Business Discovery | Huabao Shares Similar Views with Yunnan Supply and Marketing Group and Embarks on an Innovative Flavor Journey in Yunnan, the “Kingdom of Plants”

What comes to your mind when you think of Yunnan Province?

Cangshan Mountain and Erhai Lake in Dali, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain in Lijiang, Fuxian Lake in Yuxi, Tibetan-style Shangri-La, tropical Xishuangbanna or Pu’er tea, roses and so on.

Erhai Lake in Dali

Yunnan Province is known as “the South of Colorful Clouds” and the “Kingdom of Plants”.

Yunnan Province has the most plant species in China and is known as the “Kingdom of Plants”. In Yunnan, there are various types and species of plants, such as tropical, subtropical, temperate, and cold temperate plants, as well as ancient, derived, and exotic plants. There are 19,333 species of higher plants in Yunnan Province, accounting for 50.1% of that in China; among the species, more than 150 tree species listed under China’s first, second and third class of tree protection. The forest area of Yunnan Province is 23.926,500 hectares, with a forest coverage rate of 65.04% and the forest growing stock of 2.067 billion m³. Yunnan has a wide variety of tree species and types, and has a lot of excellent, fast-growing, and precious trees. Medicinal plants, spice plants, ornamental plants and other varieties are distributed throughout the Province, so Yunnan is also known as “Treasure House of Medicine”, “Hometown of Spices” and “Natural Garden”.

On the afternoon of April 10, 2024, Mr. YANG Shaorong, Deputy General Manager of Yunnan Supply and Marketing Group, Mr. LUO Wengui, Deputy General Manager of Yunnan Supply and Marketing Urban and Rural Consumption Cooperation Co., Ltd., Ms. CHEN, Deputy General Manager of Yunnan Supply and Marketing Industry Investment Co., Ltd., and Ms. LU Haoxuan, Founder of Funan Coffee, visited Huabao for inspection and exchange. Mr. ZHANG Jie, Vice-president of Huabao Group, Mr. DUAN Jingwei, Director of Huabao Enterprise Management and Information Department, and Ms. MA Xiangqun, Deputy Director of Huabao Food Innovation Center, warmly received them.

First of all, they visited the Huabao Exhibition Hall to understand the Company’s products and application fields, especially the innovative products related to the food ingredients that have been vigorously developed in recent years, and listened to the overall introduction of the Company by our staff. During the visit, the two sides began with exploration on the cooperation of flavor syrups and then gradually extended to the further development and cooperation of other spice plants and medicinal plants. During the exchange, Mr. ZHANG Jie said that Huabao has always been adhering to the open attitude of scientific and technological innovation and strategic investment, and has carried out technological innovation and equity investment cooperation with many well-known universities and outstanding enterprises in China in recent years. Huabao is also very much looking forward to cooperating with Yunnan Supply and Marketing Group, a state-owned enterprise with deep deposits and advantages, to complement each other’s advantages, give full play to each other’s advantages in raw material supply, network coverage, scientific and technological innovation, market development and other aspects, and develop more “green, nutritious and healthy” products that meet consumer needs and have high commercial value, so as to achieve shared and win-win.

Mr. YANG Shaorong mentioned in the exchange that Huabao has long enjoyed a good reputation in the industry; Yunnan Supply and Marketing Group hopes to cooperate with Huabao which carries out continuous innovation and creation in inheritance. With the support of Huabao’s excellent scientific and technological innovation ability and market development ability, Yunnan Supply and Marketing Group can better leverage its advantages in a wide variety of plant categories, raw material supply, and its supply and marketing network covering townships and farmers, so that it can help increase farmers’ income with plants in Yunnan and contribute more value to local economic development.

Ms. MA Xiangqun, Deputy Director of Food Innovation Center of Huabao Scientific Innovation Center, made a special report on Huabao’s food innovation achievements. On the scene, Huabao provided a variety of flavor experience including tea, flower, coffee, and other extracts for the guests, so that they could directly feel the charm of natural extracts, and highly-anticipate the future cooperation between the two sides. Ms. MA Xiangqun said that Yunnan has absolute advantages in terms of plant types and coverage, which will bring endless inspiration and raw material support for Huabao’s food innovation; meanwhile, based on thousands of years of Chinese cognition on homology of medicine and food, there may be huge opportunities, but also the dilemma that many raw material plants have no application, industry norms and legal basis for use. As a result, many innovative developments are in a passive situation. To solve this problem, it requires society, especially some local governments and industry associations, to promote the formulation of laws and regulations, so that these valuable plants can be used by us, serve our lives, and bring us high-quality and healthy experiences.

During the exchange, both sides recognized that Yunnan is rich in plant resources such as spices, medicinal plants, flowers and tea, and we should seize the opportunity of the “Kingdom of Plants” continuous exploration and research, well tell the brand story of “Kingdom of Plants”, and fully tap the use value and commercial value of plants. Both sides said that they would carry out feasibility studies on related projects according to the exchange, and strive for early cooperation and project implementation between both sides.

With the improvement of people’s living standards and the continuous pursuit of healthy life, Huabao adheres to and practices the strategic mission of “Green, Nutritious and Healthy”. In the process of the Company’s transformation and upgrading, Huabao Food Innovation Center has always taken human health and well-being as the basic requirements of innovation, kept awe to the nature and gratitude for gifts, carried out extensive basic research and experimental analysis, and relied on innovative technologies and unique processes to develop green and healthy high value-added products with various flavor characteristics and nutritional value, thus to promote the high-quality development of the Company. It is expected that Huabao Group and Yunnan Supply and Marketing Group will join hands to make steady progress on the road of flavor innovation in the “Kingdom of Plants”, so that more people can enjoy the healthy and delicious flavors from Yunnan, which is a gift originating from the nature with human wisdom.