There is still a long way to go in building grain brands
On the whole, China's grain brand building is still very backward. Grain brands have not formed a joint force, and there are few brands with international influence. The grain industry is entering an era of large-scale circulation and large-scale integration. Cultivating large grain merchants requires great boldness. China should, from a strategic height, support the development of modern grain processing enterprises, guide enterprises to strengthen internal integration and external cooperation, promote industrial restructuring, and cultivate a number of large grain merchants with international competitiveness
On the excellent foundation of consecutive grain harvests in China, how can we resolve the contradiction between the growth in grain quantity and improvement in quality and safety levels on the one hand, and the upgrading of consumer demand on the other? Advancing grain branding has found us a practical and feasible path.
Regional grain brands are emerging
Through models such as government guidance, enterprise as the main body, market operation, policy support and funding support, brand cultivation and integration have been advanced, and a number of regional grain brands have emerged
Through many years of grain branding, China has formed some regional grain brands, such as Beidahuang rice and Wuchang rice from Heilongjiang, corn from Gongzhuling City in Jilin, Panjin rice from Liaoning, Jingzhou rice from Hubei, and high-quality wheat from Hebei. Such grain brands have become important resources for regional economic development.
At Dongfu Rice Industry Co., Ltd. in Dahuangdi Village, Gudzidian Town, Changyi District, Jilin City, Jilin Province, the production workshop paved with floor tiles is spotless, and two rice processing production lines operate in a fully enclosed manner. Dongfu Rice Industry Co., Ltd. is a national-level key leading enterprise in agricultural industrialization with rice planting and rice processing as its main business. The "Dahuangdi" it produces is a well-known brand of rice in Jilin Province. Liu Yanfeng, general manager of the company, told an Economic Daily reporter that their company has 4,500 hectares of green rice planting base and 600 hectares of organic rice planting base. In order to ensure the quality of rice, the company ensures the quality of paddy from the source. When many enterprises complain that the minimum purchase price for paddy is high, Dongfu Rice Industry Company purchases paddy at a price far above the minimum purchase price. "Our organic rice and green rice sell very well. Although the price of paddy is high, the profit is still quite considerable, because we have a brand."
Taking the path of branding has become a consensus in the grain industry. Jilin Province is an important major grain-producing area. In recent years, Jilin Province has promoted rice brand building and integrated rice brands within the region. Rice brands represented by "Meihe rice," "Yanbian rice," "Yushu rice" and others have performed very prominently in major sales areas such as Beijing, Shanghai and Fujian. Today, with the help of "Internet Plus," Jilin rice has successfully launched on Taobao. It is understood that Jilin Province is currently stepping up the formulation of a rice brand building plan, and improving the reputation of Jilin rice through the recognition of geographical trademarks.
Likewise, Hubei Province, a long-established major grain-producing area, is changing its situation of having quality and quantity but no brands. Through models such as government guidance, enterprise as the main body, market operation, policy support and funding support, brand cultivation and integration have been advanced. Well-known brands such as Fuwa and Qiaomi have continued to emerge, driving regional economic development and increasing farmers' incomes. "At present, Hubei grain is advancing toward branding. Our goal is to let Hubei people eat Hubei grain and let more consumers across the country eat Hubei grain," said Xiong Guibin, deputy director of the Hubei Provincial Grain Bureau.
Grain quality is the core competitiveness
To establish a grain brand, the key is to strictly control grain quality and minimize quality and safety risks from every link of grain production, storage, processing and sales
The establishment of the "Beidahuang" brand benefited from Beidahuang Group's strict control of quality. The reporter once visited Beidahuang grain bases, processing enterprises, scientific research institutions and direct-sales stores. They strictly controlled quality at every link in the long industrial chain from field to table. In the grain production link, they developed contract farming to provide farmers with seeds, fertilizers and pesticides in a unified way, and strictly controlled the use of fertilizers and pesticides. In the processing link, from raw grain purchase and processing to rice warehousing and outbound delivery, strict quality inspections were carried out to ensure that warehoused products and outbound products were 100% qualified. The person in charge of Beidahuang Group's Yingchun Rice Making Company said that the company's rice inspections from planting to processing involve as many as more than 100 items, more than 60 items more than the national standard. In the sales link, the company established a market supervision department to conduct regular and irregular inspections and covert visits in the market.
⟦NL> To establish a grain brand, the key is to strictly control grain quality and minimize quality and safety risks from every link of grain production, storage, processing and sales.
In order to control grain quality, many enterprises have chosen to extend the industrial chain upstream and establish grain source bases. Hubei Fuwa Group has now built more than 10,000 mu of organic rice production base, and in the next 3 to 5 years the ecological rice planting area will be expanded to 100,000 mu. The construction of ecological agriculture bases is the foundation for Fuwa Company to ensure rice processing quality and maintain core competitiveness.
In recent years, the domestic grain industry has fully implemented the "reassuring grain and oil" project. Scientific and technological innovation for grain quality and safety is in the ascendant, and a national grain quality inspection and monitoring system has been comprehensively established. A relevant person in charge of the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration said that all grain and oil production and operation enterprises must assume the principal responsibility for quality and safety and firmly hold the bottom line of grain quality and safety.
There is an urgent need to cultivate China's large grain merchants
To promote grain brand building, it is necessary to strengthen overall coordinated planning for grain brands, rely on advantageous industries, take advantageous products as the core, and build grain brands with Chinese characteristics
As a major grain-producing country and major consuming country, China's grain brands still have little influence in the world and lag far behind internationally renowned brands.
The main reason for this situation is that China's grain brand building is still very backward on the whole. For example, grain brands have not formed a joint force; there is a lack of overall planning and policy support for grain brands; the market supervision mechanism is not sound; counterfeit and shoddy products seriously damage well-known grain brands; the grain brand marketing system is not sound; there are too many channel links, too many channel entities, and a low degree of channel organization.
Therefore, to promote grain brand building, it is necessary to give play to the role of enterprises as market entities and the role of government supervision and guidance, and form a joint force for brand building. For example, in integrating grain brands, domestic grain brands are currently "numerous and mixed," but their internal competitiveness is not strong and their external influence is relatively small. The market share of each grain enterprise brand is relatively low, and it is neither large in scale nor conducive to publicity and promotion. In this regard, relevant departments should strengthen overall coordinated planning for grain brands, rely on advantageous industries, take advantageous products as the core, and build grain brands with Chinese characteristics.
Some major grain-producing areas rely on the construction of local grain markets, actively publicize local grain brands, broaden sales channels for grain products, and provide all-round services such as wholesale trading, display and direct sales, logistics distribution, e-commerce and information release with advanced concepts and models, promoting the appreciation of grain brands.
At present, the grain industry is entering an era of large-scale circulation and large-scale integration. Internationally, the four major grain merchants control 80% of global grain trade volume. Domestically, although the competitiveness of large grain enterprises such as COFCO Group, Beijing Grain Group and Shanghai Grain and Oil is becoming stronger and stronger, on the whole China's grain processing enterprises are small in scale, scattered in layout, and have few influential brands. China should, from a strategic height, support the development of modern grain processing enterprises, guide enterprises to strengthen internal integration and external cooperation, and promote industrial restructuring; support qualified grain enterprises in "going global," and cultivate a number of Chinese large grain merchants with international competitiveness.