"In the first two years, because of nothing, sales increased by 30% to 40% year-on-year. After the sales volume stabilized, it increased by 15% year-on-year. " Zeng Zhaodong believes that this is mainly because there are more and more foreigners and "returnees" living in Shanghai and they are quite familiar with organic vegetables. At the same time, some young high-income groups are also willing to try this healthy food. In addition, there are more and more varieties of organic vegetables, besides vegetables, there are various miscellaneous grains now. "At first, ordinary families may think that it is too extravagant to buy organic cabbage for home cooking, and its price is generally about five times that of ordinary vegetables. But if you grind sesame paste in winter, you are willing to spend more money to buy organic ones. Over time, some families have developed the habit of buying one or two organic foods from time to time. "
However, Zeng Zhaodong also believes that there are not enough brand choices for organic vegetables at present. Some consumers will try each one, but it is still difficult to form brand loyalty and their consumption habits are relatively casual.
Multi-channel capital focuses on organic agriculture
"Before 2005, most of the investment in organic farms was small, so it was more cautious to operate. At that time, the scale of organic farms in Shanghai was relatively small, mostly small farms of 100 mu and 200 mu. " He Longwen said, "Now many large venture capital funds have begun to pay attention to this field, and the investment scale has also expanded to one or two thousand acres of farms. Some venture capitalists have entered this field. For example, Shanghai Tongmai Food Co., Ltd. was founded by' venture capital'. "
Foreign capital and individual capital are also interested in organic agriculture. It is understood that German Guy Wiener bought Shanghai Chongbentang Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. in Songjiang three years ago. At present, the daily production of "Golden Garden" organic vegetables are sold to Carrefour, Tesco and other major supermarkets. In September 2008, Rainbow Farm, an e-commerce platform for high-quality agricultural products in Shanghai, was officially opened. More than 300 kinds of special agricultural products such as Jiading, Qingpu and Jinshan in the suburbs of Shanghai can be bought online. At present, "Rainbow Farm" has more than 200 corporate customers and can sell 200,000 yuan of agricultural products in a single order.
He revealed that a large-scale real estate developer has established thousands of acres of organic planting bases in Chongming Island, Shanghai, and recruited technicians who used to engage in pollution-free agricultural products and green food to start organic farms.
Zhan Jinchuan, general manager of Shanghai Agricultural Information Co., Ltd., which runs Rainbow Farm, also revealed that she found that more and more large enterprises are entering this field, including state-owned enterprises and private enterprises, and the competition in this line will become more and more fierce.
To develop organic agriculture, we must pass the "endurance" barrier.
The insiders believe that Shanghai may be the first city to develop organic agriculture. "Shanghai's government departments have great support for organic agriculture. No matter from the level of production technology, the consumption market of organic agricultural products and the acceptance of consumers, Shanghai is at the forefront of the country. "
However, organic agriculture can not be developed with a lot of money. Running an organic farm requires a lot of detailed technical reserves, and the cycle is quite long. He Longwen said: "It will take two to three years for the soil with chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers to gradually eliminate the residual poison in the soil and cultivate real organic agricultural products."
Taking the establishment of quality traceability as an example, Zhan Jinchuan introduced that Rainbow Farm has been implementing the archival agricultural management information system, and details such as which greenhouse each vegetable was produced, how many times it was used and when it was harvested should be recorded in detail. Every day, 46 partners in the farm have to put tens of thousands of agricultural product identification barcodes on the vegetables, meat or dairy products they produce. The 32-bit identification bar code they developed can guarantee its uniqueness, but it is not compatible with the 13-bit commodity bar code commonly used in the market, so each identification bar code will increase the cost of each box of vegetables by less than a penny. "Don't underestimate the money, accumulate over a long period, for agricultural products, the increased cost is considerable. If you want to add real-name photos, the cost will be higher. "
Complex certification system, harsh certification standards, long transition period, a large number of professional organic agricultural technicians, strict quality tracking system ... Many investors think that organic agriculture can't meet the requirements at all and retreat. Some investors enter this industry with the psychology of making quick money, only to find that they have to wait a long time and can't bear this psychological gap. They often give up halfway, resume traditional cultivation or sell their farms to others.