Soy products represented by tofu and soybean milk are indispensable for the people's table, and have been playing an irreplaceable role in improving the national dietary structure, improving national nutrition and health, and playing a very important role in the national nutrition strategy and residents' dietary health for a long time.
In recent years, in the face of various "wealth diseases", people have reflected on the serious imbalance between animal protein and vegetable protein in their daily diet, and it has become a rational demand of consumers to increase the intake of the best quality plant protein - soy products in their daily diet. The most intuitive evidence is that compared with about 8 million tons of soybeans used in the food industry in 2009, it has climbed to 15.3 million tons in 2021 (** in the statistics of the China Soybean Committee), that is, in the past 12 years, China's consumption of food soybeans has almost doubled!
From the choice of daily dietary needs, the dispensable edge, to the focus of diet, and then to the "meal beans", the role of soy products on the table is upgraded, how can enterprises tap their own potential and open up the "new blue ocean" of the market?What are the highlights of the future?
Survey. Consumption of soy products on residents' tables
On the demand side: the per capita intake of soy products has increased year by year, and the subsequent growth momentum is strongAccording to the China Statistical Yearbook 2021 of the National Bureau of Statistics, from 2014 to 2020, the per capita consumption of meat, especially pork, increased from 200kg to 182kg, the consumption of legumes from 75kg grows to 100kg（27.4th). In the consumption of beans, as of the beginning of 2021, taking Zhejiang Province as an example, its per capita consumption of soy products in the form of dry soybeans was 19 grams per day, which was 139 grams per day, an increase of 367%, but compared with the healthy intake of "at least 60 grams of dry soybeans per day" given by the Lancet research report, it needs to be increased by 1-2 times!
Specific to the content of daily diet, represented by the "Eating Situation Survey" conducted by Nature Food magazine and the "New Generation Diet Education Survey" conducted by Yicai.com, from 1990 to 2018, China's dietary quality has improved significantly. In terms of dietary choices, more than 7 percent of the surveyed consumers have paid attention to emphasizing the combination of meat and vegetables, nearly half of the consumers will deliberately emphasize the nutritional value of soy products, vegetables and fruits to their children when visiting vegetable markets and supermarkets, and more than 20% of the respondents will always have ready-to-eat soy products at home. It can be said that in the daily diet, people's willingness to consume soy products has shown a strong growth momentum. In terms of perceptions: from eating well to eating healthy, 57% of people consider soy products a "necessity".According to the survey of the "2022 China Modern Diet Development Index" conducted by "Xiaokang" magazine and the National Information Center nationwide and the "Health Food Industry Chain Series Report" released by Guoxin**, as a high-quality protein food**, soybean milk (soybean milk) and plain water, juice, tea, etc. have been selected as "respondents' favorite drinks" at the same time, and "high-quality protein intake" has become one of the daily dietary elements that consumers pay more and more attention to in the post-epidemic era. Nearly 57% of consumers believe that soy foods are "necessities" that should be eaten regularly in their daily diet. Respondents believe that soy products need to be satisfied with the richness of the product to become a regularly eaten food (8198%), ease of purchase (73.).87%), as well as freshness (71.).31%）、59.32), service level (5998) and so on. 
In terms of habits: daily "beans" are being tried, and young consumers are eager for "new choices".
According to the "McKinsey Health Consumption Atlas" released by McKinsey & Company and the "New Generation Diet Education Survey" conducted by China Business Network, more than 60% of Chinese consumers regard health as the top priority in their daily lives, among which market groups such as Generation Z are the main consumer force, and people aged 26 to 30 are the main health consumers. Most of them have formed a basic health consciousness in their daily diet, with more than 70% of them emphasizing the combination of meat and vegetables in their diet, and nearly half of consumers have begun to try to add legumes to their daily diet. For soy products, the most popular choices are packaged soy milk and instant dried tofu, followed by tofu dishes in the canteen. 
