1. Industry Risk Analysis

(1) Policy Risk

The policy risks currently faced by the canned food industry are mainly reflected in the following aspects: the tightening of environmental protection requirements leads to an increase in production costs (such as the upgrade of wastewater discharge standards); the refinement of food safety regulations increases compliance pressure (such as the tightening of preservative standards); international trade frictions result in export restrictions (such as anti – dumping duty barriers); and the changes in regional industrial support policies bring uncertainties (such as the cancellation of local tax incentives). Entrepreneurs need to be vigilant about the risks of squeezing the supply chain stability and profit margins caused by the strengthening of the implementation of existing policies and the sudden adjustment of new policies.

(2) Economic Risk

The canned food industry currently faces multiple risks brought about by economic cycle fluctuations. During an economic downturn, consumers may turn to low – cost substitutes, squeezing profit margins. During the recovery period, the preference for fresh food rebounds, leading to weak demand. The prices of raw materials continue to rise due to inflation and supply chain disruptions. Coupled with the pressure of environmental protection upgrades for packaging, the costs of enterprises are rising rigidly. With the increasing concentration of the industry, small and medium – sized brands are at a significant disadvantage in terms of channels and funds, and homogeneous competition intensifies. The tightening of the financing environment further restricts investment in capacity optimization and new product R & D. The inventory turnover efficiency has declined significantly due to fluctuations in consumer purchasing power.

(3) Social Risk

The canned food industry currently faces social risks caused by the gap in consumption habits between generations. The demand of young consumers (Generation Z and Millennials) for healthy and short – shelf – life food conflicts with the label of “preservatives + long – shelf – life” of traditional canned food. The resistance of environmentalists to metal/plastic packaging contradicts the industry’s production process, and the market size of the middle – aged and elderly customer group is shrinking rapidly. The “direct delivery from the origin + short – shelf – life fresh food” model spawned by live – streaming e – commerce is undermining the channel advantages of canned food. The tightening of the regulatory authorities’ control over food additives has increased compliance costs. The generational cognitive differences make it difficult for brands to establish a youthful image, resulting in a crisis of broken consumption scenarios.

(4) Legal Risk

Entrepreneurs in the canned food industry need to focus on preventing legal risks related to food safety. If they violate the Food Safety Law in raw material procurement, processing hygiene, or the use of additives, they will face heavy fines or even criminal liability. There are risks of violating the Advertising Law in product labels and advertising, such as false labeling of nutritional components and exaggerating health – care effects. In the field of intellectual property, they need to be vigilant against trademark infringement disputes over packaging designs and brand names. Environmental protection regulations require wastewater treatment and can recycling to meet standards; otherwise, they will face environmental protection penalties. In international trade, if exported canned food fails to pass the pesticide residue and heavy – metal tests of the target country, it may trigger cross – border legal claims. In addition, non – compliant labor employment and loopholes in dealer contracts are likely to lead to labor arbitration and commercial disputes.

2. Entrepreneurship Guide

(1) Suggestions on Entrepreneurial Opportunities

The entrepreneurial opportunities in the canned food industry are mainly concentrated in the areas of health – orientation, scene segmentation, and the development of regional characteristics. Entrepreneurs can launch high – protein and low – fat meat canned food for fitness enthusiasts, design portable and easy – to – open outdoor canned food packages for camping, and develop short – shelf – life fresh canned food using regional characteristic ingredients (such as wild mushrooms in Yunnan and small seafood along the coast). They can also launch family emergency reserve combo packs through community group – buying channels, promote ready – to – eat canned food for lazy people through short – video platforms, cooperate with local agricultural cooperatives to develop NFC puree canned fruit of seasonal fruits, use environmentally friendly and biodegradable packaging to meet the needs of the middle – class in first – tier cities, and reduce the threshold for trying new products through small – sized trial packs to quickly obtain user feedback.

(2) Suggestions on Entrepreneurial Resources

Entrepreneurs in the canned food industry should first lock in regional characteristic agricultural product suppliers and establish direct procurement cooperation to ensure controllable costs and quality at the source. They should integrate the idle production lines of small and medium – sized food processing factories to achieve asset – light contract manufacturing, reducing the pressure of initial equipment investment. They can take advantage of local agricultural support policies to obtain subsidies for deep – processing of agricultural products and tax incentives. They should focus on developing community group – buying leaders and live – streaming e – commerce influencers, and quickly expand online – offline integrated channels through the commission – sharing model. They should establish a cooperation mechanism with third – party testing laboratories to break through the barriers to enter supermarkets with authoritative quality inspection reports. They should also deeply cooperate with cold – chain logistics service providers to ensure the advantage of transportation costs through long – term agreement prices.

(3) Suggestions on Entrepreneurial Teams

When building a team, entrepreneurs should first recruit core members with backgrounds in food processing, supply chain management, and e – commerce operation. The founder should have industry quality inspection or production experience to control product standards. They should introduce marketing talents familiar with emerging channels such as community group – buying and live – streaming e – commerce to meet consumers’ demand for healthy and convenient canned food. The team should maintain a flat decision – making structure, strengthen cross – departmental cooperation efficiency, adjust the product line through regular customer feedback, such as developing high – protein and long – shelf – life sub – categories for camping and emergency scenarios. They should also establish a rapid response mechanism with raw material suppliers and distributors to ensure a balance between cost and quality.

(4) Suggestions on Entrepreneurial Risks

Entrepreneurs in the canned food industry should focus on food safety compliance (ensuring compliance with national standards such as GB 7098), establish a stable supply chain (preferably select high – quality raw material suppliers and sign long – term agreements), accurately position product differentiation (develop regional characteristic or functional products), adopt a dynamic inventory management system (adjust production batches according to online and offline sales data to avoid near – expiration losses), strengthen channel control (focus on community group – buying and e – commerce platforms, and cooperate with chain convenience stores offline to reduce accounts – receivable risks), register design patents and trademarks to prevent design plagiarism, establish a product traceability system to deal with the risks of professional fraudsters, and purchase food safety liability insurance to transfer the risks of sudden compensation.