Focusing on innovative development of the natural food industry “Shanghai Natural Food Center” was officially inaugurated

On August 26, 2025, the “Shanghai Natural Food Center” (hereinafter referred to as the “Center”) was officially inaugurated in Shanghai. Leaders and guests from government departments, industry associations, and renowned enterprises, including Shanghai H&K Flavours & Fragrances Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “H&K Flavor”), jointly witnessed this significant moment. The Center aimed to gather forces from all sectors, integrate industrial resources, facilitate policy implementation, promote technological exchanges and achievement transformation, and assist Shanghai in becoming a national innovation hub for natural foods.

Ms. YUAN Xiaoqin, Director and President of Huabao Flavours & Fragrances Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Huabao"), and Chairman of the Board of Directors of H&K Flavor, attended the ceremony and delivered a speech. She pointed out that H&K Flavor, formerly known as Continental Chemical Society - the first Chinese national flavor enterprise established in 1912, had always adhered to an innovative spirit and had strong presence in flavor science research over the past century. It had continuously made breakthroughs in core technologies such as extraction and separation, enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation, thermal reactions, microencapsulation, dosage form conversion, and related natural product development. She emphasized that in the future, H&K Flavor would rely on Huabao’s nationally recognized enterprise technology center, postdoctoral workstation, and international R&D platform to actively collaborate with industry forces and jointly build an innovative and open ecosystem that integrated production and research, promoting the construction of a natural food standard system and enhancing public awareness.

Mr. BAO Jianqiang, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Food Additives & Batching Association (SFABA), stated in his speech that the SFABA had long been committed to establishing a scientific, transparent, and standardized natural food standard system. It had successively revised and issued group standards such as Natural Flavoring, Food Ingredients Natural Degree Determination, Natural Traceability of Food Fragrances, Natural Traceability of Natural Food Additives, and Natural Processed Foods, laying a solid and unified technical foundation for regulating market order and defining the industry direction. He expressed that the SFABA would continue to strengthen its role as a bridge in policy recommendations, industry self-regulation, and cross-over cooperation, driving the natural and healthy transformation of Shanghai’s and even China’s food industry.

Leaders and guests, including Mr. GUAN Weiyong, President of the Shanghai Federation of Industrial Economics, Mr. CHEN Xiangrong, Deputy Director of the Food Production and Operation Division at the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Market Supervision Administration, and Mr. LI Feng, General Manager of the China Certification & Inspection Group East China Regional Certification Center, also delivered speeches congratulating the Center’s establishment. They unanimously believed that the establishment of the “Shanghai Natural Food Center” was not only a significant initiative for the high-quality development of Shanghai’s food industry but also set a “Shanghai benchmark” for the national natural food sector. They collectively anticipated that the Center would play a leading role in standard setting, industry exchanges, and consumer cultivation in the future, assisting in the construction of a new social governance pattern featuring “government regulation, industry self-discipline, primary responsibility of enterprises, and social participation”, and driving the sustainable development of the natural food industry.

After the ceremony, guests participated in a natural food tasting event organized by H&K Flavor. Mr. JI Heli, Executive Vice President of the SFABA, hosted a natural food seminar where experts engaged in in-depth discussions on the development trends, technological innovations, and market prospects of natural foods.

In the future, the Center will gather forces from the government, industry, enterprises, research institutions, and other sectors to jointly create an original innovation hub for China’s natural food industry. It is believed that with the efforts of all parties, Shanghai is poised to take the lead in establishing a natural food industry hub, guiding the national food industry towards a healthier and more sustainable direction, and bringing consumers more natural, safe, and high-quality food choices.