HPDBC Chapter 31: Collaboration with Major Brands!
Chapter 31: Collaboration with Major Brands!
Sales channels have always been one of the biggest headaches for farmers.
Farmers can simply sell their produce at the market; the prices are generally transparent.
Farms like Xu Ran's, with high crop yields, must find suitable sales channels.
The farm has cooperated with Liu Meng several times in recent years. Liu Meng is a reliable person and doesn't have many hidden agendas, so the farm has continued to cooperate with him.
People who run small businesses are all incredibly shrewd; some of them are cunning and manipulative, making them impossible to guard against.
Therefore, finding a reliable partner is not easy.
Xu Ran herself also wanted to establish sales channels, so she had been inquiring about information these past two days.
He wanted to find a stable way to make a profit.
The farm was bustling with activity that day, as both Mr. and Mrs. Xu came.
When Mr. Xu heard that the tomatoes were ripe, he came to check on them.
After all, the farm had grown tomatoes before, but those were grown in the vegetable garden for their own consumption.
They've now abandoned growing greenhouse watermelons and switched to growing greenhouse tomatoes, a completely new variety.
So he wanted to see what it was like.
First of all, the tomatoes are big and round, and feel very solid in your hand.
He picked a tomato, washed it, and took a bite.
One bite, and instantly, a sweet and refreshing flavor bursts in your mouth.
The tomatoes are juicy and flavorful, with a very good taste.
The most important thing is that it has a refreshing feel.
Moreover, not only is the juice sweet and sour, but the flesh is also very flavorful.
Mr. Xu couldn't help but nod repeatedly, "It really is a special variety; the taste is just so good."
Everyone is full of expectations for the tomato market.
However, things didn't go so smoothly.
Not long after, the buyer, Liu Meng, called Xu Ran back.
He said the tomato variety is very good and is highly regarded by the local farmers' market, but they can only purchase it at the premium price for the large red variety.
That is, 5.2 yuan per jin.
This price is already quite good. Ordinary large red tomatoes are 4.5 yuan per jin (500g), better ones can reach 5 yuan, only premium ones can reach 5.2 yuan, and the highest is 5.5 yuan.
Xu Ran pondered for a moment.
"Can't you even get it for 5.5 yuan?"
"Your tomatoes are too big and heavy, so it will be difficult to buy them if the price is too high."
"Okay, I'll take another look."
Xu Ran and Liu Meng chatted for a few minutes.
It's a shame that such good tomatoes can't fetch a high price.
However, as Liu Meng said, the tomatoes he grows are of good weight, so even at a price of 5.2 yuan, he can still make a lot of money.
After all, the yield per acre is high.
Xu Ran was still thinking about direct sales.
There are two ways to do direct sales. The first is to find a popular livestreamer to promote the products, and then sell them all in one batch after netizens place their orders.
However, the live-streaming e-commerce industry is too murky and full of pitfalls, and Xu Ran found it troublesome, so she preferred to sell to distributors.
The second option is to partner with major supermarket brands.
Without hesitation, Xu Ran drove off to the city the very next day to explore sales opportunities.
This matter can be very difficult, or it can be very simple.
It involves finding partners for branded supermarkets to discuss cooperation.
For large supermarkets, tomatoes are a very small matter, so it's easy to negotiate.
Xu Ran approached Yonghui, Hema, Huitong, Wanda, and even Walmart in Tianfu City, all of which are top-tier domestic brands.
If this happened to people like Xu's father or Zhang Wen, they wouldn't even dare to dream of it.
They would think we're just an ordinary small farm, how dare we talk to top-tier domestic supermarket brands about cooperation? We'd be lucky to find any merchants to buy our goods.
But Xu Ran doesn't think so.
He knew that the bigger the brand, the fairer it was, and the more it valued product quality.
Xu Ran introduced the advantages of the tomato variety to these supermarkets, and stated that it was the "Super Red" variety that only his farm could grow.
I made many trips in a row, leaving early and returning late.
