Regional brand drives rural revitalization success

The agriculture brand Huichang Duhao in Huichang county, Jiangxi province, has surpassed 1 billion yuan ($139 million) in sales since its registration two years ago and substantially contributing to rural revitalization, according to Zhu Bingdong, deputy county mayor, on Thursday.

The remarks were made at the high-quality development conference for the Huichang Duhao regional public brand.

"By integrating the Huichang Duhao regional brand into the rural revitalization framework and developing online and offline sales networks, we achieved online sales that accounted for 42 percent of the total sales last year," said Zhu, who is also deputy secretary of the Huichang county Party Committee.

Zhu also noted that Zhenxing Agricultural Industry Group organized marketing teams to promote products in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Lin Weizhong, a farmer, started planting Beibei pumpkins in 2019.

However, due to inconsistent product varieties and unsatisfactory prices, he often faced pressure from purchasers, selling at just over 4 yuan per kilogram and struggling to find buyers.

After the establishment of the Huichang Duhao regional public brand, Beibei pumpkins were chosen as a featured agricultural product.

The brand facilitated unified marketing, coordinated market access, planting orders, and procurement from farmers.

This shift led to improvements in product quality and brand recognition. Lin's Beibei pumpkins could be priced at 6.5 yuan per kg.

Lin expressed his satisfaction, saying, "Before, the pumpkins fetched low prices and were difficult to sell. Now, with the county designating the pumpkins as the flagship product of the Huichang Duhao brand, they guarantee a buying price to ensure a stable income and assist us with centralized procurement of seeds and other agricultural supplies."

Huichang established the Zhenxing Group to efficiently manage village assets. The company operates under county-wide coordination, led by State-owned enterprises, and a "five-party operational system" to promote rural revitalization.

The five-party operational system involves cooperation and coordination among five aspects. The Zhenxing Group acts as one party, with subsidiary companies established in each town where village cooperatives participate as shareholders.

Subsequently, leading enterprises are brought in, and farmers receive dividends by investing resources or securing jobs from local companies.

Liu Guifa, from a food company in Huichang, said, "In the past when we participated in exhibitions, each enterprise incurred high labor costs and significant expenses for transportation and accommodation. Moreover, large companies often overlooked smaller enterprises like ours."

"Since establishing the regional brand, we have coordinated dozens of sustainable agricultural products in the county for unified marketing, market access, planting orders, and procurement. This has led to notable improvements in product quality and brand impact."

During the conference, Wang Bingnan, chairman of Zhenxing Group, was elected as the president of the Huichang Duhao regional public brand promotion association.

"Our brand promotion association aims to enhance the organizational, standardized, and scaled development of industries, reducing costs and increasing efficiency for our numerous member units."