2025-05-08 18:06:00 By Li Yukun, Dahe Daily · Yu Video Reporter [Opening Remarks] The tide of digitalization surges across Central Plains, and sparks of intelligence light up the future. In 2025, Henan is using "artificial intelligence +" as the key to unlock its transformation from a central manufacturing province to an innovative manufacturing powerhouse. With strategic layouts such as the national supercomputing internet core node connecting computing power arteries and the Zhengzhou Data Exchange Centre activating factor values, the province's computing power scale aims for the "national first echelon" target of 94EFlops, installing "intelligent engines" for thousands of industries.This series of reports will deeply explore the "smart samples" of major cities in Central Plains—here, there are both the powerful support of computing power clusters and innovative sparks sprouting in fields, jointly sketching a "digital and intelligent panorama" of the Central Plains. When the Yellow River civilization meets artificial intelligence, a Central Plains breakthrough regarding new productive forces is unfolding. From Manual Labor to Smart Production: A 33-Year-Old Garlic Enterprise's Transformation In the fully automated production line, fresh garlic is fed in, going through multiple processes such as peeling, screening, rough crushing, and grinding, and emerges as garlic powder ready for export—no human intervention needed in between. In the warehouse, AGV intelligent robot forklifts shuttle back and forth, loading packaged products into storage...Recently, reporters from Dahe Daily・Yu Video learned during an interview with Henan Sunny Foodstuff Co., Ltd. in Xiangcheng, Zhoukou that this 33-year-old traditional food enterprise has revitalized with vigorous vitality for quality improvement and efficiency enhancement through intelligent transformation. Li Fengyu, the enterprise person in charge, told the reporter that the company now has an annual output of 50,000 tons, with all products exported to over 70 countries and regions, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. Humble Beginnings: 1,000 Workers Peeling Garlic by Hand Garlic is a common agricultural product in Central Plains, with large-scale planting in many areas. As early as around 1990, farmers in Jialing Town, Xiangcheng, Zhoukou, had a habit of growing garlic. "Garlic yields are higher than wheat. At that time, there were not many compound fertilizers, and wheat yields were low, so farmers chose to plant cash crops to increase income," said Li Fengyu, General Manager of Henan Sunny Foodstuff Co., Ltd., on May 8.In 1992, an enterprise named "Sunny Garlic Flakes Factory" was born in Jialing Town, Xiangcheng, founded by Li Fengyu's father. "At that time, there were two to three dozen garlic flakes factories in our town alone, processing garlic into flakes for sale, which increased the added value of agricultural products," Li Fengyu recalled.In the early days of the factory, there were almost no machines—everything relied on manual labour, let alone intelligence. Workers peeled and sliced garlic by hand, a process that consumed a lot of manpower. To improve efficiency, the enterprise adopted a "company + farmers" model, distributing 30 jin of fresh garlic to each household in the morning and collecting the peeled garlic in the evening. At peak times, 1,000 villagers peeled garlic by hand daily, with the company paying daily manual labour fees.Even so, the company's annual output was only a few hundred tons, and production was limited to four months (June to September) each year due to the lack of cold storage and drying equipment—production was entirely "season-dependent."Despite manual labor and seasonal constraints, products were already being exported overseas through a Shanghai-based international trade company, used as seasoning for foods like grilled steak in Western countries. Later, many factories like "Sunny" established their own sales channels, exporting directly without intermediaries. Intelligent Transformation: Boosting Production to New Heights After 33 years of development, "Sunny Garlic Flakes Factory" has transformed into "Henan Sunny Foodstuff Co., Ltd.," with products diversifying from a single garlic flakes to various dehydrated vegetables. Li Fengyu emphasised that the enterprise's growth relies on technological innovation and intelligent drive. The production workshop is now filled with "smart elements." In the "intelligent control room," a large screen displays real-time data from each production line, including production environment parameters, food safety data, product order distributions, and capacity allocations.Only three to four workers are present in the fully automated production line workshop, with pipelines and conveyor belts dominating. As machines roar, fresh garlic enters the production line, undergoing processes like drying, screening, dust removal, stone removal, sterilisation, rough crushing, lifting, and grinding, emerging as export-ready garlic powder. "Take the screening process—previously done by hand, now automated machines have drastically improved efficiency. One such intelligent device can replace 100 workers," Li Fengyu said. In the warehouse, 25-year-old intelligent information operator Chen Xu sets scheduling lists on the computer. With a click of "confirm," an AGV intelligent robot forklift starts operating along the preset route to load and unload products. "This smart unmanned forklift can carry 2 tons of goods at once, saving a lot of manpower and material resources. One computer can control 100 such machines simultaneously," Chen Xu explained."Last year, we invested 136 million yuan in a 12,000-ton annual output intelligent transformation project for canned dehydrated vegetables, equipping production lines with advanced X-ray machines, color sorters, and metal detectors to ensure impurity-free, uniform-color products. By integrating fully automated equipment, such as using mechanical arms for feeding and intelligent unmanned forklifts for handling, production capacity has tripled, labor costs have been reduced by about 50%, and product quality is widely recognized in international markets," Li Fengyu stated. Smart Drive: Enhancing Rural Incomes The intelligent transformation not only boosts the enterprise's development but also directly increases farmers' incomes. Henan Sanli Food Co., Ltd. alone consumes 100,000 tons of garlic raw materials annually for its garlic products, equivalent to 100,000 mu of garlic cultivation—not counting other dehydrated vegetables like onions and carrots."Our production bases radiate to many regions across the country. For example, we built a factory in Gansu for onion products, where the planting area is large and the climate is suitable," Li Fengyu said. As a deep agricultural product processing enterprise, the ultimate goal of technological innovation and intelligent drive is not just its own development but also social benefits—making agricultural products more valuable and marketable, and filling farmers' wallets.   Source: Dahe Daily · Yu Video Dahe DailyEditor: Qu Ge

On February 26, 2025, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan issued Announcement No. 2 of the Health, Food and Drug Administration (HFDA) 0226, stating that, based on the results of the actual inspections conducted up to now, the content of the section related to thiamethoxam in garlic produced in China in Exhibit 2 of the Monitoring and Inspection Schedule is hereby deleted.   Sunny Food in Henan Province is focused on international news all the time. As a Dehydrated Garlic and onion, Paprika powder manufacturer in China, we are delighted to share the news we have acquired with our customers. If you need dehydrated garlic products, Dehydrated Onion products, paprika powder, or other dehydrated vegetables, please contact us.