FoodNavigator Asia, the leading source of news for the food and beverage industry in Asia, has just published an article titled “‘Tetra Pak’ for meats: Hong Kong’s IXON on shipping fresh meat from US to Asia without the need for cold chain” after interviewing our founder and CEO Felix Cheung last week. In the article, deputy editor Guan Yu Lim highlights the business strategy of IXON, as well as the technological impact that advanced sous-vide aseptic packaging (ASAP) might bring to the global food systems.

“The global average consumption of meat is around 45kg annually. In China, South Korea and Japan, the average consumption is 90kg, while in Hong Kong, it is 140kg,” says Cheung. “However, such meats are typically more expensive in Asia, costing twice or triple the price for the same steak in US.”

Cheung explained it was more costly because of the need for cold chain when shipping meat from US to Asia. In addition, there were many middlemen involved in the supply chain from retailer to distributor, who will also take a profit.

Because products prepared with the ASAP technology can be shipped at room temperature, it eliminates the need for cold chain, and also gives lower income countries greater access to affordable meat products.

“This is going to change the whole ecosystem, because we can package the meats and sell at a cheaper price to the Asian consumers,” says Cheung.

亞洲食品和飲料新聞網FoodNavigator Asia剛剛發表了一篇題為『鮮肉版「利樂」：香港IXON無需凍鏈即可將鮮肉從美國運往亞洲』的文章，披露了上週與我們公司創辦人兼執行董事張文浩先生的採訪內容。在文章中，副主編林冠宇（譯名）重點介紹了IXON的商業策略，以及先進低溫真空無菌包裝 (ASAP) 技術給全球食品系統帶來的影響。

張說：「中國、韓國和日本的人均肉類消費量為90公斤，是世界人均水平的一倍。香港的人均肉類消費量更高達140公斤。然而肉類在亞洲普遍很貴，牛扒價格通常是美國的兩三倍。」

價格高昂原因是凍鏈成本很高。此外供應鏈亦涉及許多中間人，例如零售商和分銷商，他們會從中獲利。

由於ASAP產品可於室溫下運送，無需凍鏈，因此低收入國家亦能負擔得起。

張說：「亞洲消費者將可以以更便宜價格買到肉類，這將改變整個生態系統。」

IXON aims to become "Tetra Pak for animal proteins"