Haitian Flavouring joins WEF's global lighthouse factory network

More than 2.5 trillion soy beans are being selected annually via an artificial intelligence bean face recognition system in the workshops of Haitian Flavouring and Food Co Ltd in Foshan, Guangdong province.

The AI bean face recognition technology ensures that only good quality soy beans are used to produce soy sauce, further ensuring the quality of products, said Gui Junqiang, vice-president of Haitian Flavouring and Food Co Ltd, a major soy sauce producer in Guangdong, a global production base.

"The 'AI electronic nose' has also helped upgrade the traditional tasting method of experienced workers to an intelligent rating system based on a big data aroma library, making the quality of soy sauce we produce more stable and reliable," said Gui.

"Previously, experienced soy sauce producing masters and workers relied on their skills of looking, smelling, touching and tasting to judge the quality of soy sauce, but now we have introduced scientific methods to translate these sensory experiences into specific parameters, ensuring that each batch of products maintains a consistent flavor," Gui said.

Thanks to the advanced AI technologies and equipment being used in the production of soy sauce, the Gaoming factory, a subsidiary of the 400-year-old brand Haitian Flavouring and Food Co Ltd, was added to the global "lighthouse factory" network by the World Economic Forum in January.

According to Gui, a "lighthouse factory" is recognized as being one of the "most advanced factories in the world", representing the forefront level of global manufacturing intelligence and digitization.

It is the first soy sauce brewing factory to be listed as a "lighthouse factory" in the world so far, said Gui, adding that the listing will help the company further improve the product quality and expand sales at home and abroad in the months to come.

Insiders said the "lighthouse factory" of Haitian Flavouring and Food Co Ltd not only represents the company's highest level of intelligent manufacturing, but also represents the highest level of digitalization in China's traditional brewing industry, playing a role to help the country's seasoning products increase their presence in the global market.

Located in Gaoming district of Foshan, the factory covers an area of more than 2 million square meters and is the world's largest seasoning production base. The factory produces more than 50 billion bottles of soy sauce per year, reaching an annual production of more than 4 million metric tons.

Previously most of the "lighthouse factories" came from the high-tech industries such as photovoltaics, automobiles and wind power.

With the gradual advancement of digital transformation, valuable experiences that once only existed in the minds of soy sauce masters have been qualified into precise data and integrated into the entire production process, said Gui.

"By utilizing intelligent technologies such as AI bean selection with NIR (near infrared spectroscopy) analysis and AI electronic noses, we have greatly improved the quality of soy sauce and production efficiency to meet consumer needs and to promote Chinese flavors globally," he said.

With the help of AI and digital technologies, the company has constantly performed "subtraction" and "addition" on its products, transforming scientific research achievements into high-quality green and healthy products in recent years.

Gui said his company has reduced unnecessary additives such as sugar and salt in its products, making the products more natural and organic, while increasing the nutritional content required with iron and other elements, helping consumers obtain better nutritional supplements in their daily diet.

Liu Chunxiang, a senior employee from Gui's company, said that with higher quality soy sauce, people's cuisine and their festival dinners can now be even more delicious.