Signs a memorandum of cooperation with the Agricultural Research Institute to push into the supermarket market
Rather than let FamilyMart dominate fresh food through cross-industry partnerships, convenience store leader President Chain Store (7-Eleven) decided to sign a memorandum of cooperation with the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute under the Council of Agriculture, acquiring fresh food technology that makes production more competitive; the institute can also obtain big data from the consumer market to determine future improvement directions, and even develop "customized" varieties.
"We are not only cooperating with President Chain Store," said Chen Chi-chun, director of the Agricultural Research Institute. Operators with relevant interest are welcome to discuss with the institute, to jointly narrow the distance between production areas and the market.
Grasping the consumer market determines the institute's improvement direction
"In the past, we conducted research and experiments first, then talked about technology transfer and tendering, but promotion was very difficult to do, so the 'goodness' of new varieties was all just our own claim." But the situation is different now, said Chen Chi-chun, director of the Agricultural Research Institute. Through signing the memorandum with the convenience store, it can obtain first-hand market trends, and then decide variety improvement and research and development directions.
Taking the current President Chain Store hand rolls, boxed meals and onigiri as examples, "although 7-Eleven most commonly uses Taikeng No. 9 and Tainan No. 11, it is impossible to use only these two for a lifetime." Consumers may hope to eat rice with fewer additives but that is still springy (Q), or rice containing more micronutrients.
"But what the market demand really is, we must have market 'big data' to understand." Chen Chi-chun said that in this respect President Chain Store's capability is "very strong," and it can absolutely precisely provide data such as sales volume, consumer groups and trends for the institute's reference.
Improving quality and stabilizing output to meet convenience store needs
For President Chain Store, cooperating with the Agricultural Research Institute is expected to take quality to an even higher level. Kuo Ching-feng, manager of the fresh food department, said that because consumers have different requirements for the rice texture of hand rolls, onigiri and boxed meals, the cooking temperature and method will also differ.
"Although we have a laboratory and have already brought out the best texture of these varieties," President Chain Store also hopes to upgrade the quality of the rice, and even develop "customized" varieties.
Kuo Ching-feng said the Agricultural Research Institute has professional technology that can let President Chain Store obtain safer ingredients with stable quality and a low loss rate, to make more competitive fresh food. "For example, our bananas are the result of cooperation with the Banana Research Institute." Kuo Ching-feng said President Chain Store can obtain stable banana output, and each one is uniform in appearance and large, fitting consumer needs very well.
"This kind of cooperation goal lets our research expertise connect directly with consumers." Chen Chi-chun said consumers can thereby also eat "the latest research results."
Agricultural Research Institute: Besides President Chain Store, also willing to cooperate with other operators
The memorandum signed by both sides this time is also the first case in the country of cooperation between the Agricultural Research Institute and a convenience store. Chen Chi-chun said it represents that both sides have consensus on improving cultivation technology, improving field management and agricultural product safety. There will be no time limit, but "detailed cooperation planning will be made according to the respective needs of both sides."
"Of course we are not only cooperating with President Chain Store," Chen Chi-chun said. For example, the sweet potatoes produced earlier by the Chingchuan production cooperative were the result of technical cooperation with the Agricultural Research Institute, which could produce healthy sweet potato seedlings, and the size and weight of each sweet potato could also be controlled within a certain range. Therefore the Agricultural Research Institute also very much welcomes other interested operators to cooperate together.