Nearly 80% of consumers believe that there is a gap between the soy products currently sold on the market and their ideal soy products, and hope to have new and richer choices. China Youth Daily's "2022 China Youth Healthy Eating Habits Survey Report" also shows that nearly 90% of people pay attention to plant-based protein diets, hoping that soy products will be improved in terms of product richness, convenience of purchase, cooking simplicity, and dish innovation, so that they can be arranged into their daily recipes. For the fast-paced young population, it is very important to eat conveniently, healthily, innovatively, and deliciously. In terms of **: three meals a day plus "beans", respondents hope that the cooking and eating experience of soy products will be upgradedA social survey conducted by China Youth Daily in August this year showed that there were 946% of respondents carefully plan their three meals a day, 632% of respondents felt they needed to eat more fruits and vegetables, soybeans and whole grains. Specifically, how to add "beans" to three meals a day?From combing the message interaction on Zhihu, Toutiao and other platforms, it can be seen that in the C-end channels where young people are concentrated, such as supermarkets and fresh e-commerce channels, there are fewer types of products in the sales process, small footprints, and a relative lack of publicity and promotion, which has become an objective shortcoming that restricts the addition of "beans" to three meals, resulting in a very limited number of people who know that soy products are "rich in product variety", so that most people think that soy products are "monotonous". 
Soy products have "seventy-two changes", with soybean milk, tofu, bean curd, dried tofu, vegetarian meat, soybean milk powder, fresh bean curd, energy bars, soybean mousse, soybean ice cream, and bean curd, natto, bean sprouts, stinky tofu, soybean protein powder, soy cheese, etc. Afternoon tea, dinner, supper, and even one-person meals, reunion dinners, travel meals and other consumption scenarios. At the first end, making up for the shortcomings of publicity, allowing more consumers to understand the nutritional value of soy products, and strengthening the food education and promotion of the types and applications of soy products will become an important driving force for consumers to add "beans" to three meals a day. Carding.
Five keywords for the role of soy products in the table upgrade
Upgrade your productIn a world of rapidly changing hotspots, consumers have become accustomed to actively or passively seeking to "try something new". It is reflected in the consumption of soy products, such as the popularity of popping tofu, the eye-catching soy milk latte, the listing of soybean milk hot pot, and the increase in the repurchase rate of various innovative meal replacement tofu, ready-to-eat flavored bean curd and other products, all of which prove that consumers have expectations for "trying new". 
Specifically, for example, the combination of four meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks) helps soy products expand their territory in the staple food intake territory of Chinese;For example, combined with **, health, one-person meals, children's meals and other groups, to explore and promote related soy products;For example, for overtime, after exercise, supper, travel, camping, family gatherings and other consumption scenarios, the development and promotion of corresponding innovative products, etc., in short, as long as you grasp the consumption habits, combined with more convenient, more intimate, more personalized, faster and more assured and other current consumer demand to take advantage of the trend, everything can be tried, everything can be done. Upgrade the chainThe composition of the first chain of soy products reflects the entire chain of soy products from production enterprises to consumers. From the raw material end, the processing end, to the logistics end, and the consumption end, all the enterprises on the soybean product chain are closely related. In the face of more and more diversified and personalized service needs, by creating a more scientific chain, accelerating the process of standardization, foodization, industrialization, retailing, and online and offline integration, forming a more stable, reliable, efficient and collaborative, intelligent and agile soybean product chain, and multi-dimensional help for the innovation and development of soybean products, it is very necessary for the future of enterprises
Specifically, for example, through order planting or centralized procurement, the quality of raw soybeans is guaranteed, and the risk of raw material price increases is reducedFor example, break the channel models such as "supermarket + distribution" and "online + offline", and cooperate or build self-built soybean product brands in catering, communities and other fields through a new model of complementarity and mutual benefitAnother example is the establishment of an omni-channel sales system, so that more energy can participate in the sales division of labor, and give soy products more room for consumption and value growthFor example, the comprehensive layout in advance, combined with channel sales, product development, service extension and digitalization, etc., to upgrade the cold chain of enterprises, and to achieve "improve quality and seize the market" while "reducing losses and improving profits", and so on, these are all necessary options to enhance core competitiveness, bring high experience and user reputation with high-quality products, achieve better development of enterprises, and promote the role of soy products in the dining table to upgrade. Upgrading technical equipmentTechnology is the primary productive force of enterprise development, and equipment is the key carrier of technology implementation. At a time when there are more and more "constituent parties", enterprise production is becoming more and more transparent, and market competition is becoming more and more "technology and equipment" competition between industries, whether it is the development of new products, upgrading classic products, or from quality assurance, energy saving and consumption reduction, efficiency improvement, etc., upgrading technology and equipment is an important breakthrough and growth point for enterprises to break the bottleneck of development, open up new markets and create new high-quality products. It is also a key support to promote the upgrading of the role of soybean products in the people's table, by challenging the "impossible" and developing the "new blue ocean". 
