The order volume of Xiaotangshan vegetable base doubled to ＂burn the midnight oil＂ for collecting vegetables.
The Beijing News (Reporter Yang Yijing) After the Xinfadi market was temporarily closed, the famous "Xiaotangshan" vegetable base in Beijing was stocking up every day. After June 13th, the order quantity of Tianan Agricultural Company, to which Xiaotangshan belongs, has more than doubled. By increasing the number of picking and packaging staff, the base ensures to supply more than 30 tons of vegetables to the Beijing market every day.
The factory works overtime to load vegetables at night. Photo courtesy of respondents
Total orders for vegetables have more than doubled.
At 10 o’clock in the morning, in the greenhouse in the east of Daguan Garden, a special dish in Xiaotangshan Town, Changping District, Sister Wei is picking small tomatoes. Small yellow tomatoes are packed in large foam boxes, which will be pulled to the cold storage of the workshop in the west side across the street before noon. After cooling down in the afternoon, workers will pack these tomatoes just harvested today and send them to the supermarkets in the city.
Sister Wei picks small yellow tomatoes. Beijing News reporter Yang Yijing photo
Since June 14th, affected by the temporary closure of Xinfadi Market, Tianan Agricultural Company’s orders have more than doubled, providing more than 30 tons of vegetables to the Beijing market every day. "It happened that the first two days were weekends, and the supermarket orders were originally more than working days. To catch up with this situation in the new market, consumers’ orders have also increased a lot. " In recent days, Tianan Agricultural’s customer service data shows that the growth rate of home delivery’s home orders has reached 300%.
Tianan Agricultural Company, founded in 1984, formerly known as Xiaotangshan Special Food Base established by Beijing Agriculture and Rural Bureau, is mainly engaged in the production, processing and sales of vegetables. Vegetables with the words "Xiaotangshan" can always be seen in the major supermarket chains in Beijing, all of which come from the major bases of Tianan agriculture.
Changping factory recruits temporary workers to choose vegetables. Beijing News reporter Yang Yijing photo
"In the past two days, orders have increased. We have increased workers in the field harvesting and packaging processing, and more than 50 temporary workers have been added in Changping and Shunyi factories." Liu Yanfei, general manager of Tianan Agriculture, said.
The bases around Beijing work overtime to collect vegetables.
Liu Yanfei said that the supply of vegetables is estimated according to the usual big data, and tasks will be assigned to bases in Changping, Shunyi, Huairou, Miyun and Yanqing in Beijing, as well as Shangyi, Huai ‘an and Chengde Pingquan in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province.
According to the task list, the base picks vegetables in the early morning and delivers them to the factory before 2 pm. After the increase in orders, in order to ensure that vegetables can arrive on time, the base began to collect vegetables in the middle of the night.
The factory works overtime to load vegetables at night. Photo courtesy of respondents
In the past two days, the work of vegetable factories has also increased significantly.
Usually, the busiest time is from afternoon to evening, the workers will collect the vegetables sent by Beijing and Hebei bases, and then sort, inspect, package and distribute them according to the demand of the order.
Expedited harvesting of oilseed vegetables in Shangyi base, Hebei Province. Photo courtesy of respondents
However, during this period, at 9 am, dozens of workers in the factory were working overtime to choose vegetables and package. "Orders have increased in the past two days, and I need to work all the time in the morning."
Consumers tend to be rational in buying food.
"It is true that there will still be some situations where demand exceeds supply. For example, the amount of some leafy vegetables is not enough." Liu Yanfei said that in order to ensure the supply of vegetables, the base has increased the number of vegetables harvested in the field. "For example, we planted some Sambo cabbages in Yanqing base, which are not big in size. The nodes collected in these two days are a little earlier. In fact, it is ok for them to grow for a few more days."
Harvesting Sambo Cabbage in Yanqing Base. Photo courtesy of respondents
At the same time, the bases in Beijing and Hebei have also expanded some farmers around to carry out a small amount of harvesting. High temperature in summer, there are not many local leafy vegetables in Beijing, and some solanaceous fruits and root vegetables are relatively increased in supply.
"Everyone’s needs are still relatively diverse, but they are also more willing to buy some vegetables that can be saved, such as carrots and potatoes. If the amount of leafy vegetables is less, everyone will buy other varieties."
Hebei base, open vegetables are also busy harvesting. Photo courtesy of respondents
"Although orders have increased in recent days, consumers are quite rational this time." Liu Yanfei recalled that in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak at the beginning of this year, a large number of consumers "grabbed goods" every day, and the platform "exploded orders" every day. Many people bought ten boxes or eight boxes at a time. "This time, whether it is online ordering or offline purchase, our data shows that there is no such thing as a large number of goods."
Beijing News reporter Yang Yijing
Editor Zhang Shujing proofreads Wang Xin.