Speaking of landmark agricultural products, many people don’t know what it means to work hard to get this small green logo. So, what benefits can apply for a geographical indication of agricultural products bring to the development of agricultural products? Can it truly open up the development space of the agricultural product industry? Can you get it once and for all after becoming a landmark product? A reporter from the Beijing News tried to summarize the brand value-added and development advancement of national geographical indication agricultural products through interviews with the leaders of landmark agricultural products such as Changping strawberries, Haidian Yubada apricots, and Tongzhou cherries. In fact, a very simple logic is: the more regional and local culture agricultural products, the more market there will be.
Changping Strawberry. Photo by Tian Jiexiong, Beijing News reporter
The highest unit price of Changping strawberries exceeds 400 kg per catty. 4 yuan
Changping strawberries, which is well-known in Beijing, are actually young players among Beijing's landmark agricultural products. In recent years, they have shown a rising trend and even have a place in the high-end market.
In 2008, Beijing Changping successfully applied for the "World Strawberry Conference", and the construction of strawberry greenhouses gradually emerged in Beijing. In 2010, the number of greenhouses for planting strawberries in Beijing increased to more than 2,000. "The number of farmers growing strawberries has increased. If you want to sell it at a good price, you must have a strawberry brand." The original Changping Agricultural Service Center organized the application for agricultural products was responsible for the original Changping Agricultural Service Center. In a team of seven or eight people, Lu He is one of the members. "The starting point for organizing the application for landmark agricultural products was to increase farmers' income, and in this process, systematically explore the advantages and historical characteristics of Changping strawberries."
According to reports, the naming of geographical indication agricultural products is not only a recognition of product quality, but also inheriting farming culture and placing local memory. At least it must be full of factors such as emotional culture. The recommendation and certification of the agricultural department is not only an endorsement and guarantee for selected agricultural products, but also saves the selection cost of merchants and saves the promotion cost of agricultural products. Therefore, "landmarks" are considered to be the "golden sign" for characteristic agricultural products to enter the market.
In 2010, Changping Strawberries obtained the "Geographical Indications Registration Protection of Agricultural Products" through the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture. At the same time, the former General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine approved the implementation of geographical indication agricultural product protection for "Changping Strawberries". The process of applying for landmark agricultural products is actually a process of industrial sorting and improving quality and efficiency. From the breeding of strawberry planting to becoming a regional brand, in the past twelve years, Changping District has not only emerged as a group of leading strawberry enterprises, but also allowed farmers in the district to increase their income by growing strawberries. Currently, there are 12,000 strawberry greenhouses in Beijing, of which Changping accounts for nearly half, and more than 3,000 people are engaged in strawberry cultivation.
Now, Changping Strawberry has a well-known reputation among Beijing citizens. "Landmark agricultural products must have special characteristics. If all strawberries are Changping strawberries, there will be no advantages." Lu He, deputy stationmaster of Changping District Environmental Supervision Station, said, "We encourage farmers to plant strawberries better according to high standards." This year, through Beijing's policy support, Changping strawberries received another 5 million yuan in special funding support, part of which will be used to encourage farmers to produce high-quality products to form brand awareness. "The better the strawberries grown by ordinary people, the more rewards they receive."
"In the process of industrial development, we need to support some benchmark companies to take the lead first, open up the market with high-quality strawberries and increase the price of strawberries. Nowadays, the top Changping strawberries can be sold for more than 400 yuan per pound, which means that the strawberries grown by farmers have more room for premium prices." Lu He said.
High-end supermarkets do not limit the purchase of Tongzhou big cherries
In Shagudui Village, Xiji Town, the core production area of Tongzhou big cherries, not all the earliest batch of people who plant cherries were locals. In 2003, Shandong native Jiang Hanqing and her husband settled in a village by the canal. Their professional background in soil science and cultivation allowed them to manage cherry trees more strictly in actual planting. At the same time, they used professional resources to introduce multiple large cherry varieties for many years to screen, and selected the best varieties that are most suitable for Beijing's climate growth. Therefore, the cherries in Jianghanqing Park never attract consumers at low prices.
At the end of 2010, the Ministry of Agriculture approved the implementation of the registration and protection of agricultural product geographical indications for "Tongzhou Big Cherry", which also became a historical node in the development of Tongzhou Big Cherry Industry. For Jiang Hanqing, the cherries he cultivated have also gained more opportunities to be discovered through the business card of the landmark, and high-end supermarket channels have begun to notice the good cherries that are in front of him.
