Some new rice from the city of Jilin has entered Beijing as of Jan 18 and is available in more than 100 supermarkets and 1,500 smaller shops, and is getting a good reaction from local customers.

One customer, Sui Guimin, came to a supermarket in the Chaoyang district to buy 10 kg of the rice just as soon as the store opened even though there were many other choices and remarked, "It's tasty and I need good quality rice to make my porridge", then added, "I trust the products because I can learn about the growing process simply by scanning a QR code on the package".

Customer getting a look at a bag of Jilin rice while scanning the package code to learn more about it, in a Beijing supermarket. [Photo by Zhao Henan/chinajilin.com.cn]

The provincial grain bureau says it has done a lot of maneuvering to get its rice products in Beijing in new retail outlets and has worked with one Beijing grain company’s retail network -- 18 supermarkets and 1,500 retail shops -- with a direct-to-consumer marketing site.

In explaining the move, Zhang Qinghuai, deputy head of the Jilin bureau, says, "This is just the beginning", and explaining further that more Jilin rice products are expected to enter Beijing in connection with the retail shops.

Zhang concludes by saying, "Our target is Beijing's top-end market and green, tasty rice products. We want to help Jilin farmers make more money".