Nasha lemongrass catches the e-commerce logistics express train, its fragrance drifting out of Guangxi
Recently, in the sorting workshop of the Nasha Spice Factory, six or seven workers sat beside heaps of lemongrass, skillfully washing and cutting it. After being sorted, these lemongrass plants would be packaged and shipped to Beijing, weighing 5,000 kg. How lemongrass makes its way out of Guangxi is a matter of great curiosity.
When this writer met Wei Shu, a farmer from Nasha, he was selecting seedlings in the sorting workshop. He told the reporter that his family had been growing lemongrass for 3 years, expanding from 2 mu at the beginning to 10 mu now. All the lemongrass is purchased by the Nasha Spice Factory. Last year, the net income from growing lemongrass reached 30,000 yuan. Having tasted the sweet rewards, he now plans to continue expanding the planting area.
"Lemongrass can be eaten, used medicinally, and also used to make essential oil. The spice factory's current lemongrass planting base has 2,000 mu of lemongrass, and at this rate it will soon reach 10,000 mu. But no matter how good or how much of something there is, it's no use if it can't be sold. The internet can help us do that," said Chen Mantang, owner of the Nasha Spice Factory. In March this year, Chen Mantang and his startup team came into contact with e-commerce for the first time. In March, the Municipal High-tech Zone Management Committee, together with relevant units, launched an e-commerce entrepreneurship practical training camp program across the city, pointing the way for aspiring young entrepreneurs like Chen Mantang throughout the city.
After returning to Nasha, Chen Mantang and his startup team set about working hard on e-commerce. At present, the factory has spent tens of thousands of yuan on promotion on Alibaba, and has also purchased relevant computer equipment, with broadband reaching 100 Mbps. In recent years, Nasha lemongrass has received active promotion from governments at all levels in our city. After promotion on Alibaba this year, its fame has also spread beyond Guangxi, and the number of customers has grown explosively, reaching cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. From then on, Nasha lemongrass has walked out of Guangxi and moved toward the whole country. Pointing to the recruitment advertisement on the workshop wall, Chen Mantang said that workers are now working around the clock to sort and pack lemongrass to send to customers, and there are plans to recruit another 50 lemongrass sorting workers.
How can lemongrass be delivered to customers accurately, quickly, and intact, without increasing logistics costs?
In recent years, the rapidly developing logistics industry in towns and townships has let lemongrass "catch" the express train. "Express delivery in the town is really cheap." Chen Mantang gave an example: in the past, for rural areas, sending a sweet potato to Beijing from the town cost at least 30 yuan, but today, with developed logistics, just one yuan is enough. In addition, in the past, if farmers wanted to ship goods from towns and townships to other places, they had to transfer through Nanning, but now express delivery companies can come directly to pick up goods, and they can be sent to Beijing within 3 days.
The reporter learned from the Fangchenggang branches of YTO Express, STO Express, ZTO Express, and SF Express that all the above logistics companies have opened business to Nasha and have set up pickup and delivery outlets in Nasha town.
Recently, the sorting machines purchased by the factory will gradually be put in place, and next the lemongrass planting area will also be expanded. The Nasha Spice Factory currently has its own warehouse and industrial processing park. It is reported that this year the Guangxi Forestry Research Institute signed a strategic cooperation agreement with our city, listing the construction of the spice base as an implementation project. Sensing that merchants across Guangxi are beginning to seize the lemongrass market, Chen Mantang believes that this opportunity must be firmly grasped at present, advantages must be secured as early as possible, and its own brand must be established. The spice factory is currently being gradually built into an enterprise integrating planting, processing, warehousing, and logistics. Next, it will continue to improve the supporting facilities of the industrial park, focus on deep processing, and increase the added value of products. The operation of e-commerce and the development of logistics have given Nasha lemongrass "wings" to fly across the country.