Tongli Rouyan is no less popular in Fuzhou than Quanjude, Donglaishun, Goubuli and other time-honored brands.
Compared with the demise or decline of many Chinese time-honored brands, Tongli Rouyan, which has a history of more than 120 years, is getting bigger and bigger. In addition to the old shop on Macau Road in Gulou District, Tongli Rouyan has also opened three branches in Taijiang Food Street, Yuanhong Food Court and Wanglong Terrace in Minjiang Park. According to owner Chen Junfan, there is an endless stream of people buying meat swallows on weekdays, and there is even a long queue during the holidays. Tongli Rouyan’s sales network has covered Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Qingdao and other cities, and hundreds of kilograms of swallow skin are shipped every day. The reporter saw a sign in the store that said there are many well-known restaurants and hotels in Fuzhou. Chen Junfan said that these restaurants and hotels all require Tongli Rouyan to directly supply large quantities.
Many tourists from other places come here because of its reputation. In October 2002, two tourists from Qingdao took a special flight to Fuzhou in order to eat authentic Tongli Pork Yan. Tongli Rouyan has also attracted many foreign tourists. Chen Junfan took a group photo of four foreign tourists at the entrance of Tongli Rouyan and told reporters that these foreign tourists could not speak Chinese and just kept giving thumbs up and saying " Say OK. Chen Junfan was invited to participate in the Taipei Chinese Food Exhibition to demonstrate the preparation method of Tongli Pork Yan, which attracted 160,000 Taiwanese people to visit in four days.
It is not easy to make Tongli meat swallows fragrant for a long time. Chen Junfan believes that the charm of Tongli Rouyan lies in its unique flavor and rich cultural connotation. Tongli Pork Yan strictly follows the ancestral recipe, using fine meat from the hind legs of pigs, paired with the finest sweet potato flour, and is hand-made through delicate and complex processes. It has a round head and loose tail, shaped like a flying swallow. It looks like moist jade to the eye, and is smooth and crisp in the mouth. Its taste and shape are different from wontons. Therefore, there is a saying in Fuzhou that "you will never get tired of eating the meat swallows with the same benefits". Meat swallows also have rich cultural connotations. Swallows mean family prosperity and reunion, so meat swallows are always eaten when gathering with relatives and friends during festivals. Therefore, Fuzhou also has a saying that "there is no feast without swallows, and there is no adult without swallows." explain. Meat swallow is also a homesick dish. Fuzhou people feel as if they have returned to their hometown wherever they can eat meat swallow. Therefore, meat swallow is particularly popular in Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
The reporter noticed that these cultural connotations are listed in detail on the packaging, shopping bags and leaflets of Tongli Pork Yan. Chen Junfan said that these are the intangible assets of our time-honored brands. Many tourists from other places and foreign countries value these, and of course they must make full use of them.
Many Chinese time-honored brands have profound cultural connotations, but they are often neglected to explore, resulting in a huge waste of intangible assets. Tongli Rouyan’s approach may be worth learning from.
When the reporter was interviewing Chen Junfan, people kept saying hello to him to buy meat swallows. Several customers interviewed thought that Tongli Pork Yanks were well cooked, had a unique taste, and were tough. Chen Junfan told reporters that he inherited his ancestral business when he was 12 years old and studied art with his father for nearly 40 years. The craftsmanship of Yanpi strictly adheres to the ancestral precepts and is meticulous and consistent. He said that just having a brand is not enough, the technology and quality must be excellent in order to retain repeat customers.
In the past, only dignitaries and officials could afford to eat Tongli Pork Yan. Ordinary people could only buy and taste it during New Years and holidays. Now it has become a very popular food. In order to adapt to new needs, Tongli Rouyan has made many innovations in variety, packaging and business methods while maintaining traditional crafts such as pure hand-making.
The original varieties of meat swallows were limited to swallow skins, and customers had to buy them back and wrap and cook them themselves. For the convenience of customers, Tongli Rou Yan now wraps and cooks the meat Yan Yan, and customers can directly add it to the soup after buying it. There are also more and more varieties of meat swallows. From the traditional single steamed meat swallows, there are 5 ways to eat them: steamed meat swallows in soup or as hot pot ingredients, delicious bird's nest soup, traditional bird's nest balls, wine and meat stuffed with eggs, Taiping bird's nest . Chen Junfan also invented a Chinese-Western way of eating meat swallows, which involves steaming and frying the meat swallows in a pan and then dipping them in hot sauce, tomato sauce, etc. It is said that this way of eating is very popular among teenagers and foreign tourists.
Tongli Pork Yanks used to be cooked and sold immediately, with basically no packaging. As the number of people traveling to Fuzhou and the number of people traveling out of Fuzhou increases, Tongli Rouyan continues to innovate in packaging.
In Tongli Rouyan's store, the reporter saw two packages with very different styles. One package was very traditional, with white paper and red characters, and the paper and packaging lines were primitive. The other package was the opposite, with a smooth surface. , colorful and modern. Chen Junfan said that traditional packaging mainly meets the needs of overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and compatriots from Hong Kong and Taiwan, and also satisfies some nostalgic customers. Modern packaging is used as gifts, and the red color looks festive. He said that since Tongli Pork Yan has recently won three awards, the packaging will be updated in the near future.
The original production capacity and scale of Tongli meat swallows were very small, but now they have spread to all parts of the country. Chen Junfan used authorized operations to set up stores in major cities across the country and set up a Beijing office in Beijing. He also took the lead in registering the trademark "Tongli Rouyan" and a cartoon portrait as the corporate image spokesperson in Fuzhou. He said that laws should be used to protect the intellectual property rights of brands.
Whether it is packaging or trademark registration, or inventing ways to eat it to suit the tastes of teenagers and foreign tourists, Tongli Pork Yanx shows strong commercial awareness and legal awareness, which is currently lacking in many time-honored brands.
In the old shop of Tongli Rouyan, the small store is filled with award certificates, honorary certificates and various gold-lettered plaques. But what Chen Junfan values ??the most is the plaque that reads "Tong De Li Hou" hanging in the middle. He explained that "Tongde" means operating with integrity and consistent conduct, and "benefiting future generations" means benefiting future generations. Only by sharing the same virtue can we benefit the future. The operation of a time-honored brand requires sharing the same virtue to benefit the future. He said that this is the principle he has adhered to for the past 40 years, and it is also the basis for Tongli Rouyan's long-term prosperity.
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