“Kamen 2022: The Power of Beverages”
The coffee and tea industry’s annual networking event, “Kamen 2022: The Power of Beverages,” themed “Staying Committed to Doing the Right Thing,” was successfully held in Changsha, Hunan, on November 16–17, 2022. Over the course of two days, distinguished guests from the beverage industry shared practical insights and engaged in on-site discussions on four core topics: the innovation inflection point, category evolution, Chinese coffee, and the era of 10,000 stores. Through their observations of the industry, they offered valuable perspectives.
Over the next two years, the coffee industry will enter a window of opportunity for structural growth; meanwhile, in the tea beverage sector, brand concentration will further increase, truly ushering in the “era of 10,000 stores” where “the bigger the pond, the bigger the fish,” making differentiation more important than ever. Persisting in doing what is difficult yet right is the passport to a brighter future. The development of new-style tea beverages is intertwined with that of dairy products. Milk foam and snow-topped toppings can be transformed into various forms through diverse techniques, and when incorporated into a beverage, they take on a wide range of presentations. Nitrous oxide (N₂O) is an indispensable additive in the production of milk foam and snow-topped products. With the arrival of the “10,000-store era” in the coffee and tea beverage industry, the safety, stability, and purity of nitrous oxide (N₂O) will play a critical role in the industry’s further development.
Fujian Unite Materials Technology Co., Ltd., as a domestic food-grade nitrous oxide manufacturer, was invited to attend this conference. China’s gas manufacturing industry got off to a relatively late start, and industry standards remain incomplete. As a result, the domestic coffee, tea, and baking industries have long been reliant on imported nitrous oxide (N₂O). Imported nitrous oxide presents challenges that hinder industry development, including high costs, unstable supply, adulteration with counterfeit products, policy compliance risks, and a lack of supporting services. As a pioneer in the field of specialty gases for electronics, Fujian Unite employs internationally leading heated decomposition technology using ammonium nitrate to produce nitrous oxide with a purity of ≥99.9995%. It is the only high-tech R&D, production, and service enterprise in China that has obtained a food production license for nitrous oxide (N₂O) and integrates production, filling, sales, export, and an end-to-end traceability system. Since its launch, the product has garnered significant attention from professionals in the domestic coffee and tea beverage industries. The company has established in-depth partnerships with several leading tea beverage chains, resulting in booming sales and a high volume of orders.
At this annual conference, Fujian Unite provided on-site guests with a detailed demonstration of product operation and output testing, allowing them to experience firsthand the product’s performance—which far exceeds the market average. The delicate texture, full and firm foam topping, and output volume that far surpasses the market standard for whipped cream received unanimous praise from tea beverage industry professionals.
“Committed to doing the right thing,” Fujian Unite Materials Technology has long been deeply engaged in the field of specialty gases for the electronics industry. The company has long supplied various high-purity specialty gases to numerous internationally renowned electronics manufacturers [including chip and semiconductor producers, as well as LED display manufacturers]. Among these, its annual production of nitrous oxide (N₂O)—produced via the thermal decomposition of ammonium nitrate—reaches 20,000 metric tons, ranking among the world’s highest. Committed to the research, development, production, and supply of specialty gases in China, the company is firmly rooted in the international market while accelerating its strategic expansion in the domestic food sector to fully support the development of China’s new tea beverage industry.
