The first food and beverage industry-university-research (IUR) base in Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (WHDZ) is to be co-developed by the Hubei University of Technology and Wuhan Jinhuiquan Food and Beverage Co, according to local media reports.
The two parties will give full play to their respective advantages to carry out multi-form and multi-level IUR cooperation in standard formulation, process improvement, quality improvement, new product research and development, and intelligent manufacturing.
Wuhan Jinhuiquan Food and Beverage Co is a large-scale enterprise engaged in the research and development, production and sale of sour plum soup, concentrated fruit juice and solid beverages.
After more than 20 years of development, the company has now built an industrial park with an investment of 150 million ($22.85 million) and an annual output value of 3 billion.
Earlier in 2018, the company launched a school-enterprise cooperation program with Hubei University of Technology. Relying on the university's School of Food and Biological Engineering and the Hubei Provincial Food Fermentation Engineering Technology Research Center, the company participated in the joint construction of the enterprise-school joint innovation center.
The close cooperation between the school and the enterprise over the past three years yielded new results last year. The sweet-scented osmanthus-flavored plum soup drink produced by Wuhan Jinhuiquan Food and Beverage Co won the three-star Superior Taste Award, granted by the International Taste Institute in Belgium.
It is reported that only 96 products from 45 companies in China have been awarded the Superior Taste Award, of which only seven products have won the three-star honor.
