Sichuan News reporter Shi Xiaolu
Recently, the wind of traditional Chinese medicine has blown into the mooncake world.
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Chinese medicine universities, Chinese medicine halls, and traditional Chinese medicine companies in many places have launched traditional Chinese medicine mooncakes with added medicinal and edible homologous ingredients, and related products quickly became popular on the Internet.
In addition to traditional Chinese medicine mooncakes, this summer, traditional Chinese medicine ice cream, traditional Chinese medicine tea, traditional Chinese medicine bread and other medicinal and edible homologous foods are also favored by young people and have become a new "food" fashion.
Why do medicines and food homologous foods frequently "circle fans" young people? How to standardize the development of the industry in the development boom? Recently, Sichuan News reporters conducted a visit and investigation.
Can Chinese medicine mooncakes sold out really be healthy?
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, the sales of "Qihuang Gui fine moon cakes" launched by Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were booming, with more than 50,000 sales in less than a month. The Chuanguan News reporter opened the school's WeChat applet purchase platform, and the single-layer moon cake gift box with 8 pieces was priced at 188 yuan per box; 10 double-layer gift boxes, priced at 268 yuan / box; In addition, there are retail moon cakes, mostly at 15 yuan - 18 yuan / piece.
Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine launched the "Qihuang Gui Fine Moon Cake".
"The medicinal mooncakes have been sold out." On September 7, Wang Yawen, head of the medicine and food homology department of the Catering Service Center of the Logistics Infrastructure Department of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, told the Sichuan Guan News reporter that the "Qi Huang Gui Fine Moon Cake" uses bird's nest, ejiao, ginseng, dendrobium, yellow essence, jade bamboo, lily, poria cocos and other medicinal and edible homologous ingredients to make eight flavors, including bird's nest ice wing lotus paste moon cake, yellow essence five-kernel moon cake, Ejiao seed jujube mud moon cake, etc.
Traditional Chinese medicine moon cakes are also known as medicinal and edible homologous moon cakes, medicinal food moon cakes, and herbal moon cakes. Chuanguan News reporter found that this year, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hebei and other places of traditional Chinese medicine universities, traditional Chinese medicine hospitals, etc. have launched traditional Chinese medicine moon cakes. Some moon cake companies in the province are also testing the water on a small scale, and selling one or two traditional Chinese medicine moon cakes and traditional flavored moon cakes in the moon cake gift box.
However, Chinese herbal mooncakes are still a niche product. Chuanguan News reporters visited a number of supermarkets in Chengdu, and there was no trace of traditional Chinese medicine mooncakes on the shelves. The sales model of traditional Chinese medicine mooncakes is more inclined to pre-sale, customization, online sales, or reservation in offline stores such as canteens and Chinese medicine halls of Chinese medicine universities, which are mainly popular among people with sub-health and those who are interested in traditional Chinese medicine health culture.
"Chinese medicine mooncakes do not have an obvious taste of Chinese herbal medicines, and they also have medicinal dietary characteristics." Ms. Li, a citizen of Chengdu, has bought Chinese medicine mooncakes for the second year, she said that her spleen and stomach are relatively weak, and the dampness in her body is heavier.
However, some professionals pointed out that as a food, although moon cakes are added with traditional Chinese medicine ingredients, they are still food in essence, which does not mean that they must have health effects, and merchants cannot promote their efficacy.
"Traditional Chinese medicine pays attention to syndrome differentiation and treatment, one person and one party." Ma Xiaoju, director and associate professor of the Nutrition Teaching and Research Department of the School of Public Health of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that some medicinal and edible homologous foods contain very small amounts of medicinal ingredients, which may not have a health preservation effect. Moreover, moon cakes have the characteristics of high oil and high sugar, so it is not recommended for people with high blood sugar to eat more. Compared with the health care effect, the purpose of developing the mooncake is to integrate the health concept of medicine and food with traditional folk customs, promote the health culture of traditional Chinese medicine in a new form, and let Chinese medicine enter the lives of ordinary people.
Medicine and food homologous food is popular
How to seize the traffic dividend?
The quiet popularity of traditional Chinese medicine moon cakes actually represents a rising track - medicine and food homologous food.
Since the beginning of this year, various medicinal and edible homologous foods such as "Chinese medicine tea", "Chinese medicine coffee", "Chinese medicine bread" and "Chinese medicine medicinal diet" have gradually become popular among young people. An ice cream parlor in Shanghai launched traditional Chinese medicine ice cream, which costs 38 yuan a piece, still attracts hundreds of customers queuing up every day to buy it; The "Medicine and Food Workshop" bakery opened by the First Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine focuses on all kinds of health European bags and has become a check-in point for young people; Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Chengdu First People's Hospital have also launched traditional Chinese medicine health tea, so that young people have more choices in addition to "soaking wolfberries in a thermos cup". According to incomplete statistics from third-party platforms in the catering industry, there are more than 30 tea brands focusing on traditional Chinese medicine or herbal health preservation across the country, and some brands have opened hundreds of stores in first- and second-tier cities.
