Behind Yuanqi Forest's 2044 Creation Camp: Innovation for the Young, R & D with Greater Emphasis | Frontline Report

Author | Zhong Yixuan

On March 30th, the second "Meta Forest Creation Camp 2044" event was held in Xianning. At the event site, more than a dozen young product managers presented several new products from the Meta Forest family on stage and shared their original intentions and R & D processes for creating these new products.

"Creation Camp 2044" germinated from the promise of "meeting again in 20 years" at the 2024 Meta Forest distributors' conference. It is a concrete practice of Meta Forest providing a stage for young people and repaying users' trust with long - termism.

During the opening speech, Tang Binsen, the founder of Meta Forest, mentioned that many of Meta Forest's products initially originated from simple ideas of product managers. "Many great things in the world were not as great as the outside world imagined at the beginning. At first, they were just some simple and rough ideas. Creation Camp 2044 is not a product launch event but a record - keeping event. We just hope to record these simple and pure beginnings. Record the original intention, record the simplicity, and record that everyone of us can do it." He said.

The scene of the second "Meta Forest Creation Camp 2044"

At the scene, more than 10 product managers brought their new products. There were not only iterations of Meta Forest's mature product lines such as bubble water, Alien electrolyte water, iced tea, and Hao Zizai, but also products like hand - made - like cool tea, trying to make new attempts in the traditional beverage market. New products making their debut, such as Cola Beer, Prebiotic Bubble Drink, Hawthorn Three Gentlemen, and Dan Zhen Brown Rice Milk, targeted different consumption scenarios such as parties, breakfasts, and family reunions.

It is reported that the average age of these product managers is less than 30. For example, Li Yating, a product manager who brought the "Pingye Tea Wine" project to the stage of the Creation Camp, is even a fresh graduate who joined the company last year.

Young product managers understand young consumers better. The core reason why Meta Forest can create a series of "blockbuster products" is to "bet on" young people and establish an efficient product innovation mechanism based on this. According to 36Kr, most of Meta Forest's product managers are post - 90s. There is a saying circulating within Meta Forest: "Lao Tang spends the most time with young product managers."

It even allows "messing up". Meta Forest believes internally that the core of innovation is to allow waste. It's not about innovating for the sake of innovation, but about solving problems when they are seen and providing an open and inclusive environment for innovators.

If innovation requires youth, then the R & D that "backs it up" should be more substantial.

On that day, at the Meta Forest Creation Camp 2044 event site, the Meta Forest Xianning Innovation Institute, positioned as a one - stop R & D innovation testing base, was officially unveiled.

As an important carrier of Meta Forest's innovation construction, the first - phase of the Xianning Innovation Institute has a total investment of 200 million yuan and a total floor area of nearly 20,000 square meters. Among them, a 3,000 - square - meter laboratory can accommodate more than a hundred R & D personnel for experimental research, equipped with scientific research facilities such as extraction, grinding, and freeze - drying, as well as a sensory evaluation laboratory and various testing equipment. The innovation institute also recruits experienced scientific researchers and process technology experts in the industry and attracts students from universities such as Zhejiang University and Jiangnan University to participate in professional internships and co - creation.

In addition to the laboratory, the innovation institute is also equipped with a mini science and technology innovation factory and a pilot - scale factory, further filling in the key link between R & D and trial production. Among them, the mini science and technology innovation factory has SC production qualifications and can achieve "production and sales", with a capacity ranging from 150 mL to 900 mL. The pilot - scale factory has strong flexible production and process capabilities, supporting a variety of pre - treatment and filling solutions, further enhancing the verification and transformation capabilities of innovation results.

Mini science and technology innovation factory

Tang Binsen mentioned at the scene, "The biggest challenge for Meta Forest in making beverages over the years is that there are many formulas to try and processes to explore, but they can't be implemented." The reason is that the existing hardware facilities in the industry do not support it, and there are hardly any small - scale production lines dedicated to R & D.

In recent years, Meta Forest has been becoming more "substantial". This is also a topic that the company must face in its tenth year of growth.

As early as 2021, Meta Forest invested in building its fourth self - built factory in Xianning. Five internationally leading production lines have been put into operation one after another, with an annual output value of nearly 800 million yuan. It is expected that in the next three years, the Xianning Innovation Institute will serve 500 beverage companies, develop 2,000 new products, and the pilot - scale base will produce 15 million cases of healthy beverages. It is reported that one of the focuses of the research institute is to create IP - based formulas and accelerate the development of products with health functions such as anti - oxidation, immunity enhancement, reduction of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high blood lipids, and weight loss.

It is reported that new products such as Meta Forest Birch Soda Water and Hawthorn Three Gentlemen launched in this Creation Camp 2044 will be put into trial production on the pilot - scale production line of the Xianning Innovation Institute first, becoming a pioneer case of transforming product ideas into industrial implementation.