A trial distribution system that aims to deliver cheap produce to Beijing communities is proving popular with shoppers

It is 8:20 in the morning, and Liang Jianping is busy tidying up his small vegetable booth at the gate of the second community of Yulin Dongli, in Fengtai district.

Residents from the community pass by and most stop to ask Liang when the truck carrying today's fresh vegetables will arrive.

Yuan Hongqin, a resident who needs some celery decides to sit and wait near the stall. Yuan says she likes to shop at Liang's stall because all its vegetables are freshly picked.

"Vegetables are collected every day," said the woman in her 60s. "And the farmers don't spread water on the surface to make them look good, like people do in supermarkets."

At about 9:15 am, a small tri-truck loaded with about 20 types of vegetables pulls up. In less than a minute, shoppers swarm around the stall.

Half an hour later, 70-year-old Zhang Weihua buys the last few tomatoes.

"Tomatoes are sold at 7 yuan a kilogram in the closest supermarket, but they are only 5 yuan here; not to mention I have to walk 40 minutes to reach the supermarket," she said.

About 300 kg of vegetables are delivered to the booth each morning and all will be sold before 5 pm, according to 46-year-old Liang.

"Normally there are at least three resellers between farmers and consumers," he said. "There are dealers who collect vegetables from farmers, Xinfadi - the largest agricultural products wholesale market - and supermarkets."

Liang said by setting up a booth in the community not only do consumers save money, but also he earns about 0.6 yuan more for each kilogram than he would by selling to dealers.

The residents in this community in Fengtai district have been able to buy fresh vegetables without leaving their area for the past month. In that time, the trial system, which connects farmers and consumers directly, has been so popular that business has doubled.

Lu Wanhua, secretary of the community, introduced the trial to reduce the distance between farmers and consumers to the minimum.

"We have done experiments on a few types of vegetables and the amount of pesticide used was below the national standard. But spinach and cabbage bought from the supermarket did not pass the test," she said.

Lu took 30 residents' representatives with her to Liang's farm in Daxing district on Monday morning.

Later that day they had a meeting and decided to build a 40-square-meter permanent crested booth for Liang, allowing him to increase to 40 the types of vegetables he can offer.

Lu said the stall will act as a model for the whole neighborhood, and the trial may even be expanded across the district. "What we can do to help the trial work is to offer a free delivery point to the farmers, and provide them with any help they need," Lu told METRO.

She has found a place near the booth where Liang can live.

And whenever the business is busy, the gatekeeper on duty will help Liang run the stall.

All the vegetables sold in the community come from an agricultural park in Zhuzhuang village, Daxing district. The village has 200 closed sheds, covering more than 13 hectares, 70 of which were contracted to Liang Jianping and his two brothers.

"After the slump in sales this year, I've been trying hard to sell my brothers' vegetables. The most difficult part was not the lack of a market, but transport," said Liang Bin, Liang Jianping's younger brother.

Liang Bin said consumers usually need vegetables to arrive at shops between 8:30 am to 9:30 am, a time when vans without a permit cannot enter the city center; and the quota for new permissions is small.

Liang Bin decided to help his brothers, and other farmers, by calling on his 10 years of experience in new media.

"Farmers have no sense of marketing. They will only grow what sold best last year. Their fate is always in other people's hands due to this unplanned production," he told METRO.

He plans to analyze market demand so he can help farmers plan the types and quantities of vegetables to be planted for the next season. "Farmers are chipping away their vegetables because the income gained from them is too low," he said. "It's not a new phenomenon. The worst problem is that prices of agricultural products have never matched their value."

Liang Bin said he does not understand why some people spend thousands of yuan on cosmetics, but describe vegetables that cost 1 yuan as expensive.

If the solution is to enable consumers to understand farmers and their work, then perhaps the best way to do that is to create a direct link between the two groups, just as the trial stall in Fengtai district has done.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/17/2011)