by Xinhua writer Yuan Quan
BEIJING Evan Engram Giants Jersey , Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- "Seven yuan (1.13 U.S. dollars) fortwo cucumbers? Do they sing and dance?"
An elderly woman stared at the price tag with wide eyes,sarcastically questioning Yu Chung-cheng when his vegetable shopopened a decade ago.
Even today, at 7 yuan, the cucumbers are still more than twiceas expensive as those in many supermarkets in Beijing. The highprice has scared away price-sensitive Chinese customers who areaccustomed to bargaining.
But Yu firmly believes the vegetables he sells are worth it,because his vegetables -- though smaller than average and sometimeshome to worms -- are free of pesticides and chemicalfertilizers.
They are organic.
However, the greengrocer is selling to a cynical market. For 10years, the world's second largest economy has been rocked byfrequent food safety scandals, including tainted infant powder,water-injected pork and contaminated chicken feet.
"I have been consistent in one thing: establishing trust in myproduce," says Yu.
The 40-year-old Taiwanese stands out from the typical scruffyBeijing vegetable sellers. He has a neat mustache, and always wearsjeans and a white shirt. He looks more like a CEO of an Internetcompany.
Yu came to the mainland in 2000 to sell computers and took overan organic farm of 20,000 hectares in the suburbs of Beijing fiveyears later. His produce was popular among family and friends.Realizing its vast potential, Yu quit his job and devoted himselfto organic food. ( Other organic vendors have come and gone whileYu has persevered, but he admits it has been tough.
"Not one day in the past decade was good," says Yu with a wrysmile.
"Organic" was a new concept in China when Yu started hisbusiness. According to China's Ministry of Commerce, organic foodhad less than 0.02 percent of the market in 2004, compared with theworld's average of 2 percent.
Most of Yu's customers were expatriates in Beijing.
At that time, the government also announced a plan to raiseorganic food production by five to 10 times within five to 10years, giving Yu encouragement.
As people earn more and become more aware of healthy eating,they have been more willing to try Yu's expensive but chemical-freevegetables.
Yu's business has expanded, as awareness of organic producegrows. The International Organic Food Exhibition estimated inJanuary that the market share of organic food would reach 2 percentthis year.
But food safety scandals and fabrication of organic certificateskeep many shoppers skeptical. "People keep asking, 'Is your organicveg real or not?'" says Yu.
"Scandals have destroyed people's trust in vegetable dealers.The ones who will be hurt the most are not the liars, but thehonest ones," Yu says, striking the table with his fingers.
He believes the organic market is doomed to develop very slowlyin China. "With the best will in the world, you can't win trust --it's disheartening," Yu said in a post on China's Weibo socialnetwork.
Yet he is reluctant to give up. Someone recently tried topersuade him to treat his vegetables with pesticides, but he shookhis head. "I didn't do it a decade ago. Why would I wait untilnow?"
His refusal to keep his produce fresh through artificial meanshas drawn ridicule from competitors.
"I definitely believe that determined people can turn a windingpath into a wide and straight one," he says.
While he is waiting for people's trust, his business adapts. His40-plus stores in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Chengduare now just two, and most of the business is online.
Chinese people used to handpick vegetables at markets, "but now,more people like to buy food online and have it delivered to theirhomes," Yu says.
He started sales on online shopping platforms and advertisedthrough social media. Once, to boost the sales, he changed a milletpackage to the shape of a hot-selling Xiaomi smartphone. Xiaomialso means millet in Chinese, and the company has grown into theworld's third largest smartphone producer.
Online business requires greater efforts to maintain quality andreputation, but Yu is determined to stand his ground.
His best-selling online product is hawthorn candy. Though ittastes sour, is relatively expensive and has a very short shelflife, the sales volume looks set to soar "because it contains noadditives."
When Yu and his colleagues gave their hawthorns to factories forprocessing, they were shocked: "The factory workers asked, 'Howmuch preservative do you need? Which brand of pigments do you want?How about saccharin?'"
"I replied, 'None of them'," he says.
"You can imagine their expressions -- as if they were talkingwith an idiot," he says with a laugh.
Yu had wavered over adding preservatives in his candy. "But Ithought of my two kids. When they want the candies, I can't say tothem, 'Don't eat the candies Dad brings home.' What I want is justto give my children safe and healthy food."
Yu named his business Lohao's, an acronym of "Lifestyle ofHealth and Organic." To him, Lohao's embodies a simple and happylife. "Health is what everybody aspires to. Going organic is oneway to achieve that," Yu says.
"I will continue down this rough path, and I believe it is theright path." Enditem (Wong Tsz Sang contributed to the story)
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