The venture Anyoutian was set up two years ago; it provides over 100 supermarkets and major retailers in Shanghai with fresh locally produced vegetables which are sold under the Anyoutian brand.
"I wanted to buy safe fresh vegetables but I couldn't find them anywhere," said Xu Xiaofeng, the company's 42-year-old founder. Xu was born into a farming family, and after 20 years at an information technology company he started his own business. "The decision came naturally," he said.
In addition to owning 33 hectares of farmland, the company has also teamed up with over 150 local farming companies. He only buys vegetables grown under the government's production control guidelines and that qualify as "nonpolluting" in terms of residual chemicals, among other conditions. He then sells the vegetables on the company's e-commerce site anyoutian.com with a quality guarantee.
The online shop carries about 150 varieties, an attractive list for supermarket buyers because they can get the vegetables they need online at prices similar to those at fresh food markets. Orders are delivered within eight hours of harvest. The reasonable pricing and fast delivery are possible because the vegetables are produced locally and can be delivered at low cost.
Shanghai, with its 24 million people, consumes 1 trillion yuan ($149 billion) worth of vegetables every year. Quantity, rather than quality and safety, have tended to be the priority. Xu decided to fill the high-end niche by specializing in quality locally grown vegetables that are not produced in large quantities. Monthly revenue is still around 300,000 yuan but the business is growing rapidly.
