Century-old pharmaceutical company Tong Ren Tang is using smart-retail technology to promote traditional Chinese medicinal cuisine.

At this month’s Inno4life Creative Culture & Technology Innovation Expo in Hong Kong, it partnered with local company YY Global Health Cares to launch a smart self-service vending machine showcasing breakthroughs in the field of medicinal cuisine and healthcare.

This collaboration aims to leverage technology to promote traditional Chinese medicinal cuisine on an international scale and accelerate entry into the big healthcare sector.

Tong Ren Tang has long history and background in traditional Chinese medicinal cuisine, adhering to the concept of food and medicine being of the same source. It combines traditional medicinal cuisine culture with healthy eating, crafted to create nourishing dishes.

The recently designed self-heating small pot locks in nutritional flavours, allowing users to enjoy a hot soup in just five minutes with a simple pull and twist, providing ready-to-eat healthy options for busy urban dwellers and visitors to hospitals. The product has multiple certifications, including origin certification, self-heating patent, preservative-free certification, Hong Kong recognised nutrition labels, and the food factory certified by the US FDA.

The smart vending machine showcased by YY Global Health Cares integrates a cloud-based operational management system to monitor replenishment and maintenance information in real time, and is equipped with a cloud management system to deploy advertisements based on demand. The machine can also be equipped with AI smart cameras, which can provide customer traffic data and traditional Chinese medicine health recommendations.

After a year of preparation, the Nanjing Tong Ren Tang smart retail self-service vending machines officially launched in August this year, entering major shopping malls and commercial buildings in Hong Kong, including Link Reit’s Lok Fu Place, Nam Cheong Place, Sau Mau Ping Shopping Centre, Chuk Yuen Plaza, and Sino Group’s China Hong Kong City, as well as commercial buildings such as Manulife Place and Billion Centre.

The company is exploring collaboration opportunities with various developers and hospital clinics to provide healthy and convenient traditional Chinese medicinal meals for office workers and hospital staff visitors in different districts. In addition, Tong Ren Tang medicinal cuisine stew has been made available at the Kwai Fong and Sha Tin Yata supermarkets, various traditional Chinese medicine clinics, wellness and beauty shops, and partner restaurants.

“We are honoured to be the exclusive agent for Nanjing Tong Ren Tang in the Hong Kong region,” said Kelvin Chan, CEO of YY Global Health Cares (www.sip-of-health.com). “Through smart retail innovation, we assist this century-old pharmaceutical enterprise in transforming into the big healthcare sector and promote the culture of traditional Chinese medicinal cuisine to the world.”

Sin Hendrick, president of Hong Kong’s Internet Professional Association (www.iproa.org), said using IoT technology to connect machines with cloud platforms for real-time management and enhancing operational efficiency was an inevitable trend in the transformation of traditional industries.

And He Yiman, general director of healthcare at Tong Ren Tang (www.tongrentang.com), added: “We are very pleased to collaborate with YY Global Health Cares. We hope to leverage its rich regional resources to promote the century-old brand of Nanjing Tong Ren Tang internationally and advocate the healthcare concept of the integration of Chinese medicine and food.”

The hope is that this collaboration could create more opportunities for advancing the global reach of the traditional Chinese medicine and health food industry.