Next, he waited for these major supermarket brands to conduct their tests and give him a reply.
At six o'clock that evening, Xu Ran drove his small truck back.
The dogs came out to greet us as usual, as did the little yellow calf.
They could always hear Xu Ran driving.
Every time the farm staff saw the dogs running towards the gate, they knew Xu Ran had returned.
Xu Ran stopped the car and walked inside, with the dogs following her.
It was just time to have dinner, and everyone was waiting for him.
Because Xu Ran has to go out to find sales channels these days, Xu's father has been staying at the farm to take care of things.
Mr. Xu was also happy to agree.
Upon seeing him return, Mr. Xu immediately inquired with concern:
"How was your day?"
Xu Ran replied, "It's alright, the introduction is finished. We need to wait for the results from their testing department."
"There are too many people looking for them, and a lot of crops need to be tested, so there's a long queue."
"Some have dedicated cooperative farms; we'll see."
Upon hearing this, Mr. Xu nodded, "If all else fails, we can sell them to Liu Meng. I think Liu Meng is offering a pretty high price; ordinary tomatoes don't fetch that much."
The older generation still values stability.
If you think it's good enough, that's fine.
The younger generation is more daring and enterprising. Most importantly, Xu Ran's tomato variety is indeed excellent, a top-quality one, which gives him confidence.
"Let's give it a try. There are so many shopping malls; what if it works?"
"If we can reach a cooperation agreement with the shopping mall, we will have a stable sales channel in the future."
Xu Ran washed her hands and went to the cafeteria to prepare for lunch.
Everyone gathered around a table.
The food tonight was pretty good; there was stir-fried green beans with pork and stewed pork with vermicelli.
The dogs were still sitting at the door waiting.
The calf also wanted to squat, but after trying, it felt that its front legs couldn't support it, so it simply lay down.
The employees gradually got used to this "dog-like" little yellow ox.
Life on the farm remained peaceful.
The next morning.
As summer drew to a close, the temperature felt increasingly hot.
Xu Ran went to the greenhouse to take a look.
The tomatoes are growing perfectly.
Looking around, the bright red tomatoes are clustered together, dotting the green vines, plump and round, very beautiful.
The tomatoes are ripe and need to be sold as soon as possible.
It needs to be dealt with within at least half a month.
But we're still waiting for a reply from the supermarket departments.
I've heard that the testing services offered by supermarket departments are quite authoritative, and they can even test the nutritional components of crops.
That would be best.
He went outside to take a look and found that the sunflowers were growing even faster. He hadn't paid attention to them for just a few days, and the sunflower seedlings had already grown to about the same height as his calves.
Twenty acres of flower seedlings.
The scene was quite spectacular.
Xu Ran sometimes wonders if she's planted too many crops, and that it would be better to plant different crops on 10-mu plots each in the future.
But since we've made the decision, it's better to plant only one type; success or failure hinges on this.
The pressure of selling tomatoes weighed heavily on Xu Ran's mind, and she wasn't in much spirits.
It wasn't until evening that Xu Ran received a call from Yang Kaifu, the department manager of Yonghui Supermarket.
"Mr. Xu, we've tested your tomatoes, and the results are better than expected."
"Just as you said, this variety is perfect in every way, quite excellent."
"We happen to need to stock up on tomatoes right now, so if that's possible, we can talk about a collaboration."
"We'll start by supplying supermarkets in the surrounding cities."
Yang Kaifu got straight to the point.
Hearing Yang Kaifu's words, Xu Ran breathed a sigh of relief and replied with a smile:
"no problem."
The two chatted briefly again, discussing the details of their collaboration.
Before Xu Ran could even celebrate after hanging up the phone, another call came in.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be the manager of Walmart supermarket in Tianfu City.
Xu Ran answered the phone, and the other party also wanted to discuss cooperation.
It's clear that the super red brand has gained their approval.
This is going to work!
However, of Xu Ran's three greenhouses, two are used to grow watermelons, and only one is used to grow tomatoes.
At that moment, he felt that he might have planted too few!