Deep Integration of Science and Enterprise, Tongguan Roujiamo "Intelligent" Manufacturing Upgrade
Wei Yimin
(Institute of Food Processing, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, Haidian 100193)

Tongguan Roujiamo, a traditional snack renowned for its unique flaky layered pastry and savory braised meat, has captured the hearts of countless food enthusiasts and is hailed as the "Chinese Burger" overseas. However, this millennia-old craft now faces challenges such as talent shortages, lack of standards, and insufficient production capacity in the era of chain operations. Today, a "science-enterprise collaboration" team comprising Tongguan County Shengtong Catering Management Company, the Institute of Agricultural Product Processing at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and Anhui Jinke Machinery Company has broken through these technical bottlenecks, driving the Tongguan Roujiamo industry toward high-quality development.

1. Outdated Production Techniques Hinder Industrial Expansion
   The essence of Tongguan Roujiamo lies in its pastry—a crispy, layered flatbread made from unleavened dough. Its unique texture heavily relies on the skill and experience of the artisans. However, training a proficient artisan is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the craft faces the dilemma of a lack of successors. Manual production also struggles to ensure consistent product quality, limiting scalability and making it difficult to meet the demands of chain operations, which has become a critical constraint on industrial expansion

Figure 1: Tongguan Thousand-Layer Cake Roujiamo (Photo by Wei Yimin, 2017)

1. Deep Integration of Science and Enterprise to Overcome Key Technical Challenges
   To break through development bottlenecks, Tongguan County Shengtong Catering Company actively sought cooperation with research institutions and equipment manufacturers, leveraging their respective strengths to conduct systematic technological breakthroughs addressing industrial constraints.
2. Establishing Standards to "Set Rules" for Industrial Upgrading
   Researchers delved into the field, consulting veteran artisans to understand the production processes and key techniques of traditional flatbread making. Based on this, they designed sensory evaluation method experiments for flatbreads, integrating methodology with product quality factors. By using flour recommended by artisans, commercially available flour, and laboratory-prepared graded flour, they statistically analyzed the relationship between flour quality characteristics and product quality, as well as the impact of flour quality on the sensory attributes of the pastry. This led to the determination of the optimal flour ratio and the formulation of a quantifiable "Tongguan Roujiamo Flatbread Sensory Evaluation Method." Additionally, they established the enterprise standard "Special Wheat Flour for Tongguan Roujiamo Pastry," ensuring stable raw material quality from the source.

Figure 2: Tongguan Roujiamo "Manual + Mechanical" Unit Operation Factory (Photo by Wei Yimin, 2017)

2. Optimizing Formulations to "Lay the Foundation" for Production Line Upgrades
While preserving traditional flavors, researchers scientifically optimized the pastry formula using special flour for Tongguan Roujiamo. This significantly improved the dough's extensibility and the pastry's freeze resistance and storage stability, ensuring that quick-frozen pastries retain an appearance and texture comparable to handmade ones after baking.

Figure 3: Researchers and Artisans Discuss Sensory Evaluation Methods (Photo by Yan Junhui, 2017)

1. Technology Empowerment: Building an Automated Production Line

To address the special requirements of thousand-layer pastry production, such as gas encapsulation during baking, outer layer scoring, and maintaining a plump shape, Jinke Machinery Company took the lead in developing China's first fully automated production line for Tongguan Roujiamo pastry, based on collaboration among catering enterprises, research institutions, and equipment manufacturers. This production line achieves full automation from dough mixing, pressing, freezing, to packaging, with an hourly output of 4,000 pastries and adjustable weight precision. Equipped with online monitoring and warning devices, it ensures safe, efficient, and stable production processes.

Figure 4: Fully Automated Production Line for Tongguan Roujiamo—Type II (Photo by Wei Yimin, 2021)

1. Remarkable Project Outcomes, Demonstrating Innovative Value

The deep integration of science and enterprise has overcome industrial development bottlenecks, delivering significant benefits to the company.

1. Innovation-Driven, Notable Benefits     

Shengtong Catering Company expanded its production lines from 3 in 2023 to 6 in 2025, with annual output soaring from 5.47 million to over 110 million pastries, achieving leapfrog growth. Its products are exported to 23 countries worldwide, with stores opened in Thailand and Spain. Over the past three years, the company's total revenue exceeded 200 million yuan, with substantial tax contributions. In 2025, its Roujiamo trademark was selected as a "Shaanxi Quality Trademark" and is in the process of trademark registration in Europe. Jinke Machinery Company has mass-produced the upgraded fully automated Tongguan Roujiamo production line (Type III), manufacturing 61 sets of equipment over three years, including 17 for export, creating considerable economic value. The improved quality and production stability of Roujiamo pastry have accelerated market expansion and reduced operational costs for downstream catering enterprises by over 30%.
In recent years, Shengtong Catering Company has continued to invest in enhancing production line performance and digital transformation, driving the production process toward contactless and intelligent operations.

1. Significant Social Benefits, Boosting Rural Revitalization

The project has directly driven local employment, increasing the company's workforce to over a hundred employees. It innovatively established "Mom-Friendly Positions," effectively addressing employment issues for specific groups. Additionally, the annual consumption of large quantities of flour, pork, seasonings, and packaging materials has significantly stimulated the development of local agriculture and related industries, injecting industrial momentum into rural revitalization. Furthermore, by optimizing production processes, energy consumption has been reduced by approximately 20%, minimizing raw material waste and improving storage and transportation efficiency, contributing to green development.

1. Providing the "Tongguan Solution" for Modernizing Traditional Cuisine

The industrial upgrading of Tongguan Roujiamo is a high-quality development path driven by the deep integration of science and enterprise, with standardization, automation, and digitization as its pathways. It successfully addresses common challenges in the industrialization and chain development of traditional cuisine, transforming local snacks into global products with modern industrial DNA. This innovative model of "standardized evaluation, automated production, cold-chain storage and transportation, and network-based sales" has turned traditional snacks reliant on individual craftsmanship into quantifiable, replicable, and traceable modern food industry products, vividly exemplifying the "Tongguan Solution." This successful practice of science-enterprise collaboration has not only revitalized Tongguan Roujiamo but also provides an actionable "Tongguan Solution" for upgrading other traditional food industries nationwide facing similar challenges.
Empowered by technological innovation, Tongguan Roujiamo, carrying millennia of cultural heritage, is now making its way to the world, spreading its aroma far and wide.

(Finalized on January 21, 2026, Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian, Beijing)