Starting a business growing succulents, blazing a new trail to prosperity
With unusual shapes and rich colors, some cute and some sturdy, they are a feast for the eyes: "Bear Paws" (Cotyledon tomentosa) resemble the tiny paws of a newborn bear covered in a layer of white fuzz; "Living Stones" (Lithops) split into two halves and are jokingly called "butts," mini and adorable, with pink, red, yellow, brown and many other colors to choose from, full of fun; "Mountain Roses" (Greenovia aurea) look like green rose balls, unique and fresh, full of artistic flair; "Haworthia cooperi" leaves are crystal clear, as delicate as handicrafts; "Crassula 'Pagoda Village'" stacks neatly like a thousand-layer pagoda...
When you walk into the Jurong Jinhong Family Farm, you will see these succulents of many varieties and delightful appearance.
Falling in love with succulents and building a planting base
Tao Dafei, founder of Jurong Jinhong Family Farm, came from a tourism management background and loved and once worked in the hotel management industry. He once wanted to go out and make his way in the world, but could not let go of his love for his hometown, so he returned to Jurong to start a business.
This young man, who calls himself "a farmer's son," has always had a special affection for agricultural projects. However, Jurong's market has many agricultural projects, yet very few can quickly and steadily turn a profit. After some market research, Tao Dafei focused his attention on the succulent market and discovered huge business opportunities in these small succulent plants.
On July 16, 2015, Jurong Jinhong Family Farm, located on the north side of Chishan Lake Wetland Park, officially broke ground. The farm covers more than 200 mu, and contains a succulent base, nursery stock base, vegetable plots, tea garden, water surfaces and other agricultural operations. Taking succulents as its market breakthrough, the farm built a 6,000 sq m succulent care and cultivation greenhouse, which has now grown to more than 18,000 sq m, with hundreds of succulent varieties and a supporting series of succulent derivative products. At the same time, by building an e-commerce platform, it adopts a dual online-and-offline sales model.
Broadening the business model and bringing it into people's lives
Different "succulents" vary greatly in value. Tao Dafei introduced that from ordinary goods costing a few yuan to expensive goods costing several thousand yuan, the value gap among "succulents" can reach a thousand times. At present, ordinary "succulents" on the market mostly sell for a dozen or several dozen yuan. For good varieties, a single plant can be worth several thousand yuan. Some "succulents" are priced by the centimeter, some by the rarity of the variety, and some by their age. Because "succulents" are a relatively specialized exotic species, some expensive goods are often "hard to find even one plant."
"Keeping a few pots of these 'succulents' at home or in the office is not only a good way to soothe the emotions and purify the air, but also a lifestyle pleasure." Tao Dafei told us that succulents are especially suitable for the "lazy crowd," requiring no need for too much watering and care. Combining the characteristics of succulents themselves, Tao Dafei decided to strike while the iron was hot and bring succulents into ordinary people's homes. At the same time, Tao Dafei defines Jinhong Family Farm as not an agricultural project in the traditional sense. In the future, Jinhong Family Farm will take succulents as its theme, integrate a variety of leisure experience operations, and combine them with e-commerce platform operations to develop into a theme park combining succulent planting, display, sales and agricultural sightseeing, leisure, experience and vacation, echoing Chishan Lake Wetland Park and becoming a distinctive highlight project in the suburbs of Jurong.
Sales results are encouraging, driving employment and prosperity
In just half a year, Jinhong Family Farm's daily turnover jumped from 40 yuan on the first day of opening to 60,000 yuan, and the base's full-year succulent sales in 2016 are expected to break 10 million yuan. The farm currently has more than 70 employees, not only absorbing surplus labor from nearby areas, but also specifically solving employment problems for veterans. At the same time, by recruiting university students for targeted professional training, it improves the company's market competitiveness and drives the company to become bigger and stronger.