The Chef's Test (2) Original Bento: Taking on the Challenge of the Highest CP Value Ingredients for an 80-yuan Bento!

Food safety incidents keep cropping up one after another, making it all the more clear just how precious safe, trustworthy food businesses are. In recent years, the "Original Flavor Bento" brand, which markets itself as healthy and safe, has captured the stomachs of many office workers. Using organic vegetables from across Taiwan, China and chemical-free meat and eggs as its ingredients, it has achieved a civilian price of 80 yuan to 120 yuan and a remarkable daily sales volume of two thousand bentos. How exactly does Original Flavor Bento balance cost and price, and steadily provide consumers with nutritious and safe bentos made from local ingredients?

Is organic necessarily expensive? How to maintain "quality ingredients, affordable bentos"

When Original Flavor Bento first launched, it tried to offer higher-priced bentos, but found that consumers would not accept them, and sales fell sharply. Since then, Original Flavor Bento has set "80 yuan" as its ceiling, working hard to turn vegetables from the source into delicious dishes inside the lunchbox.

"If using organic ingredients means you absolutely have to charge sky-high prices, then it is very likely that there is a problem with management," said Zhong Kunzhi, the owner who created the bento miracle. He firmly believes that as long as you closely watch every production and manufacturing step and work hard to control loss, costs, and unnecessary waste, organic ingredients can become a lunch bento that everyone can afford.

"Compared with others in the industry, what we spend on ingredients accounts for more than 50% of our total cost budget." Zhong Kunzhi believes that pursuing safe, chemical-free, or organic meals is the original intention behind founding Original Flavor Bento and the core spirit of the company, so he is willing to spend 10%-20% more on procurement than his peers to let the bentos use good ingredients.

"Next, we set a goal: the bento price is 80 yuan, and then we find ways to obtain ingredients of good quality at an acceptable price," explained Luo Yingwei, manager of the Daan store of Original Flavor Bento. The store first asks middlemen or large distributors that provide organic ingredients for quotes and compares prices, then visits farmers at the source; or it directly works with major organic farms through contract farming, offering stable terms guaranteeing purchase for more than a year, so farms can produce with peace of mind, ensuring an uninterrupted supply of ingredients and obtaining a relatively reasonable purchase price.

"We agree with the farms that if there is a surplus of vegetable production, we will find ways together to handle and sell it, but conversely, when production drops, the farms must also prioritize supplying us." Luo Yingwei believes that long-term cooperation with farms and farmers in various places allows the bentos to remain affordable while also maintaining stable quality.

"In addition, scale must be built up; only large-volume purchasing can lower costs." Zhong Kunzhi repeatedly stressed that because they sell two thousand bentos a day, spreading out costs and risks, it is possible to keep the price and quality of each bento in the best possible state.

"Besides having a price advantage in ingredient procurement, selling two thousand bentos a day also allows us to share hundreds of thousands of yuan in testing costs evenly. I think consumers would not mind spending a few extra cents to share our testing costs, right?" Zhong Kunzhi said.