The real identity of the mainland supermarket "supplying vegetables to Hong Kong"

At present, the “supply of vegetables from Hong Kong” in supermarkets in the Mainland is in fact a part of the remaining parts of Hong Kong and a poor quality product. It can only be called 'vegetables from the vegetable base for supplying Hong Kong'.

The hot selling of vegetables for use in Hong Kong is even more important for the government and vegetable companies to learn from the system for supplying vegetables to Hong Kong and improve food safety supervision capabilities.

After pollution-free vegetables, organic vegetables, etc., a new "rich vegetables" is popular in the Mainland - "for the supply of vegetables."

On the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2011, the owners of Guangzhou Lijingwan received a package of vegetables for the Zhongwei City of Ningxia. On the packaging bag, the inspection time of the vegetables, the soil and water SGS test report number of the planting base are marked, and these inspection reports can be queried online.

The market price of these vegetables packed in paper bags is about RMB 20, and their special status is “export (for port) vegetables”. Responsible for free delivery is Guangzhou Tian Xian Trade Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tian Xian Company").

"Supplying vegetables to Hong Kong" refers to the vegetables that supply Hong Kong. As early as two years ago, "supplying vegetables from Hong Kong" has entered Guangzhou supermarkets, but it has not attracted widespread attention. Since 2011, there have been frequent food safety incidents in the Mainland. The “supply of vegetables from Hong Kong” has taken the opportunity to enter supermarkets such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, which are widely sought after by the market.

At present, Tian Xian Company has plans to send "for Hong Kong vegetables" free of charge in 100 high-end communities and villas in Guangzhou to win customers through consumer experience. Like Tian Xian Company, many vegetable companies in Hong Kong have keenly captured the broad prospects of the domestic market, and are gearing up to expand domestic sales channels. However, problems have also arisen.

The "domestic vegetables for supply to Hong Kong" sold domestically is mixed and difficult to distinguish between true and false. However, in the face of frequent food safety incidents, consumers are still quite popular with it.

Big domestic sales

“Now the reason why mainland consumers are pursuing vegetables for Hong Kong is that there have been too many food safety accidents in the Mainland in the recent years. Second, they trust the system for supplying vegetables to Hong Kong.” Dongguan Shijie Runfeng International Vegetable Trading Center (hereinafter referred to as “ Runfeng," said Wang Zhiming, general manager.

Information from Yunnan, Ningxia and other places, as well as information from the vegetable production companies in Hong Kong, shows that domestic sales of vegetables to Hong Kong are becoming a trend.

With the development of urbanization in Shenzhen and Dongguan, the supply of vegetable bases in Hong Kong has gradually moved from these places to the Qingyuan, Heyuan, Shaoguan, Yunfu and other places in Guangdong Province. In recent years, it has developed into Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Yunnan, and Guizhou provinces. .

For example, Zhongwei City of Ningxia introduced three agricultural companies in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Dongguan in 2010, and developed 5,700 mu of vegetable bases for Hong Kong. The city plans to build 30,000 mu for the vegetable base in Hong Kong by 2013.

There are more companies planning to expand production. Hong Kong native Chen Feng had previously owned 5,000 mu of vegetable bases in Hong Kong in Yunnan, Guangdong and other places. However, he still plans to expand the scale. He wants to expand the domestic market.

As early as 2007, Chen Feng had the idea of ​​making vegetable gifts. At the beginning of 2011, he received a phone call from a person named Lu Jifu. Lu asked if he was willing to cooperate in domestic sales of vegetables for Hong Kong. Then the two hit it off.

In August of this year, Lu and Chen and three other investors invested in the creation of Guangzhou Tianshen Trading Co., Ltd., mainly engaged in the cultivation, processing, trade, import, export, and logistics of agricultural products, and will export safe and high-quality vegetables for export to Hong Kong. Distribution to the Mainland "high-end home users and corporate users."

However, due to the lack of supervision, the "domestic supply of vegetables" has not been standardized domestically. According to the Guangzhou Media Express, the names of the vegetables on the “Hong Kong Vegetable” section of Guangzhou Tianhe Supermarket's TASTE supermarket are all “Preferred ××” instead of “Hong Kong ××” and there is no information on the origin; The Ole's supermarkets are all for the leftovers.

