Shangxiapao is a small village in the east of the Taihang Mountains. In July 2019, Baoding Radio and TV University (RTVU) sent a work team of three, headed by Zhang Ji, to the village. With the two earlier teams having improved the roads and supplied water and electricity to the village, the villagers had great hopes for this new team.

Finding a middleman for egg sales

Before stationing in the village, Zhang Ji and her team learned how poverty alleviation had been going there so far. The village was visibly better off as a result of new industries, and the training relevant to them, having been put in place. The remaining top priority was to expand and stabilise markets.

The team set to work by visiting the country market and making a thorough investigation of sales of free-range eggs, including studying the businesses of purchasers. It established a system of weekly monitoring and reporting in order to understand the production and pricing issues there.

The work brought many questions to the forefront, including ones related to market positioning, packaging design, and brand building. It was stressful for the inexperienced team.

When he realized that the help of an experienced professional was needed, Zhang Ji immediately thought of Lu Jingtao, chairman of the board of the Yunxiangju Group, and a partner of Baoding RTVU. His knowledge of rural culture made him an obvious choice, as the other two members agreed.

Brought into contact with Lu Jingtao, they told him of their difficulties and of how they hoped Shangxiaopao Village would continue to develop. Anxious for his reply, they were amazed when he agreed immediately to come have a look around the village, and cooperate with them.

After a number of inspections and exchanges, Hebei Yunxiang Group signed on to help Shangxiapao Village in its “poverty reduction through consumption” efforts, and the first “Trade Fair of Agricultural Products” was scheduled for 12 November 2019. On that day, the village's free-range eggs were laid out on fine plates and placed on tables covered in red velvet, and Hebei Yunxiangju Group authorized Shangxiapao Village to be a “direct-supply site for agricultural products”, determining future purchases of all such products sold in the village.

After the event, the work team and the village's “two committees” (the Party Branch and Villager Committees) sat down to plan the future of free-range eggs. The company would be responsible for designing the packaging and marketing, aiming at urban mid-level and upmarket consumers; the concept of “pullet eggs” was decided on, along with the name “virgin eggs” (or “smart eggs”) for the first eggs laid by hens. Because free-range hens eat dates, worms and grain in date orchards, their products can be marketed as “date eggs”, while the name of the village, which means “running around”, was decided on as an appropriate name for a brand of free-range eggs. Furthermore, the existing village cooperative was taken as the basis for unified breeding, purchasing standards, and sales, with jobs created for low-income households; in other words, it allowed both egg sales to be promoted and jobs to be created. About 7,000 jin (3,500 kilogrammes) of Shangxiapao free-range eggs were sold within one month, and households saw their incomes grow by 583 yuan on average.

On 21 November 2019, the work team brought the stationed unit of Baoding RTVU, the Quyang County People’s Government, and relevant enterprises together in a round-table meeting to further address poverty alleviation through consumption, strengthen regional cooperation, and boost the connection between production and sales. There, in-depth discussions were held on building a farm, industrial planning, and business operations. On 25 December, the farm, built with input from enterprises, began formal operations. After strict testing,“Shangxiapao” free-range eggs became its first agricultural products.

A new type of retail

Sales outside the farm rose quickly, with the WeChat group “Fresh Lifestyle—Shangxiapao” working hard to meet demand in Baoding City, Hebei Province.

The COVID-19 outbreak in early February 2020 cooled things down, however, and worried the team. The egg sales should be stable when offline sales combining to online sales. In order to explore whether professional help with transportation, delivery and sales could be found, Zhang Ji called Liu Jianguo of the company Hebei Fresh Lifestyle Supply-chain Management, and received a pleasant and positive reply.

After this communication, the work team determined that sales would now have the following features: quality assurance, transportation byrefrigerator trucks, business promotions, online sales, and door-to-door delivery covering the entire city, with 8 WeChat groups established, one for each city district. All the vans were given distinctive green markings, and the drivers uniforms; the professionalism and experience of the company greatly enhanced the distribution process, and allowed for temperature control, disinfection, real-time monitoring and other improvements. In short, the epidemic turned out to be a positive event by forcing the move to online retail, and as of February 2020, more than 900 residents had placed orders.

This also inspired the team to think of new forms of online advertising, and on We Media and WeChat began promoting “Shangxiapao” free-range eggs via live broadcasts presenting the living environments of the hens, the varying qualities of eggs, and customer feedback. They also reached out to Baoding RTVU teaching staff, relatives and friends, asking them to forward the promotional materials within their own circles, integrated the major WeChat groups, and persuaded local online celebrities to publicise “Shangxiapao” free-range eggs.

After more than a month of publicity, the Baoding Love Cycling Group alone sold 6,750 eggs in 150 boxes via WeChat. Shangxiapao eggs had finally found their markets after experiencing “running around”.

“We don’t have to worry about egg sales, and we have odd jobs in the village. It's great!” 57-year-old Hao Xin’ai told us as he was hurrying to the cooperative one day. The team's effort had not been in vain. A total of about 50,000 eggs have been sold, generating a per-capita income of 714 yuan (an average increase of 2,100 yuan for each household), and about 100,000 yuan for the overall economy of the village. The praise it has received has inspired the team to make further efforts on behalf of Shangxiapao Village.

By OUC News Network, reprinted Jin Yan, China Poverty Alleviation