Former Country Garden recruited the head of the pig farming department, and today Vanke recruits the general manager of the pig farm. Why do housing companies prefer pig farming? On May 7, the recruitment information released by Vanke's official website showed that its food business department recruited pig farm development managers, settlement general farm pig farm general managers, pre-settlement professional managers, development report construction specialists, and pig farm veterinarians.

　　As a leading real estate company, Vanke has been at the forefront of the diversified layout of the real estate industry in recent years. Is this the first step in the pig industry?

Vanke's pig raising plan exposes layout of agricultural industry chain

　　In a recruitment order issued by Vanke, in 2018, Vanke upgraded the Group's strategy to be an "urban and rural construction and living service provider." The price of pork increased sharply in 2019. The new crown epidemic in early 2020 caused inconvenience for Vanke customers to purchase food. To make the company realize that starting from serving Vanke's existing customers, in the entire industrial chain from "farm to table", work with outstanding partners in various industries to strive for "providing safety for the public at a price that ordinary families can pay." "Healthy daily meals" is an important part of "Better Life Scene Teacher".

　　As a result, after researching and studying in the food-related fields, Vanke officially established the Food Business Unit (BU) in March 2020. In the initial stage of business development, it mainly focused on the three major areas of pig breeding, vegetable cultivation, and corporate catering.

　　According to past information, Vanke seems to have deployed the agricultural industry chain earlier. As early as April 2018, Vanke and Shenzhen Agricultural Products Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement. The two parties plan to cooperate in new retail and urban food safety industries, the development of a comprehensive industrial park for agricultural products circulation, and the construction of modern agricultural product cultivation and breeding bases.

　　It seems that Vanke's pig farming has long been a conspiracy. Factors such as soaring pork prices and community value-added services that have been heated under the epidemic have accelerated Vanke's implementation of pig farming programs.

It is not easy for real estate companies to compete in the stock market for cross-border agriculture

　　Before Vanke, another house giant, Country Garden, also deployed the pig industry. In May last year, Country Garden published a recruitment message on its official WeChat public account. The recruitment position is the head of the pig raising business department, and the real estate giant wants to cross-border pig breeding, which has caused heated public opinion. After that, on June 15, "Country Garden Agricultural Holdings Co., Ltd." was officially unveiled.

　　For housing companies, why did they start to favor pig farming and even the agricultural industry? Previously, housing companies such as Greentown, COFCO and China Resources Land were involved in agriculture, and Wanda and Evergrande were cross-border agriculture in poverty alleviation, but they have not become the mainstream trend of cross-border housing companies.

　　Today, Vanke and Country Garden two giant housing companies have set foot in the agricultural industry including pig farming. What is the reason behind this?

　　Of course, the most direct reason is the high profit temptation brought about by soaring pig prices. At the end of December last year, Liu Yonghao, chairman of New Hope Group, announced at the 2019 (18th) Annual Meeting of Chinese Business Leaders that it will invest another 9 billion to build 9 large-scale pig farms and raise 680 with the "new good pig model" Ten thousand pigs. At the meeting, Wang Shi, the founder of Vanke Group and the honorary chairman of the board of directors, asked Liu Yonghao, "Is it making a lot of money this year?" Liu Yonghao said, "This year is okay, and the benefits are good." When Wang Shi asked how much he made, Liu Yonghao replied, "We have achieved good results this year, more than the same period last year."

　　New Hope's 2019 financial report shows that the pig breeding business achieved revenue of 7.487 billion yuan, an increase of 132.16% from 3.224 billion yuan in the same period of 2018. The revenue growth rate ranked first in the company's five major business segments.

　　However, for housing companies, in addition to the high profit factor, the layout of the agricultural industry, including pig farming, is still more about the battle for a "better life." Since the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that "the people's longing for a better life should be taken as the goal of striving", the major housing companies took the policy eastward, shouted the slogan "Better Life", and transformed themselves into a better life operator. Satisfy the business model of low-frequency trading only, trying to extend the tentacles to all corners of the city and social life, focusing on the major industrial chains related to people's residence, including property, commerce, education, medical care, agriculture, e-commerce, tourism, etc. .

　　The fundamental reason behind this is that in addition to consumption upgrades, housing companies have fewer and fewer incremental spaces, and the stock market has more opportunities and bigger cakes. Transformation, diversification, and finding new growth points are inevitable Row.

　　However, from the perspective of housing companies, building houses and agriculture are two different paths, one is quick turnover, the other requires slow work. Looking back at the pig-raising road of Netease founder Ding Lei, it is actually not easy. In 2009, Ding Lei announced that he would enter the pig farming industry, but he was not optimistic about it. During this period, news of the death of the pig farming plan was frequently reported. It was not until 7 years later that Ding Lei's "weiyang pig" was launched to the market. Ding Lei's experience tells you that pig farming is a high-input, high-risk industry, and it is not easy to do well in this industry.

　　For a wider range of agriculture, a lot of effort is also required. For housing companies, the layout of this industry can tap potential consumption opportunities, but this road will not be too easy to go.

　　Beijing News reporter Duan Wenping