How do agricultural standardization, branding and e-commerce evolve in a spiral
In the surging wave of e-commerce, what changes will occur among standardization and branding? Recently, experts from government, industry, academia and research gathered at the Zheshang Fortune Center to hold a discussion.
Yu Yijun, who is in charge of agricultural standardization work at the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Agriculture, believes that at present, as traditional agriculture transforms into modern agriculture, the core of promoting agricultural quality and efficiency and ensuring the quality and safety of agricultural products is to implement standardization. Over the years, standardization work has formed a promotion mechanism of “government promotion, departmental guidance, implementation by the main body, and farmer participation,” but how to make “standardization” become the internal driving force of production entities is worth studying.
At a training class held by the Ministry of Agriculture not long ago, Yu Yijun introduced Zhejiang's experience in agricultural standardization work, and the person in charge of the Zhejiang University CARD Agricultural Brand Research Center and the person in charge of Alibaba's agricultural product e-commerce respectively introduced the development trends of agricultural branding and e-commerce. Experts from the three sides believe that the biggest obstacle to advancing standardization lies in “high quality being difficult to sell at a high price,” while branding can increase the premium space of agricultural products, and e-commerce can break through the temporal and spatial limitations of sales and provide a path for the linkage between standardization and branding.
Therefore, Yu Yijun believes that standardization, branding and e-commerce are the development trends of modern agriculture. Standardization is the core of agricultural product branding and e-commerce. Branding and e-commerce realize the value of standardization, and at the same time force standardization to be implemented.
Hu Xiaoyun of the Zhejiang University CARD Agricultural Brand Research Center deeply agrees with Yu Yijun's understanding. “To ensure good products, standardization must be implemented. This is the premise and foundation; but if products cannot achieve high added value, standardization will become a tree without roots, and at this time branding must be relied upon; and e-commerce, although it itself may not necessarily increase added value, can connect with consumers through the platform and then use the brand to sell at a premium. In the final analysis, what ultimately enables agricultural products to obtain the greatest value must be branding.” Hu Xiaoyun said.
“At present, the first problem faced is how the brand can become e-commerce-based, that is, getting close to consumers through e-commerce platforms; secondly, e-commerce certainly must be branded, otherwise there will only be disorderly fighting, and it will increasingly erode the interests of farmers; in the future, branding and e-commerce will definitely advance in step, and the ultimate goal is to use e-commerce to realize the accumulation of brand assets and brand value.” Hu Xiaoyun said.