leading enterprises, the Canned Food Industry in Fujian Province, through adjusting the product structure, has experienced a decline in exports, but the value of exports has risen against the trend. In the first quarter of this year, the total value of exported canned goods in Fujian was $27 million, an increase of 4.02% over the same period last year. Among them, the export of vegetables and their products from the traditional Southeast Asian market to Europe, the United States and Japan and other high-end dehydrated vegetables and salt vegetables market expansion. The newly added canned tomato sauce has become a new force for export, and canned meat has resumed sales in Singapore and occupied 70% of the local market share.

 

"The development of canned food in Fujian provides a good reference for the development of the whole country." Liang Zhongkang said that since the international financial crisis, canned food exports have been faced with such unfavorable external factors as reduced orders, increased settlement risk, and increased inventory. These factors also indirectly affect the prices of raw materials for agricultural products, with canned food exports declining by 18% in the first half of the year. He believed that the canned food industry in Fujian should study the Countermeasures in time and turn the crisis into an opportunity through technological innovation, product innovation and marketing innovation.

 

Liang Zhongkang also put forward suggestions for the development of canned food industry in Fujian. He said that processing trade, focus only on exports, innovation can not keep up with the disorderly competition in the industry are the four internal bottlenecks. Substitute processing and label production, so that the market is subject to people, this extensive growth mode leads to low added value, resulting in China's canned food industry at the bottom of the international industrial chain. Secondly, as a result of staring at exports, the domestic market has not done well, and there are few brands in China. Long-term exportation of foreign brands, although high quality and low price to a certain extent, but marketing diversification, product diversification and personalization are buried. Thirdly, low-level competition based on "price war" restricts the development of domestic industries and provides a "handle" for foreign anti-dumping. Liang Zhongkang said that Zhangzhou and other places have set up trade associations to coordinate the development of the same industry, Zhangzhou Lixing Food has launched healthy new products against the trend through independent innovation, Zhangzhou Lubao Food has shortened the product marketing chain by setting up offices and subsidiaries abroad, Xiamen Gulong has increased its added value through its own brands abroad, and so on. Efforts have brought experience and vitality to the development of domestic counterparts.

 

"Consumers think that canned foods contain preservatives, which is wrong. Take Fujian counterparts as an example, since the development of canned food technology, only the commonly used thermal sterilization can guarantee the use of preservatives. With the development of cold sterilization, compound sterilization and raw material control technology, canned food will be safer and more delicious in the future. Liang Zhongkang said that Fujian canning enterprises have also been trying to upgrade the seasoning technology, which will be more suitable for market diversification and trend demand. He said that with quality as the cornerstone, innovation as the forerunner, and market orientation, Zhangzhou is fully capable of creating the first "Canned City of China".

 

"In addition to the efforts of the enterprises themselves, the advance of government services is equally important." Liang Zhongkang said that in accelerating the construction of Haixi, Fujian has launched a series of measures to help enterprises meet difficulties and maintain growth, with obvious results. For example, the inspection and quarantine department implements individualized inspection and quarantine measures. From the time the enterprise applies for export, it trains the personnel in the key process of canning production, monitors the key parameters of equipment operation, explores the source of supervision, tracks the new foreign laws and regulations, strengthens the management of additives filing, and strengthens the process safety control. And so on, greatly improving the market competitiveness of canned exports.

 

Liang Zhongkang told reporters that the mushrooms and asparagus in the export of canned goods in Fujian Province were developed by Taiwanese businessmen. With the in-depth implementation of the "Opinions" supported by the State Council, the development of the canned food industry in Fujian will usher in a new spring.