In order to win the trust of consumers, "Tian Xian Company" has commissioned the world's largest testing company, Swiss Standards (SGS), to test according to China's AA green food standards.

True and false "for Hong Kong vegetables"

In fact, the phenomenon of domestic sales of vegetables for Hong Kong has long occurred. In Runfeng, the phenomenon of domestic sales of vegetables to Hong Kong took place in 2009. This was due to the scale of the base, mechanized production, and improved transportation. The production capacity increased by 20% to 30%, while the supply to Hong Kong was relatively saturated.

"Runfeng" is the largest vegetable processing company in Hong Kong. Currently, about 3,000 tons of vegetables are imported into "Runfeng" every day, and 800 tons are supplied to Hong Kong. Others are sold domestically. However, at the time of domestic sales, they never used the label “for vegetables from Hong Kong” but instead identified the place of production.

Domestically sold vegetables are often entered into retail markets through multi-layer wholesalers. He boss rented a store as a distribution point in “Runfeng”, and had 4-5 mu of vegetable bases in Hong Kong in Yunnan and Guangxi. Now, 70% of his vegetables are supplied to Hong Kong, 30% to domestic sales, and wholesalers and hawkers from all over Dongguan will come to pick up goods.

It is understood that Shenzhen is building a large domestic market for vegetables. He is also planning to lease stalls and develop domestic sales.

However, Wang Zhiming, general manager of "Runfeng", warned that the vegetables that are currently sold on the market are not strictly for the supply of vegetables to Hong Kong. In general, after the shipment of vegetables from Hong Kong to a trading center such as “Runfeng,” they go through random inspections and enter distribution points. According to their respective Hong Kong orders, the distribution points divide the vegetables into two parts, one part for the vegetables in Hong Kong. The excess part is sold domestically.

When vegetables enter the processing and sorting package, some vegetables with poor quality are brushed off and can only be sold domestically. The other part can be supplied to Hong Kong after passing the sampling inspection. In Dongguan, the inspection and quarantine department will even seal the door for vegetables in Hong Kong. Since then, inspection and quarantine agencies have a series of regulatory measures to ensure the safety of vegetables for Hong Kong.

This also means that if a supermarket in the Mainland makes a sign of “supplying vegetables to Hong Kong”, it should indicate that the vegetables are exported to Hong Kong before they are sold domestically. However, according to Wang Zhiming, at present, the “supply of vegetables from Hong Kong” in the supermarkets in the Mainland is actually the remaining part of the export and the poorer quality goods.

"These two parts of the vegetables were not supervised after the point of distribution, and there was no evidence to prove the process of subsequent transactions. Therefore, it can only be called 'vegetables from the vegetable base in Hong Kong'," Wang Zhiming said. When these vegetables flow into the mainland market, they can no longer be distinguished. "Therefore, there will be a phenomenon in which vegetables business units are posing as Hong Kong vegetables."

Special "for Hong Kong vegetables"

Obviously, it is a shrewd move for merchants to create a more attractive sign of “supplying vegetables to Hong Kong”.

Professor Chen Riyuan of South China Agricultural University stated that the production standard of organic vegetables is higher than that of vegetables supplied to Hong Kong and that pesticides and chemical fertilizers are banned. However, due to “certified, unregulated” domestic consumers, consumers have no confidence in organic vegetables. The use of pesticides and fertilizers, but under strict supervision, can achieve pollution-free vegetable standards.

There is still a long period of supervision before the Hong Kong vegetable is brought into the processing zone.

Since April 1, 2007, the vegetable production in Hong Kong must be based on the base, and the management of inspection and quarantine shall be carried out. That is, after the inspection of the soil, water, and air of the base by the inspection and quarantine agency of the import and export, if the requirements are met, the record number shall be given. If the production of vegetables for supply to Hong Kong does not meet the conditions and requirements for filing, it may not be supplied to Hong Kong.

