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Liu Bi Ju's Small Pickles and Big Business

Its grain must be uniform; its yeast must be solid; its heating method must be efficient. Its utensils must be fine, its water quality high, and its cooking time must be accurate….

Though these things were once considered musts to ensure the quality of Liu Bi Ju (Six Musts House) liquor, the demand for quality in antiquity now extends to all the products of the Beijing Liu Bi Ju Food Company Limited, a Zhonghua Laozihao (China Time Honoured Brand) that is famed for its products and several historical lineages.

Chen Jie, head of the Produce Supply Department of the Beijing Liu Bi Ju Food Company Limited, said, “The secret of Liu Bi Ju’s survival for hundreds of years has been its excellent manufacturing work and the quality of its materials. Degrading the workmanship or materials will only harm the brand. We have to be responsible for a hundreds-of-years-old quality brand name and the health of our customers.”

The secret to high quality today has been there all along.

A Legacy of Historic Brands

The Beijing Liu Bi Ju Food Company Limited is composed of three China Time Honoured Brand companies: Liu Bi Ju, established in 1530; Tian Yuan Jiang Yuan, 1869; and Gui Xin Zhai, 1736.

The founders of Liu Bi Ju were three brothers surnamed Zhao from Linfen in Shanxi Province, which created a bond between Liu Bi Ju, Shanxi Province and the Jinshang Culture (the Shanxi people’s business tradition). When company leaders went to explore the origins of Liu Bi Ju in Shanxi, they found many historic relics of this company and these will be exhibited in a museum dedicated to Liu Bi Ju on Qianmen Dajie in Beijing. The family-run brewery ultimately expanded into producing soy sauce and pickles. The company’s jiang heicai (muskmelon salted with saucy paste and salt), jiang baogua (muskmelon and mixed-preserved vegetables with saucy paste and sugar) and dozens of other pickled products became famous as early as during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties, and they were even found on royal-family tables.

Wise Business Tradition

Beginning with its establishment, Liu Bi Ju has followed a tradition that shareholders should never operate the company by themselves; instead, they employ competent personnel to manage it. Further, relatives of the company’s shareholders had to look elsewhere for work. With a constant eye to cash flow, the company never over-extended itself financially or incurred debt. To the company’s shareholders and managers fell the task of creating useful systems that would enable their employees to do their work efficiently.

Advancing with the Times

Traditional products enjoy a good reputation in China’s food markets; their customers trust them. Still, Liu Bi Ju has never hesitated to improve or expand its product line to suit the ever-changing needs and desires of its customers. This is evident even in its pickles and sauce products that now have less salt, sugar and food colouring, which are healthier and more suited to Liu Bi Ju customers.

Traditional methods of production are still used. But its high-quality materials and the quality of the preliminary processing of semi-finished materials are still ensured, and the products also comply with international standards. Stainless-steel containers have replaced wooden vats, and modern processing machines are being used in new, modern plants.

Modern Business

Following the current trend of market-orientation, Liu Bi Ju accomplished its restructuring reform at the end of 2000. The State-owned firm became stock-holder-owned, including a modern management and operating system. To reinforce its quality control system, Liu Bi Ju was certified as an ISO9000 compliant 2000 and HACCP (Food Safety Quality Management System). These qualifications created a more solid foundation for the development of Liu Bi Ju, domestically and internationally.

Its sales network extends to Northeast China, North China, Northwest China and South China. It also exports its products to the United States, Australia, Canada, Singapore, Korea, Japan and various countries in Europe (exports are about 20 percent of the company’s production, a rare achievement in the Chinese agricultural finished goods export market).

Liu Bi Ju’s Ambitions

“Our goal is that by 2009 our sales will total 250 million yuan (US$33.13 million),” said Chen Jie. His eyes bespoke confidence, like sunlight bouncing off clean glass. Even though his office bears the mark of history, festooned with old photographs, honours and awards, ancient pieces of art and old containers bearing the words “Liu Bi Ju” (the company also has its original Ming Dynasty “Liu Bi Ju” sign written by Ming Dynasty Minister Yan Gao), Chen is looking to the future with the confidence born of long experience, a business strategy that has worked for 500 years, and remarkable annual total sales over many years. In 2005, Liu Bi Ju reported total sales valued at 150 million yuan (US$19.88 million), 20 percent more than in 2004. In 2007, the company expects to report 180 million yuan (US$23.86 million) in sales, which indicates that selling pickles, sauces and sauced vegetables is a big and growing business.