Traditional Beijing brands gear up for Spring Festival holiday

Time-honored Beijing brands have prepared new products and are seeking new retail channels to promote their products as the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, is approaching.

Chinese people tend to make special purchases for the Chinese Lunar New Year, the most important occasion of family reunions. The Spring Festival falls on Feb. 5 this year.

To woo customers, Daoxiangcun, a renowned bakery in Beijing, decided to showcase how to make a traditional dessert -- sweetened rice dumplings (Yuanxiao) in the physical stores of Hema Xiansheng, a fresh food chain.

"This is the first time that Daoxiangcun presents the manufacturing process of Yuanxiao to customers out of our stores," said Cheng Wenhua, vice general manager of Beijing Daoxiangcun Food Co. Ltd.

In this way, young people can learn how the traditional food is made and the traditional culture can be carried forward and expanded, according to Cheng.

Meanwhile, Hema Xiansheng also helps traditional brands learn customers' demands via big-data analysis. For example, Yueshengzhai, a halal meat producer, launched a semi-finished lamb-spine hot pot. Tianfuhao, a cooked meat producer, unveiled a small package of braised pork.

"We found about 70 percent of customers in Daoxiangcun stores are over 40 years old, therefore, we are seeking new ways to promote the time-honored brand among the young," said Cheng.

Apart from cooperation with the new retail stores, the traditional brands have also promoted their products via e-commerce in order to adapt to the change in customer demand.