Diversification thaws out a frozen business
Classic Shanghai-flavor food, including meat-stuffed mooncakes, wonton with minced shepherd’s purse and meat fillings, sesame biscuits and barbecued pork pastry, is representative product of Shanghai Haisu Food Co in Songjiang District. The company could have enjoyed a huge sales over the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday, but the COVID-19 pandemic reduced its business to almost freezing point.
Airlines using Haisu’s quick frozen food as in-flight meals and star hotels serving Haisu’s traditional Shanghai-flavor food suffered as routes were shut down or customer numbers declined. Haisu’s order declined sharply, and its supply chain companies in Shanghai were out of stock to different extents.
“All the former supply chain companies of Haisu’s are based in Shanghai. Impacted by the pandemic, however, Haisu is trying to form a more diversified supply chain to ensure its production,” said Cao Zhehui, Haisu’s deputy general manager.
Songjiang’s vision of G60 Hightech Corridor development, a blueprint encouraging integrated development of nine cities in the Yangtze River Delta region, paves the way for the company’s supply channel expansion, and also invites companies in the delta to join the rapid development of Shanghai’s economy.
“The city, district and township governments’ favorable policies and support also rebooted the company’s confidence. The policy of postponing paying social insurance alone has relieved our financial burden greatly,” said Cao.
The company also realized that customers’ demand existed in spite of the pandemic and it is only the consumption scenario that has changed.
Therefore, Haisu Food positively sought a transformation and embraced a burgeoning online market.
So far all of the company’s dim sum products are available on Youcai, an online-to-offline food supplying platform affiliated to food delivery service company Ele.me. Haisu Food is also negotiating with other food supply platforms including Fresh Hippo and Dingdong in order to launch sales channels.
The company is also trying out livestream and adjusting its operation to an online market by developing new products and cooperating with cold chain logistics companies.
By mid-April, 80 percent of its workforce had resumed work and production capacity had recovered to 80 percent of its normal level.
“Online demand keeps rising and our offline service is also recovering. I believe the company will turn better when the pandemic ends,” said Cao.
Founded in April 2016, Haisu Food’s main products include quick frozen food and ingredients. The company has been supplying traditional Shanghai-flavor food to Hongqiao and Pudong airports’ routes and to five-star hotels such as the Marriott. It has its own brickand-mortar restaurants and is also cooperating with renowned Shanghai food groups including Xinghualou, Laodafang and Hongruixing. It had also supplied food to the news center during the first and second China International Import Expo in Shanghai in 2018 and 2019.