F&B

CNY Virtual Sourcing Showroom by Trustana Wholesale

Dec 24, 2021

We are back with another round of our Virtual Sourcing Showroom to introduce the latest brands and products, this time more specifically catered towards Chinese New Year. If you missed it, here is the recap of what went down.

Virtual Sourcing Showroom by Trustana Wholesale

Chinese New Year is a peak retail season for everyone in Singapore and Malaysia, which is why many consumers would be on the lookout for potential CNY must-haves. Furthermore, as seen from our recent blog article on Food to add to your table to celebrate Chinese New Year¹, there are certain categories and trends as to what consumers prefer to have this festive season. Thus, in order for retailers to be stocked up according to consumers' wants and needs, our hosts explored some of the top picks for CNY, to share recommendations and tips on how retailers can improve sales with these specially curated products.

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Getting to know the products in-depth

Our hosts Karin and Olivia brought the audience through an hour of brand introductions coupled with live tasting. The products were curated based on their success and we highly recommend them to our retailers to sell for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

We kicked things off with the Hotpot category, which is a must-have during CNY, and is really good for small social gatherings as well. 2 different types of hotpot in the market were covered - Soup based and Self heating pots which are amazing during this period, as most people tend to dine at home as compared to going to restaurants. The first brand mentioned was Chongqing Haoxifu Food Ltd.

Chongqing Haoxifu Food Ltd. has over 23 years of food production experience. They specialise in spicy, savoury instant foods such as self-heating hot pots, spicy and sour noodles, vegetarian snacks and many more. It really gives a taste of home whenever you’re missing it. 2 main brands - Angry Panda and Haoxifu. Both of which are extremely well received within China. Products featured:

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1. Haoxifu Tomato self-heating hotpot²

- Has large manufacturing facilities in Chongqing
- Annual production capacity of RMB 2 Billion
- GMP as well as ISO 22000 certified
- Engage external professional bodies to assure production qualities and standards are consistently met
- 2 best selling flavours introduced: Vegetable and tomato flavours (Self heating hot pots - known for their convenience and taste)
- Shelf Life of 6 months when purchased from Trustana Wholesale
- Fast moving shelf staple for retailers

After our hosts tried the products, there was another product within the same category to be introduced soon after. A new, different type of hotpot: Chongqing Sanyi Food Co Limited. They have over 16 years experience as a renowned manufacturer for food seasonings as well as Hotpot Condiments, located in the hotpot capital of the world, Chongqing. Products featured:

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1. Sanyi Mala HotPot Soup Base³

- Production facility spans across over 20000 square meters, with an annual output of more than RMB 100m dollars
- Internationally recognized certifications → Quality assurance
- Products are halal-certified by the Chongqing Islamic Association
- Factory is certified under HACCP and ISO 22000 → Good for malaysian B2B customers (Market to muslim clientele as well)

Our hosts tried the Sanyi Mala Hotpot Soup Base, which has a Shelf life of 18 months. The room was immediately filled with the flavourful mala aroma when the base was added into the boiling water. An amazing yet convenient meal - What’s not to love? The mala flavour has a beautiful taste which lingers in your mouth as well for the extra kick.

Moving on to the next trend, which brought us to our next category we have for Chinese new year, is snacks. Consumers nowadays are eating several smaller meals across the day, and the festive season is all about snacking on goodies, snacks that make great gifts, and these goods move fast, as people stock up on snacks soon. People these days also want a healthier option and are looking for unique ingredients and flavours.

Three Squirrels has immense popularity in China, and their snacks achieved online sales of over RMB 100mil in less than 20 minutes during 11.11! Our hosts tasted the Pistachio, Cashew, and the broad beans in crab roe flavour. Product flavours featured:

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- A healthy mix of savory and crispy nuts, with beautiful natural aromas.
- Packed in the most adorable packaging
- Double packaging in a few products to ensure that you can enjoy the crisps of the nuts anytime and anywhere
- Carefully sourced ingredients from high-quality farms and naturally processed to preserve freshness
- Credible brand that is IPO-listed on the Shenzhen Index in 2019

As much as the hosts enjoyed the all-time famous/favorite Three squirrels nuts, they were excited to try the next few products from HuaJiao ShiJia. The brand was established in 2018, and rapidly progressed to be one of the leading manufacturers of pepper flavoured food. They specialise in snacks with sichuan peppercorn.

