"I'll just buy some corn, and tell me you're crying." Recently, the video of New Oriental's agricultural products live streaming has hit the Internet, and the sales volume of the live broadcast room and the company's stock price have also risen sharply in a short period of time.
However, amid the enthusiastic praise, some netizens questioned that "6 yuan for a corn" in the live broadcast room is too expensive, and the prices of agricultural products with goods are generally high.
In response, former New Oriental teacher and anchor Dong Yuhui responded that "low grains hurt farmers". If something is completely unprofitable, there will be fewer and fewer people farming in rural areas, so the price cannot be too low.
Is it expensive to sell a corn for 6 yuan?
In fact, if the quality of corn is as stated in the live broadcast room, the price is not expensive at all.
The New Oriental live broadcast room sells fresh corn, and many products of this category on the market can be sold at this price.
Unlike field corn, which saves worry, effort, and storage and transportation, growing fresh corn requires higher costs in terms of land, labor, seeds, and fertilizers.
After the corn is mature, in order to avoid the decline of sugar and affect the taste, it must also be kept fresh and sold faster, which requires increased investment in packaging, logistics and marketing.
In order to build a brand, some fresh corn has also been certified as green and organic, and these links also require real investment.
In order to ensure the increased investment in quality and taste, the price of each corn is often spread evenly in the end.
In this way, it seems that the price of 6 yuan is acceptable.
Especially after New Oriental left the education and training industry, it chose the agricultural product live broadcast track and realized the problem of "low grains hurting farmers". Some netizens expressed that they were willing to pay for this "feeling" story.
However, when I calm down and think about it, I always feel that the story is missing a key link.
That is, the price of corn is high, can farmers or agricultural producers make more money?
How much extra money did you make?
Talking about this topic is not to question what New Oriental is.
But the host's response is really thought-provoking and has practical significance.
Because, whether the corn sold in the live broadcast room, or other agricultural products, they did not fall from the sky, but were planted and raised by farmers.
As the most front-end link of farmers, if the value of labor is not reflected and cannot make money, so they are unwilling to plant and raise, then the interests of consumers and enterprises downstream of the industrial chain will be affected. This is a moving story. It is also difficult to speak for long.
In recent years, with the improvement of people's living standards, more and more consumers are not only satisfied with eating enough, but also eat well. They want to eat healthy and distinctive, and cultivate more diversified and higher-end consumer demand.
However, contrary to the scarcity of high-quality agricultural products in the market, the enthusiasm of farmers to produce high-quality agricultural products is actually not high.
One of the important reasons is what Dong Yuhui said, "cheap grains hurt farmers" - in many cases, high-quality agricultural products may not necessarily achieve good prices.
On the one hand, compared with high-quality industrial products with strict standards and clear functions, the value of high-quality agricultural products is not easy to measure and show, which objectively restricts the increase of their market prices.
Moreover, at present, some high-quality agricultural products still have shortcomings in brand building and marketing innovation. Good quality has not yet formed market competitiveness, which also makes it difficult to sell good products at good prices.
On the other hand, under the traditional production and sales pattern, due to the excessive number of intermediate links and the unreasonable benefit distribution mechanism, the income of the production link is obviously low, and farmers are always in a weak position in the industrial chain, even in the terminal market due to various Mature operation and marketing have achieved "high quality and good price", but farmers often get the smallest piece of "cake".
The emergence of new marketing forms such as e-commerce live broadcasts has played a positive role in driving the sales of agricultural products, but at the same time, "low price wars" and "low price dumping" have become more and more intense.
In the field of daily-use products, many of the leading anchors in the live broadcast industry have an amazing amount of goods, but under the low price strategy and high pit fees, many merchants who cooperate with them have not made much profit.
Marketing of agricultural products must not go this way, nor can it afford it.
"6 yuan per corn" is not only a question of "whether it's worth it", but also a question of "whether farmers make money or not".
The live broadcast industry of agricultural products cannot be satisfied with selling farmers' goods, but also allows farmers to share more profits in the industrial chain. This is the meaning of the revolution in the agricultural product marketing model.
If an agricultural product marketing model is only a feast for enterprises and Internet celebrities, and cannot benefit farmers more, then the meaning of this model is very limited.
The entry of New Oriental has not only brought a new trend in terms of marketing methods, but also brought a positive side from the guidance of values. The turmoil brought to the e-commerce live broadcast industry is worthy of recognition and encouragement.
Compared with industrial products, the distribution of benefits from the production and sale of agricultural products is a more complex issue.
This is not only an arithmetic problem, but also a comprehensive problem that requires balancing the interests of all parties and constantly trying to break through.
We look forward to the follow-up stories of "Oriental Selection" being told more satisfactorily and movingly. We also look forward to more revolutionary exploration and practice on the track of live broadcast of agricultural products.
Author: Li Jinghan Hou Xinyuan