In 2016, when Beijing Hualian Group contacted Jiang Hanqing, she had been growing organic cherries in Shagudui Village for 13 years. It was also from this year that the cherries grown by Jiang Hanqing have successfully entered BHG's 16 stores in Beijing, including the boutique supermarket on the basement of SKP Shopping Mall. The price of 348 yuan per catty is indeed expensive, but it is still in short supply.
Jiang Hanqing said that high-end supermarkets have always set no upper limit for the demand for cherries in parks. "That is to say, as long as we can continue to provide the best fruits here, supermarkets will always retain channels for our big cherries."
Haidian Yubada Apricot Good Selling
Yubada Apricot is the first variety to apply for geographical indications of agricultural products in Haidian District, Beijing. This ancient apricot tree was the first to taste the sweetness.
In the apricot garden in May, the Yubada apricot trees are lush with leaves and green apricots are hanging on the branches. More than half a month later, Yubada apricot will usher in its maturity. At that time, citizens who like this taste will come to visit the garden and taste the new apricots. This is a sense of ritual that is indispensable to old customers who know the knowledge of the arts every year.
Eight years ago, the Haidian Agricultural Science Institute organized the application for geographical indications of agricultural products. During the preparation period of more than half a year, Zheng He, director of the Haidian Agricultural Science Institute, and his colleagues conducted a detailed visit and investigation together, and learned about the distribution, area, variety of the Yubada apricot, and understood the bottom of the Yubada apricot.
Haidian Yubada Apricot. Photo provided by the interviewee
Zheng He said that at that time, the planting area of Yubada apricot was more than 4,000 acres. However, due to the changes in the city, most growers no longer rely on planting for a living. Most of the elderly still maintain the planting management of fruit trees. Unlike other apricot varieties, Yubada apricot is not resistant to storage and luck. To get the best taste, you must grow on the tree until it is 95 years old. Before 2014, a pound of Yubada apricot could only be sold for one or two yuan. After applying for the geographical indication of agricultural products, the ancient Yubada apricot species were protected, and the brand and price of apricots were also raised. One pound can be sold for ten yuan, and the high-end market can be sold for fifty yuan per pound. The best apricots can even be sold on the pellet.
At present, Yubada apricot has been sold to Shenzhen as far as the farthest. There are local farmers engaged in e-commerce who accurately calculate the transportation time of the journey and pick it in advance to ensure that customers can achieve a suitable taste when they receive the jade bada apricot. If they encounter damage caused by transportation, they will also reissue a box free of charge. In the coming June, when the Jadebada apricot is ripe, the local area will also hold activities to carry out technical publicity and product promotion.
"For agricultural products, the geographical indication of agricultural products is a symbol of noble status and a high-quality trademark with high gold content." Zheng He told reporters that the application of the geographical indication of agricultural products by Yubada Apricot is a recognition of the "uniqueness" of Yubada Apricot and a symbol of "high-quality agricultural products". This local business card is a high recognition of the characteristics, culture and value of Yubada Apricot varieties.
"Miyun Reservoir Fish" will conduct landmark registration
Landmark agricultural products have comprehensive protection and improvement of a characteristic product. By protecting the production environment, improving the comprehensive production capacity; protecting the characteristic varieties, improving the quality characteristics of the product; protecting the farming culture, enhancing the various values of the countryside, and ultimately enhancing the brand influence by protecting intellectual property rights.
According to reports, this year, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will continue to carry out the protection and development of geographical indication agricultural products by transferring funds.The key project is to implement the "3+4+1" project, that is, to implement the geographical indication protection project around the three geographical indication agricultural products of "Pinggu Da Peach", "Changping Strawberry" and "Beijing Duck", and implement standard production and branding construction projects around the four geographical indication agricultural products of "Daxing Watermelon", "Shangfangshan Chinese Toon", "Miaofeng Mountain Rose" and "Tongzhou Big Cherry", and to guide the "Miyun Reservoir Fish" to register geographical indication agricultural products.
Relevant person in charge of the Beijing Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau said, "Among citizens, Beijing's local agricultural products have a certain consumer group and popularity, and some have a royal tribute background. This is a uniqueness that agricultural products in other regions of the country do not have. However, protecting and developing landmark agricultural products does not happen overnight. At this stage, we must first protect these Beijing agricultural products so that the old tastes in the memory of citizens can be retained. On the basis of protection, gradually develop industries through the support of engineering projects. This is the current development path of landmark agricultural products, and there is still a long way to go in the future."
Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye Tian Jiexiong
Editor Zhang Shujing Proofreading Lu Qian