Planting bases generally require fixed land contiguous, soil and irrigation water meet the requirements of relevant national standards, there are no pollution sources affecting the quality and safety of vegetables, and pesticide residue detection capability. The relevant agencies also implement an annual inspection system for bases, and annual inspections require the rectification or cancellation of qualifications for Hong Kong and Macao. For example, "Rongfeng" last year reached more than 110 cooperation bases, 103 this year, some of which were contaminated by heavy metals.

The archives for the vegetable base in Hong Kong must be established, and the name, source, usage, dosage, date of use, and safety intervals for the use of agricultural inputs should be recorded truthfully; occurrence and prevention of plant pests and diseases; harvesting date and harvest volume; product sales and flow direction . Production records should be kept for 2 years.

In addition, vegetable production companies conduct inspections on Hong Kong and Macao vegetables, and after passing the inspection, they report to local inspection and quarantine agencies for inspection. At the time of inspection, the inspection and quarantine agency conducts sampling inspections for Hong Kong and Macao vegetables, and they can be delivered only after passing the inspection. "If the company wants to ship in the morning, it will call the Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau in the morning and within 2 hours, the inspectors will go to the site for inspection and quarantine," said Zhang Rui, deputy director of the Industry Office of the Ningxia Agriculture and Husbandry Bureau.

A lot of checkpoint security

On September 14, 2011, Shanghai Qingcao and Baicai, which had been supplied to Hong Kong by a car, started sampling from the Jiujie Vegetable Base in Tonghai County, Yunnan Province. After more than 30 hours, they arrived at Dongguan Runfeng. "Runfeng" is a vegetable processing company for Hong Kong and Macao. There are more than 100 processing companies in the country, mainly in the Pearl River Delta.

To enter “Runfeng”, this vehicle must provide proof of supply. After inspection, registration source, inflow stalls, variety, certificate number, etc., can pass the entrance inspection channel.

Afterwards, "Runfeng" conducted a random inspection of each shipment. After providing samples, doing registration, and marking, the market will ship to the distribution point, and the distribution point will then decide the ratio of supply to Hong Kong and domestic sales according to the order.

"Runfeng" quickly measured more than a thousand samples a day. The rapid test laboratory is located on the first floor of “Runfeng”, and each sample submitted must be tested within 1.5 hours, and then retested if it fails. If the inhibition rate is less than 50%, it is acceptable; if it is greater than or equal to 50%, it cannot be exported.

The Quantitative Laboratory on the third floor of “Runfeng” quantifies unqualified products. The lab can measure three types of pesticides: organic phosphorus, organic chlorine, and pyrethroid. When the inhibition rate is between 50% and 70%, it can be sold domestically. If it is greater than 70%, it will be destroyed.

Market inspection personnel said that the qualified rate of detection of pesticide residues could reach 99.8%. In the unqualified samples, 80% of the conventional pesticides exceeded, and rarely banned pesticide residues.

In addition, in order to carry out quantitative detection of pesticides and heavy metals, the market also spent millions to purchase equipment to spot lead, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, mercury and other heavy metals.

After passing many inspections, the processing center can apply for seal seals at the office of Dongguan Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau at “Runfeng” with the flow direction and distribution list of the distribution points. Production and processing companies specify on their labels for the transportation packaging and sales packaging of vegetables for Hong Kong and Macao: the names, addresses, record numbers, product names, production dates, and batch numbers of production and processing companies.

"This whole system can trace every aspect of each batch of vegetables. If something goes wrong, we can pursue the responsible person without any mistake," said Wang Zhiming.

It is precisely because of the sound quality and safety management system, including the organization structure, product traceability system, toxic and hazardous substances monitoring system, and the ability to detect residues of pesticides, etc., for the supply of vegetables in Hong Kong has always maintained a high quality. At present, high-end markets for domestic sales of vegetables are being formed.

Chen Riyuan, an agricultural research expert, believes that the importance of the domestic sales of vegetables for Hong Kong is more important to the Mainland government, vegetable production and operation companies to learn from the Hong Kong vegetable supply system, and to improve food safety supervision capabilities. “Especially in places where conditions are ripe, such as Dongguan and Shenzhen, we can transplant the regulatory model for the supply of vegetables from Hong Kong.”