Ten years of honing one sword: edible fungi lead the way in the Northeast
"Look, these mushroom candies, wood ear powder, and ginseng cakes are all products independently developed by our group. After they hit the market, user feedback has been especially good." Standing beside the dazzling product display stand of Beiwei Food Co., Ltd., Chairman Qi Zhendong's dark face was written all over with pride.
He once bought and resold wood ear mushrooms with his brothers to escape poverty. Now the enterprise has achieved an annual output value of 900 million yuan, has built itself into a national-level leading enterprise in edible fungi, and leads local farmers to prosperity. Over 11 years, Qi Zhendong and his Beiwei Company have walked a difficult road of entrepreneurship.
The "Beiwei" brand was founded in 2004. Relying on Mudanjiang's advantage in wood ear cultivation, it organized and integrated 35,000 existing mushroom farmers across multiple townships in Hailin City, mobilized the development of new edible fungus growers, organized the establishment of farmers' cooperatives, effectively integrated scattered mushroom farmers, set up multiple edible fungus cultivation base alliances, created the "Beiwei model," and drove the healthy and rapid development of Hailin City's edible fungus industry.
Once the enterprise was built, how to make it bigger and stronger became a "heartache" that haunted Qi Zhendong every day. In 2008, Qi Zhendong overrode all objections and set up an edible fungus research institute within the enterprise. When the institute was first established, many senior executives within the enterprise did not understand. Some went to Qi Zhendong and said: "Chairman, for thousands of years, haven't edible fungi just been eaten in those few ways - pan-fried, stir-fried, braised, deep-fried, or stewed? No matter how much more you research, what new products could you possibly come up with?"
Qi Zhendong just smiled; he wanted to convince everyone with actual results. Although the process of developing new products was complex and lengthy, when he saw the gratifying scene of the first batch of new products such as lion's mane mushroom candy, ginseng cake, and ready-to-eat wood ear being snapped up as soon as they hit the market and large orders coming in, the executives who had opposed the idea at the time were deeply won over by the head of the company's wisdom and decisiveness. And while everyone was still immersed in the joy brought by the new products, Qi Zhendong was again thinking about how to sell Hailin's green specialty agricultural products farther and better.
In 2012, Qi Zhendong decided to invest 330 million yuan to launch the construction of a large comprehensive agricultural products trading market. The market contains sections for edible fungi, grain, mountain products, and fruits and vegetables, as well as the country's most advanced electronic trading platform for agricultural products - Nongpin Tianxia Network, and a group logistics company was also to be established. Qi Zhendong knew well that this decision involved not only a large investment, but that its success or failure would directly affect the enterprise's overall structure and future development. At the group board meeting, Qi Zhendong, having prepared himself to "debate a room full of scholars," instead received unanimous approval from the entire group amid a round of applause.
Today, the large comprehensive agricultural products trading market - integrating agricultural product trading, storage, freshness preservation, processing, logistics, exhibition and sales, quality and safety testing, information services, settlement and exchange, and more - has been officially put into use. In 2014 alone, the annual throughput of the Beiwei Comprehensive Agricultural Products Trading Market reached 430 million tons, with a transaction value exceeding 3 billion yuan, making it an important distribution center for wood ear trading in China. Its powerful agricultural product distribution capacity has driven the rapid development of agriculture in Hailin City and the entire southeastern region of Heilongjiang Province.
Logically speaking, with the enterprise having developed to this point, Qi Zhendong could rest. However, he did not stop. Leveraging the "Belt and Road" development strategy, Qi Zhendong set his sights on the "3+2+2" model intelligent ecological agriculture full-industry-chain project. Committing to the overall upgrading of the edible fungus industry chain became Qi Zhendong's new goal. "The Belt and Road encourages edible fungus enterprises to go global and has opened a window for enterprises to engage in external exchange and cooperation. Running an enterprise while looking at the world map and going global along the Belt and Road will be the new normal for the future development of China's edible fungus enterprises." Regarding the enterprise's future development, Qi Zhendong is very confident.
Today, Beiwei Group has become the country's largest green ecological agriculture full-industry-chain group enterprise centered on edible fungi, integrating base construction, scientific and technological research and development, technology guidance, mushroom supply, circular economy, production and processing, logistics and warehousing, terminal sales, and export trade.
It upholds the corporate philosophy of "winning the market with integrity, promoting development through quality." Over 11 years, "Beiwei" has upgraded from a small factory to a group, from single purchasing and sales to building base parks; from rough processing to deep research and development; from traditional sales to e-commerce; from focusing on its own growth to paying attention to industry development... Over 11 years, Beiwei Group has grown from small to large, from weak to strong, and from the black soil to the whole country. Qi Zhendong, chairman of Heilongjiang Province Beiwei Fungus Technology Group Co., Ltd., has created miracles time and again.