Our hosts tried two flavours, the pepper, and extra spicy and tomato. It is a good alternative to regular potato or corn chips as well. They are freshly produced in batches and have a shelf life of 8 months. To add to the benefits, they have resealable packaging as well. Products featured:

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- Through rigorous testing, they have developed a sustainable production facility and a complete supply chain system
- They have daily sales of more than 5000 cartons amounting to over 50 million packages in the past 2 years
- Very well received by the younger crowds

Moving on to the next element, the other new trend we have for CNY is definitely sweets. These are must-haves after reunion dinner, CNY lunch, or in general after your hotpot. These products make great gifts as well. To start off, our hosts were extremely excited to try out the Clever Mama products first. They are a leading high-end pudding manufacturer in China. They were established back in 2012, and they've got 2 production facilities in China. Product Flavours featured:

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- Famous for their quality as well as their innovative flavours → to meet demands of domestic and international consumers.
- Made with fresh imported cows milk from new zealand
- Free from pesticides, hormones or flavouring
- Does not contain non dairy creamer
- Not super sweet
- Good for health conscious consumers
- Factories are HACCP certified →produced using strict controls
- Packaging comes with spoons (convenient) → enjoy on the go
- New supplier → first time introducing them in livestream

The next product introduced was from LITA food. They are a professional manufacturer of jelly and have a total of 4 production facilities all of which have been verified by professional body SGS Group. Product featured:

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LITA Food - Mini crush jelly series (BM Car)¹³

- Factories are certified IS09001, ISO22000, And are recognised by the FDA
- Constantly developing new fruit jellies, puddings, jelly drinks and even jelly candies to cater to increasing market demand each year
- Professional design and packaging
- Suitable for kids, and for gifting

The next brand brought us back to Korea with RAON! Established since 2000, they specialise in the development of processed Korean confectionary goods suitable for both domestic and Global markets. Products featured:

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Raon sweet butter cookies¹⁴

- Comes in various cookie shapes + butter cookies are individually packed; great for gifts and guests)
- Able to taste the freshness of the butter.
- Production facility is HACCP and FSSC22000 certified
- Super known for their cute packaging, delicious snacks and are widely loved by children and adults

After all the noodle slurping and snacking, our hosts closed off the session with a pantry staple, which is also definitely a fast-moving category. All the way from Korea, Geo Enterprise. They were established in 1982, and one of the brands which they carry is SFC Bio. SFC bio acquired multiple patents for their sparkling drinks and is one of the leading beverage manufacturers combining fresh agricultural ingredients with innovative technologies. They've even sold over 10 million cans! Products featured:

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Carbonated fruit juice sparkling:

- Cute and bright packaging, perfect for CNY.
- Refreshing and go-to drink

Moving onto the last and final brand, which caters more towards fans of non sparkly drinks, Chongqing Huida lemon. They specialise in growing, processing as well as R & D of lemons, for over 14 years. They have an annual production capacity of 150000 tonnes in product weight to achieve sales of more than RMB 3 billion dollars. They are also one of the largest lemon producers in china. They adopt strict production and quality control capabilities. Product featured:

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Huida lemon honey tea²⁰

- Comes in 10 sachets.
- Contains 25% fruit pulp with no added fat or sugar.
- Natural sweetness from honey.
- Just add the concentrate to a glass of water.
- Good way to clean your palate during the CNY feasting.
- Very refreshing
- Healthier alternative for a choice of beverage that your customers will enjoy.

With that, our hosts came to the end of the tasting session of all these amazing products. They quickly discussed their favorite picks from these curated selection of products, and summarised their thoughts and feelings towards these products.

Apart from these, our hosts also carried out Lucky draws and giveaways at different parts of the livestream. Here were the prizes :

- 2 Grand winners: 2 Free cartons + sample sets each, worth S$445
- 4 Lucky winners: Exclusive sample sets each, worth S$45

Throughout the livestream, there were also many useful E-commerce tips provided as well, which our retailers can benefit from. Here is a summary of some of the important points which were mentioned:

- Package your hotpot products into bundle sets & create your own promotions during the festive season
- Make sure your product titles, tags, and descriptions are optimised (brand name, important keywords) to make it easy for people to find your products
- Think about putting in extra advertising money to boost your products to the top of the list & add keywords like "popular, ready stock, in demand"
- Since the MOQ is so low this is a great way to test new products and see if there is demand by including it as a free gift for any orders with a minimum spend or a giveaway

Online ordering with delivery in 7 working days

Throughout the livestream, participants were given the links to view and order the products directly on Trustana Wholesale. Product details such as the MOQ, weight and shelf life were also shared, and our hosts answered questions upfront such as if an import licence is required, or if the products are halal, and any other questions.

In addition, participants could schedule 1:1 consultations with our customer success team after the event to learn more about these brands, how they can start retailing them in their stores and provide any feedback they may have about the entire experience.

WATCH THE FULL REPLAY: See the products up close and hear more about the success of these brands! Disclaimer: don’t watch this on an empty stomach.²¹

An integrated online experience for our retailers

In our previous article, we talked about Choosing the Best E-commerce Business Model for You²² and how retailers can be confident that the next steps they take are just right for their business. By providing you with a curated 24/7 platform to easily source the latest international food and beverages, our aim is to take the load off you. Grow your business with brands your customers already love - visit Trustana Wholesale²³ to find out more!

Reference:

F&B wholesale

CNY Virtual Sourcing Showroom by Trustana Wholesale

Getting to know the products in-depth

1. Haoxifu Tomato self-heating hotpot²

1. Sanyi Mala HotPot Soup Base³

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