No compromising on Quality

FORMED in 1995 to produce healthy yet tasty rice-based convenience meals, the Sichuan Hexie Food Co, Ltd of China, expanded into processed meat in a big way in 2008. At the helm of this expansion was Du Chengbin, president of the company, a colourful character and creative executive nicknamed “Mr Beard” by the media. Whilst Hexie Food fast-tracked its expansion, the cultural philosophy behind its formation has remained intact, that of growing harmoniously with society through the continuous and healthy development of the enterprise whilst contributing to the development of society. Using this “harmony” as the pivot of development, Hexie Food has achieved remarkably rapid growth in China’s food industry in just a few years, yet without compromising standards and commitment to product excellence. What elements are required to become a “leading enterprise of industrial agriculture in China”? We spoke to Mr Du to find out.

FPMJ: Hexie Food has greatly expanded its main products from just 15 years ago. What goals did you set during the period of expansion and what guidelines were followed in developing these products and brands?
Our standard has always been to produce green and healthy foods. It's apparent to us, and even more so currently, that people want more than to just to be satiated or stuffed; they also want good foods that benefit their health. In the past, foods needed only to be tasty, but now they need to be both tasty and nutritious.
As for research and development of products, we aimed at the scientific combination of traditional Chinese meat products and western-style meat products, as well as the modernisation of traditional rice products. To realise these goals, our company co-operated with research institutes and established a research centre, which harnessed the ideas of many researchers. They are especially in charge of improving technology and process. Efforts have been particularly directed toward nutrition and health.
As a result of investments in R&D and technology, we manufacture such products as our “Deyi Green” brand ham sausage, chilled meat products, and various types of instant rice and instant congee. The wide range of products meets the demand of different consumer groups in different regions. Our production scale and patented key technologies ensure that the “Deyi Green” series dominate the Chinese market. We now process over 30 kinds of meat products, which can be classified under five types, from chilled sausages to processed, ready-to-eat meats. The product range of instant rice has been extended to three series: instant rice, instant rice meals, and instant Sichuan dishes.

FPMJ: When Hexie entered the meat product sector in 2008, the media said ‘General Beard’ entered the market with three great strategies. What are these three strategies?
At that time, I was just coming back to a field that I had been mostly familiar with and, frankly, good at. My return, however, was at a far higher starting point of production scale, technical advantage and resource deployment.
So, the first strategy was a high starting point and high standard. Factory design and facilities were upgraded according to global industry standards, with investment of over a hundred million Yuan. The construction even met the GMP and ISO standards of Intelligent Green Building. Investment in the meat processing lines totalled five hundred million Yuan. The production lines were equipped with the latest machinery and systems from domestic and overseas manufacturers. Our product quality inspection laboratory was built to the highest standards and equipped with advanced testing instruments like atomic absorption spectrophotometer, liquid-phase chromatograph and gas-phase chromatograph, amongst others. We looked at everything and set theNike Schuhe