Flavored city
Food oasis Guangzhou has added another jewel to its crown — as an exporter of exquisite Chinese precooked delicacies to the world. Its one-stop export service platform is set to grow, serving as a tribute to the city's traditional culinary culture. Atlas Shao reports from Guangzhou.
Shared factories
Another Guangzhou-based company, Wulixing, made a breakthrough in this industry. It teamed up with Auckland-based White Diamond Foods to start a joint dumpling factory in New Zealand in mid-2024.Within four months, the factory had helped 22 dumpling chain stores achieve sales exceeding NZ$10 million ($5.96 million) and 30-percent net margins.
"The shared factory model has cut labor costs by 90 percent," says Wulixing Chairman Mai Tao. By shipping equipment from China and utilizing space at a licensed factory in New Zealand, the approach bypasses the lengthy process of building traditional factories which, typically, would require more than six months to start production.
The dumpling venture has pioneered a collaborative model, with Chinese partners providing recipes, equipment and technology, while their New Zealand counterparts are responsible for local ingredients and production facilities. By manufacturing in-market, the approach cuts distribution costs, and dramatically shortens the journey from the factory to consumers.
According to Mai, Wulixing is evaluating the global market and may make further investments if more suitable factories and reliable partners can be found. It currently focuses on the domestic market due to the company's relatively small overseas clientele which contributes between $10 million and $20 million to its business — less than 10 percent of total revenue.
Based in the Guangdong provincial capital's Panyu district, Wulixing specializes in product development rather than production itself. Its own production accounts for just 10 percent of its operations, with 90 percent devoted to developing products and research.
