Good Pu'er products need good marketing even more

Today, big data, large-scale distribution, and the Internet have become the trends in agricultural product marketing development, and are also the direction that agricultural product marketing must adhere to in the future. Especially after the national level issued the "Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Rural E-commerce," more industrial and commercial capital will flow into the field of agricultural e-commerce, injecting greater vitality into distinctive modern agriculture and providing broad space and channels for improving agricultural efficiency and increasing farmers' incomes.

Traditional agricultural product marketing activities run through the four major parts of agricultural production, processing, distribution, and trading. At present, the level of agricultural industrialization in Pu'er City is relatively low, agricultural products are severely homogenized, grassroots people lack awareness of deep processing of agricultural products, and distribution channels show an imbalance of "small at both ends, large in the middle," with the phenomena of "difficult to buy and difficult to sell" existing at the same time. That is, for farmers, the phenomenon of agricultural products being "difficult to sell" is prominent, while for urban residents, agricultural product prices remain high, and the connection between production and sales is not smooth. In some counties and districts this is quite prominent. The general public still views changes and fluctuations in product prices through the lens of the planned economy, and everyone has not fully realized that fluctuations in prices are determined by market supply and demand. Products without brands have low returns, and it is difficult to realize product value, while products with brands have higher prices and demand exceeds supply.

Looking at traditional agricultural product marketing as a whole, there are the following four characteristics: First, enterprises and farmers have weak awareness of marketing concepts, and the degree of marketing organization is relatively low. Second, the degree of industrialization and intensification is low, lacking branded and large-scale production methods and means. Third, there are too many circulation links for agricultural products, the circulation radius is too small, sales channels are single, costs are high, and benefits are low. Fourth, market information is blocked, the ability to analyze and process the market is poor, and there is a lack of understanding of external conditions.

With the rapid development of Pu'er's highland distinctive modern agricultural industry and the substantial increase in agricultural product output, the first problem that must be solved is the problem of sales. Pu'er City vigorously promotes the transformation of agricultural production methods and marketing models, effectively advancing the development of the agricultural Internet of Things and rural e-commerce, continuously enhancing the visibility of Pu'er's distinctive products, gaining recognition from a large number of consumers, and laying a solid foundation for Pu'er to advance from a major agricultural city to a strong agricultural city. At present, the city has 205 leading agricultural enterprises; 2,957 farmers' professional cooperatives, with a total membership of 64,000 people; 1,591 large-scale livestock and poultry farms and large breeding households of various types have been built; 8 estates have passed provincial-level project approval for construction; and a cumulative total of 57 enterprises and 175 products have obtained "three categories" certification. More than 30 enterprises and cooperatives, including Longsheng Company, Aini Group, Ximeng Washa Tribe, and the Pu'er City Farmers' Professional Cooperatives Federation, have developed agricultural product e-commerce, with cumulative sales of 85.5358 million yuan in 2014, and sales this year exceeding 100 million yuan.

In the next step, Pu'er will rely on the "Internet Plus" marketing approach to increase training for new agricultural business entities such as leading enterprises, professional cooperatives, and family farms, enhance farmers' understanding of "Internet Plus" knowledge, and strengthen guidance for e-commerce marketing work. Relying on the China Agricultural Products Marketing Association, it will establish a Pu'er City agricultural product trust system platform, accelerate the construction of an agricultural product quality and safety system, and realize traceability of the entire process of agricultural products "from field to table, from seed to chopsticks." It will actively cooperate with the Bureau of Commerce to improve the rural e-commerce distribution and comprehensive service network, and cooperate with quality supervision and other departments to resolve the formulation and certification of standards such as product standardization, regional branding, and logistics standardization. It will carry out comprehensive demonstrations of e-commerce entering rural areas, support new agricultural business entities and agricultural product and agricultural input wholesale markets in connecting with e-commerce platforms, and select and recommend 100 production and operation entities in Pu'er City to promote Pu'er's distinctive agricultural products to consumers nationwide. It will carry out e-commerce pilots for fresh agricultural products and agricultural production materials, and promote the development of e-commerce for bulk agricultural commodities. It will increase efforts to release agricultural product information, integrate Internet resources, strengthen the promotion of Pu'er's green, ecological, and organic distinctive agricultural products, and let the world share the green fragrance of Pu'er. It will establish a "Internet Plus" joint meeting system to coordinate and resolve new situations and new problems emerging in "Internet Plus" work, and provide quality services for the rapid, orderly, and healthy development of online marketing of the city's distinctive agricultural products. (Yan Zi, Director of the Pu'er City Agriculture Bureau)