Be & Cheery (百草味), the Muji of Food in China

Reading Time : 4 Minutes 

how did the muji of food in china digitally transformed their company into a 5 billion rmb enterprise in 2018

On our 3rd day with the Alibaba Netpreneur Program,  we managed to head out to one of the local champions in eCommerce, Be & Cheery (百草味)! Be & Cheery is currently one of the most successful locally produced food manufacturer that made 5 Billion RMB in 2018! 

Who IS Be & Cheery (百草味)?

Be & Cheery credit their achievement through their huge digitization adoption decision. Somewhere around 2010, their group Chairman decided to close down 160 retail outlets across China and made a 100% move onto digital platforms for sales. This is due to a certain vision that he foresee where the future of commerce would mostly come from online transactions. 

Company History and Timeline of Be & Cheery

To push for their goals, they empower everyone in their team to have a strong and resilient culture! 

The Great Wall of Employee Achievements Being Displayed

A major re-branding process has also just taken place not too long ago, morphing their packaging into a very modern & trendy look. This would attract young new buyers while the older buyers would still feel relevant with their strong brand name. It is through this, I decided to call them the Muji of Food in China due to the similar design processes which they believe in.  

The Muji of Food in China with simple and clean packaging designs

Building Tomorrow’s Talent within the Industry

Building Future eCommerce Talents

What most amazed me would be the fact that Be & Cheery have also decided to venture into education, completing their campus for Bai Cao Wei University. In here, they will train fellow employees or new students on the importance of making business within their industry. This is really locking down talents right from their grass roots! 

Key Takeaways/Tips for fellow FMCG/F&B/Snacks Entrepreneurs 

Afterthoughts 

The top management of Be & Cheery really believed  in the digital economy when they first caught wind of it in 2010. This strong believe and persistent execution is what led them to be where they are today.

What I am impressed most from the numerous Chinese companies I’ve visited recently is the fact that not only are they highly accepting towards local solutions (in this case Taobao from Alibaba), but they are also actively contributing in terms of culture building and future building towards the talent programs which they constructed!

These kind of dedication, determination, and culture forming is what Malaysian companies lack, and it’s something I hope to see improving along the years to come.

• Read Pre-Day 1 : (A Day Using China’s Tech Ecosystem)
• Read Day 1 :  (Hot Pot Anyone?)
• Read Day 2, Part 1/3 : (Tao Bao Village, A Thriving Rural eCommerce)
• Read Day 2, Part 2/3 : (eCommerce Overview of Malaysia vs China)
• Read Day 2, Part 3/3 : (Building an eCommerce Team)
• Special Intermission : (The 996 Work Culture in China)
• Read Day 3, (The 5 Billion RMB  Muji for Snacks in China)
• Read Day 4, Part 1/2 : (A Glimpse of an E-Wallet Future in Malaysia)
• Read Day 4, Part 2/2 : (Ant Forest, Gamification of Environmental Awareness)

Please follow and like us: