Product Development and Innovation

The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way of life for people around the globe, which directly affects the economic activities. The pandemic has brought a chance for us to review the stability of the quantity, quality and cost of the ingredients. Besides, to meet the changing needs of customers, we formulate plans and schedules for product development based on the timing, seasons and market trends.

Initiatives for New Products Development

Initiatives for New Products 

An-Shin continues to innovate and develop healthy products and solves social problems at the same time. Regarding the research and development process, the company con-firms the research and development directions for next year annually. The product research and development personnel propose innovative concepts and discuss with relevant suppliers, including product concept, specification, ingredients, cooking method, sanitary quality demand and cost range, etc., followed by the suppliers performing sample development for the required food. After the sample is completed, the research and development personnel perform combination and flavor tests, where the concept develop-ment product ratio is 9 (the company): 1 (contractor). Finally, the development progress review will be conducted. The Product Development Department has a strict procedures in product launching and an amount of NT$ 6.26 million was invested in R&D in 2020, while NT$ 6.31 million of investment is expected in 2021 depends on the business condition and we hope to maintain our competitive advantage in fast food industry. 

Process of New Product Development:

New Product Sale 

The main idea for product development in 2020 was using local agricultural products and introduced a series of products in different ways. For example, we combined ingredients such as turmeric, brown sugar, onions, boletus, and etc. to launch a series of immunity boosting products in response to the pandemic. Besides, the Taiwan's farmed Groupers export was blocked during the COVID-19 outbreak, so we collaborated with Marine Bureau Kaohsiung City Government and Yong-an District Fishermen's Association by incorporating the Dragon Tiger Grouper with rice burger, successfully launched the world's first "Dragon Tiger Grouper Rice Burger with Salted Egg Yolk Sauce" using the original sliced grouper. Regarding to the Rice Innovation Project initiated by the Council of Agricul-ture, we developed the "Rice Biscuit Balls" using Taiwan local rice. During the 312 MOS Burger birth-day celebration, we also launched the "Double MOS Cheese Burger" and "Lohas Wagyu Beef Burger with Thousand Island Dressing" to convey the sophistication of Japanese brands and show the of variation of classic products, so to increase the sense of belonging and grow together with our customers.

New Product Introduction & Training

An-Shin launches seasonal products sequentially every 1-2 months. Different from the other retails in fast food industry, we take the concept of “medicine food homology” as our main product design idea. New product introduction and training will be held before the new product is officially introduced to ensure our employees familiar with the products and provide the right and delicious meals for customers.

Annual research and development expenses for the most recent 3 years:

Year
Units
2018
2019
2020
Research and development expenses
NT$ Thousands
6,024
6,216
6,256
Consolidated net operating revenue
NT$ Thousands
5,252,104
5,484,492
5,342,094
Percentage of research and development expenses to consolidated revenue
%
0.11
0.11
0.12
Healthy and Safe Products

New Product Introduction & Training

An-Shin establishes meal product development and launches seasonal products sequentially every 1-2 months. Different from the other retails in fast food industry, we take the concept of "medicine food homology" as our main product design idea. New product introduction and training will be held before the new product is officially introduced to ensure our employees familiar with the products and provide the right and delicious meals for customers.

New products are not easy to launch and masked with layers of validation and verification to ensure its deliciousness. We uphold the spirit of "deliver delicious products for our customers" in every stages of product development process, and we hope our customers feel our sincerity as well as the deliciousness of products. Before a new product is officially launched, division managers are required to join the product launch training. 249 people were trained in the product launch training in 2020, and the product launch manuals were uploaded to the E-Learning Platform by the Operational Training Unit for further downloads.

New Product Introduction Process:
Year 2018 2019 2020
Category item Sales volume (thousands) ％ Sales revenue ($NT thousands) ％ item Sales volume (thousands) ％ Sales revenue ($NT thousands) ％ item Sales volume (thousands) ％ Sales revenue ($NT thousands) ％
Main course 23 3,328 2.92 247,279 4.71 22 3,044 2.75 254,839 4.65 30 3,403 3.34 261,087 4.89
Snacks 15 615 0.54 32,757 0.62 17 424 0.38 23,561 0.43 13 636 0.62 34,648 0.65
Drinks & Soups 22 2,361 2.07 126,388 2.41 17 1,005 0.91 65,687 1.20 18 1,351 1.32 87,164 1.63
Others 13 37 0.03 8,345 0.16 8 31 0.03 4,689 0.09 7 21 0.02 3,848 0.07
Total 72 6,341 5.57 414,769 7.90 64 4,504 4.07 348,776 6.37 68 5,411 5.31 386,748 7.24