Hutai
Hutai n°8 are a grape variety from Hu county in Shaanxi Province. They are a protected regional product. This variety of grapes is cylindrical in shape with the grapes closely packed together. The colour of the grapes is dark purple. Mrs. Qiang explains that "people from Shaanxi are crazy about the grapes. When they go on sale, other grapes are sold remarkably less."
Sales across China
"When we started cultivating, the production volume was low. Because the grapes were tasty, demand was higher than supply. The cultivation surface was expanded and we started to sell across Shaanxi province. The total cultivation area in Shaanxi is now 4,333 hectares, so we are able to supply the market demand. From 2014 we started to sell beyond Shaanxi in different provinces," explains Mrs. Qiang.
After two years of trying, Napian Senlin Agriculture Development finally overcame all its difficulties. The Hutai n°8 grapes are now sold in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Nanning, Guangdong and other cities.
The company organised a number of conferences to promote the Hutai n°8, also outside Shaanxi province. All is difficult at first:"Hutai n°8 grapes are purple and especially people in South China prefer red grapes. So in the beginning, consumers didn't appreciate our grapes. We changed our marketing strategy and let everyone taste our grapes for free. Most people bought the grapes right away after tasting. Within 5 days, we couldn't keep up with the demand."
Standardising farm products
"Last year, we reached a lot of high-end markets in cooperation with Xinrongmao. The demands of those costumers helped us to fine-tune the sugar content, colour and weight of the grapes. Now we were able to standardise the cultivation."
"In addition, we started with applying stricter harvesting criteria. Initially we harvested 2,500 kg, which we brought back to 1,750 kg. This way we can guarantee the best colour and taste."
"Many local farmers didn't understand why we cut away part of the fruit trees. But we believe that the way forward in farming industry is to draw from the principles of standardised production. The demands of the costumers may seem harsh, but they help us to improve the quality of our products. For example, we had grapes that were packed so tightly that the grapes on the outside were ripe, but those on the inside were still green. They were sold at a low price and gave a bad impression to the costumer. Now we have a higher quality with a slightly higher price the costumer is willing to pay."
Introduction to Napian Senlin Agriculture Development
The company was established in 2014. The founder, Mr. Yang Zhouliang, was born and raised in Shaanxi province.
"Initially, because our the cultivation surface was so vast, many of our grapes weren't sold and went to waste on the tree. Mr. Yang Zhouliang could not stand that sight, so he came with the idea to help the farmers sell their grapes. At first he was just engaged in sales, but he started to cultivate too. Now, his Hutai n°8 grapes already cover over 200 hectares. The Hutai n°8 grapes are ripe at the beginning of August. We will actively prepare ourselves to distribute the grapes to the whole of China."