"Now time-honored brands of traditional Chinese medicine are facing a common problem, how to reach young people." Tang Chaohui, head of Sichuan Derentang's traditional Chinese medicine tea business, introduced that Sichuan Derentang is also constantly innovating, in addition to opening a new Chinese medicine tea shop in the Chinese medicine hall, the next step will be to develop Chinese medicine meals, Chinese medicine cakes, Chinese medicine snacks and other young and daily products.
Why are medicinal and edible homologous foods sought after?
On the one hand, there is a change in the concept of consumption. "In the post-epidemic era, consumers are paying more attention to health preservation." Zhou Zongsheng, deputy secretary-general of the Sichuan Association for the Promotion of Traditional Chinese Medicine Development, paid attention to the fact that on platforms such as Xiaohongshu, Douyin, and Weibo, the topic of "traditional Chinese medicine health" has a very high reading volume and traffic, "which shows that young people are more and more accepting and liking the national tide health culture." On the other hand, traditional Chinese medicine tea, Chinese medicine moon cakes and other medicinal and edible homologous foods, with their novel form and taste, fit the psychology of young people's pursuit of health and novel experience. ”
However, how to seize this wave of traffic dividends and make medicine and food homologous foods glow with lasting vitality?
"Now some businesses are under the banner of medicine and food, but many products are just a flash in the pan, or even just a gimmick." Zhou Zongsheng believes that the truly scientific and reasonable concept of medicine and food homologous food and health preservation are completely different things. In terms of product development, it is necessary not only to achieve professional standards, but also to meet the needs of consumers, while attaching importance to the health and health of ingredients, it is necessary to balance the taste and make it delicious and delicious.
It is also necessary to have a clear product positioning. As early as 2013, Jiangzhong Food Therapy Technology Co., Ltd. positioned its main business direction on therapeutic food, and gave birth to a number of core products. In the past four years, the company's annual sales growth rate has remained above 35%, and in the first eight months of this year, it hit a new high, with sales increasing by 41% year-on-year. "In product development, the company has been following four key steps: using traditional Chinese medicine theory to guide, using medicinal and edible raw materials, using pharmaceutical process technology, and using clinical verification and observation. If it's just a conceptual product, you can do it and others can do it, and it's easy to copy. Peng Xiaoxia, the company's brand leader, introduced.
The market for medicine and food continues to heat up
How to standardize the development of the industry?
In the context of the Healthy China strategy, the market for medicine and food is gradually heating up. According to the "2024 Monitoring Report on the Development Status and Consumer Behavior Data of China's Medicine and Food Homology Industry", the market size of China's medicine and food homology industry has increased from 18 billion yuan in 2016 to 78 billion yuan in 2023, and is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan in 2024.
However, behind the homology of medicine and food, there are also some chaos, such as some businesses under the banner of medicine and food homology, so that the cost of only more than 10 yuan of ordinary food has been transformed into a health care product with a price of hundreds or even thousands of yuan, falsely advertising the efficacy; The traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Chinese medicine tea sold in some restaurants are not the same ingredients as medicine and food but medicines, which pose health risks......
In this regard, industry insiders pointed out that while encouraging and supporting the innovation of the catering industry and promoting the development of the health food industry, it should also deal with the problems highlighted in the development process and supervise and standardize in a timely manner. "The homologous substances of medicine and food have the dual attributes of traditional Chinese medicine and food, and have the theoretical basis of traditional Chinese medicine, which are often used for health care and play a role in the prevention of diseases. However, the essence of food with the addition of medicinal and edible homologous substances is still food, and it is necessary to prevent it from being positioned as a medicine or health care product. Ma Xiaoju said.
The mainland has clear regulations on which Chinese medicinal materials can be added to food. According to the relevant provisions of the People's Republic of China Food Safety Law, drugs shall not be added to the food produced and traded, but substances that are both food and Chinese medicinal materials according to tradition can be added. The latter is a medicinal and edible homologous substance. In August this year, the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued an announcement to officially include four substances including Rehmannia Rehmannia (Rehmannia Rehmannia (Rehmannia vulgaris), Ophiopogon vulgaris (Ophiopogon vulgaris), Asparagus officinalis (A. tianhua), and Huatanghong into the list of homologous substances for medicine and food. So far, there are 106 kinds of medicinal and edible homologous substances in the catalog. This means that the safety of these medicinal and edible homologous substances has been verified and can be consumed by most people, and if Chinese medicinal materials other than medicinal and edible homologous substances are added to ordinary food, it will be considered illegal addition.
Tiandong Industrial Park in Qingtai Village, Guobei Town, Dongxing District, Neijiang City.
Zhou Zongsheng suggested that the producers and operators of medicinal and edible homologous foods should prevent exaggerated propaganda and misleading consumers; Relevant departments should require merchants to clearly mark the ingredients, content, and possible side effects of traditional Chinese medicine in medicinal and edible homologous foods, and at the same time establish a price supervision mechanism, set up a special consumer complaint platform, and deal with problems in the market in a timely manner; Consumers should carefully review the product label and ingredient list when choosing a food with the same source as medicine and food, and take a rational attitude towards its health benefits.
(Photo provided by the interviewee)