When the journey of a grain of wheat can be traced back to the blockchain, and when the master's kneading skills are expected to be learned and passed on by AI algorithms - this bowl of Lanzhou beef ramen spanning a hundred years is standing at the intersection of traditional craftsmanship and digital technology.
At the recent Gansu Provincial Two Sessions, a proposal on using "AI + Metaverse" technology to inject new momentum into Lanzhou beef ramen sparked heated discussions among the deputies. Du Lingsheng, a member of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, pointed out that the traditional development model of Lanzhou's beef ramen industry, which has a total of more than 71,000 stores, a revenue of more than 80 billion yuan in the whole industry chain, and is moving towards a scale of 100 billion yuan, is facing challenges in the digital age.
The bottleneck of the 100 billion industry
Standardized and digital double test questions
"The future of a bowl of noodles cannot rely solely on the skillful hands of ramen craftsmen." Du Lingsheng found in his research that there are structural bottlenecks hidden behind the industrial boom.
the standardization of the production end is low, and manual operation is still dominant; digital marketing on the operation side is weak, making it difficult to accurately reach young consumers; the consumption experience is single, and the profound Silk Road food culture has not been fully transformed into market attractiveness; The coordination of all links in the industrial chain is insufficient, and the phenomenon of "information islands" still exists. Lanzhou beef ramen, a national intangible cultural heritage, has come to a critical intersection on the way from traditional catering to modern industry.
Consolidate the industrial foundation
A full-chain revolution from pasture to table
Any future-oriented industrial planning must be based on a solid industrial foundation. Wang Ximing, chief of the planting and seed industry section of the Lanzhou Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said that in 2025, focusing on the goal of building a 100-billion-level industrial cluster, the city will promote the source guarantee work with the "whole industry chain" thinking system.
"We focus on 'from pasture to table' and strive to consolidate the upstream of the industrial chain." Wang Ximing said. By continuously promoting the large-scale and standardized breeding of beef cattle, as well as the construction of special vegetable bases, the local supply capacity of beef and core vegetable raw materials has been significantly improved. Through the combination of cross-regional deployment and local supply guarantee, the foundation of the industrial chain has continued to be consolidated, and the output value of the relevant whole chain has reached a considerable scale.
In Yongdeng County, Yuzhong County and other places, large-scale and standardized breeding has become a trend. Yongdeng County Zishan Cooperative introduced a digital management system for the whole life cycle of cattle, which increased production efficiency by 20% and gave scientific and technological wings to traditional breeding.
Improve the grain and oil supply chain
The "energy cornerstone" of a bowl of noodles
A bowl of authentic Lanzhou beef ramen is inseparable from the support of high-quality flour and fat. The relevant person in charge of the Lanzhou Municipal Grain and Material Reserve Bureau showed reporters a report card: in 2025, the supply chain of flour and oil will exceed 40,000 tons, and the sales revenue will reach 2.042 billion yuan. "We have built a supply chain system of 'leading and multi-point support'." The person in charge explained. With Yihai Kerry as the leader, local enterprises such as Jinxiang Grain and Oil and Lohas Green Movement as the backbone, and the three major grain and oil wholesale markets as the hub, a supply network covering the whole city and radiating the surrounding area has been woven.
Of particular importance is that the grain processing and storage project of Jinshahe noodle industry in Gansu Province with a total investment of 600 million yuan is about to be put into operation. "It will focus on the development of high value-added products such as high-gluten ramen powder to promote the deep integration of the grain and oil supply chain and the beef ramen industry chain." The person in charge added. Policy grain reserves and the newly built emergency support center provide a "ballast stone" for supply chain security.
Processing upgrading and brand breakthrough
The "standardization" campaign on the tip of the tongue
The core link of industrial upgrading lies in processing. In the Lanzhou Cattle and Sheep Industry Expo Park, a modern designated slaughterhouse has been put into operation, with a daily slaughtering capacity of 240 heads per shift.
At the same time, in the Shuping Zhongchuang City Food Industrial Park, the "Beef Ramen Smart Gigafactory" is in operation, and the intelligent production line promotes the standardized production of prepackaged products, with an annual production capacity of 5,000 tons. Brand building has been promoted simultaneously, and a number of prepackaged products have been selected into the catalog of well-known agricultural products of "Ganwei". The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Grain and Material Reserve Bureau said that at the 7th China Grain Trade Conference, the on-site skills display of Lanzhou beef ramen became the focus, and brands such as "Jincheng Tiger" and "Lan Bo Wang" attracted merchants from all over the country.
The relevant person in charge of the Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said: "The proportion of beef deep processing still needs to be improved, and the brand influence needs to be further expanded, which are our next focus of work." ”
A blueprint for the future
When a century of technology meets AI and the metaverse
A solid industrial foundation provides the possibility for the application of cutting-edge technologies. The "AI + Metaverse" empowerment blueprint depicted by Du Lingsheng at the two sessions is built on such a foundation.
On the production side, in the future, through the research and development of AI intelligent kneading machines and soup ratio systems, the unity of flavor stability and scale expansion can be achieved under the premise of strictly following the essence of traditional craftsmanship. Blockchain traceability technology can make every bowl of noodles have a queryable "digital ID card".
On the operation and experience side, the "Lanzhou Beef Ramen Digital Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum" is built, using 3D scanning and VR technology to make the thousand-year-old Silk Road food culture touchable and immersive.
The "Ramen Metaverse Experience Hall" has been opened in the core business district, where consumers can witness the visual birth process of a bowl of noodles from raw materials to finished products through digital human interactive ordering, and build a new consumption scene with online and offline linkage.
"The future of the industry lies in the two-way empowerment of technological innovation and cultural inheritance." Du Lingsheng emphasized. This idea is not to replace tradition, but to amplify the experience value of masters through digital tools, so that century-old skills can gain new expression and vitality in the digital age.
Reporter's notes
From a grain of wheat and a cow in the field, to AI-assisted standardized production in the kitchen, to the immersive cultural experience of the metaverse, the industrialization of Lanzhou beef ramen is a modern transformation road from the ingenuity of "one clear and two white" to "digital intelligence".
On this road, there are not only the solid construction of the industrial chain foundation by government departments, but also the forward-looking thinking and scientific and technological empowerment ideas from the two sessions. When all these forces converge, this bowl of beef noodles carrying the spirit of the Yellow River culture and the Silk Road, its journey to the global market will not only rely on the conquest of taste buds, but also the power of modern industrial ecology that deeply integrates "technology, industry and culture". (Reporter Yang Xiao)