Specifically, for example, the flavor quality of the product is improved by upgrading the process technology, and the flavor substance such as additives or seasonings is replaced to enhance the flavor of the productFor example, through the application of new packaging materials, technologies and packaging forms, new products of soy products suitable for different channels, different groups, different scenarios and different needs are developed to improve the experience of consumersFor example, embrace digital transformation, extend and improve the value chain by building intelligent manufacturing capabilities, intelligent market analysis capabilities, intelligent risk early warning capabilities, etcUpgrade your marketing methodsUpgrading the original marketing model, changing their own marketing ideas and marketing channels, and solving the problems of product homogenization, imitation of market behavior and disorderly competition behind market competition through enterprises from the past to focusing more on consumers is the first step and a key step in upgrading marketing methods. After all, if consumers can't see, remember, or see and can't necessarily connect with their own table, and can't give themselves a reason to convince themselves, then, no matter how nutritious and delicious soy products are, consumers will not "rediscover" and increase their intake in their daily diet. 
Specifically, it is necessary to do a good job in the organic combination of collective publicity and brand promotion. For example, it can be combined with "eat beans at meals, drive healthily" and "two cups of milk in the morning and evening: one cup of soybean milk, one cup of milk" and other similar catchy language to make a familiar industry collective slogan, and carry out science popularization to community or regional consumers through the industry collective;It can also be combined with its own products to do research and development of related dishes, and carry out brand promotion on platforms such as enterprise self-promotion, product brochures and direct storesCombine different sales channels to do the research and development and promotion of related soy products and dishes;Combined with festivals, food competitions, etc., joint chefs, with the help of the research and development and promotion of soy products;Another example is to label the same product differently according to the different needs of consumers to have more customer acquisition possibilities;Even through the live broadcast of the production workshop on platforms such as Douyin and Toutiao, to improve the quality and reputation, etc., as long as the positioning is clear and real, and the value experience is continuously and actively created for consumers, the "audience" will sooner or later become "fans". Escalate compliance managementToday, upgrading the management model and strengthening compliance construction, as a compulsory course to further eliminate hidden dangers in development, improve production efficiency, and adapt to the new normal, can not only help enterprises better build their core competitiveness and create a new situation of high-quality development of soy products, but also help soy products to upgrade their role and continuously improve their consumption power in the people's table. 
Specifically, such as "raw material compliance" before production, "operational compliance" during production, "label compliance" after production, and even "fiscal and tax compliance" and "environmental compliance", etc., according to the statistics of the association, on the whole, China's soybean products industry is still dominated by small, medium and micro enterprises, and the ability to prevent and resist market risks is relatively poor, and the relatively weak compliance competitiveness is the development shortcoming of enterprises. With the creation of a smoother, more efficient and fair internal and external working environment by compliance construction, the enterprise's ability to resist risks will not only be further strengthened, but also the endogenous power and competitive vitality of the enterprise will be further released and strengthened. Postscript.
With the goal of benefiting consumers, we will enrich the soy products on the people's table
How to grasp the consumption habits, take advantage of the trend, promote the better integration of soy products into the dining table of residents, and make the soy products on the people's table more abundant?
It is necessary for people of insight in the industry to stand at a higher place, conform to the direction of the big food concept, based on the industry goal of "meal beans" and "two cups of milk in the morning and evening", and make progress to activate the endogenous power of the soy product consumption market and enterprises, and realize the industrial butterfly change in increasing the proportion of soy products in the people's dinner plate and the frequency of eating
*: China Soybean Products Industry Magazine.
Producer: Gao Ya Editor: Du Juan.