Selling vegetables, making masks, and delivering food. Cross-border production and operation are in full swing. The epidemic, supply, and survival.

Reading tips

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, gas stations sell vegetables, car companies make masks, catering companies deliver food ... and cross-border has become the first choice for many companies to survive the epidemic. As the epidemic situation changes, all walks of life gradually return to normal, and enterprises' cross-border production and operation are facing new tests such as sustainability and profitability.

"Do not get out of the car, do not open the window, three days, one full box, one key to the trunk." This advertisement from Sinopec "selling vegetables" reflects the current cross-border production and business scene in full swing.

Since the outbreak, many enterprises have begun to operate across borders. It is understood that at present, more than 3,000 domestic enterprises have announced "cross-border", and "masks, protective clothing, disinfectants, thermometers, medical equipment" and other businesses have become cross-border hotspots. In addition, the impacted catering and other industries are also actively seeking changes, using "takeaway" and semi-finished products to carry out self-help.

However, with the change of epidemic situation and the resumption of work and production, various industries have gradually returned to normal. Are the steps taken by cross-border enterprises to withdraw or continue to move forward? Geometry of cross-border costs? How's the effect? Recently, a reporter from the Workers' Daily conducted a survey interview.

How long can the vegetables at the gas station be sold?

"Drowsy while driving, come to 98 # Yijie Coffee, by the way, add fuel." Speaking of this slogan, Du Yan, the station manager of Sinopec Beijing Xibianmen gas station, still feels exhausted. This is an advertisement advertised by Sinopec last year when it was selling coffee across borders. I did not expect that the food will be sold at gas stations.

It is understood that since the outbreak, Sinopec Beijing Petroleum has launched 450 “safe shopping” business at 450 gas stations. The daily vegetable sales are around 3,000 boxes, which is 5 times the initial sales.

According to the monthly report on the fresh food business of the Easy Convenience Store under PetroChina, in February, there were 30 companies, 199 prefectures, and 6,943 stores in the country that launched fresh food sales. Accumulated sales of 290,000 copies and 754 tons of fresh produce.

Some people in the fresh food industry commented that gas stations selling vegetables across borders, as a specific consumption scenario under the epidemic, well met consumer demand. However, how long this model can last depends on whether it can meet the daily consumption scenario and whether consumers will develop the habit of buying food at gas stations.

From the perspective of hardware, the gas station channel is not designed with car shuttle pickup as the leading design. It is doubtful whether the vegetables sold in the station can withstand the test of centralized pickup at peak traffic.

Chen Liping, a professor at the Capital University of Economics and Trade, said that selling vegetables at gas stations is a temporary measure in the epidemic, but it is difficult to continue in the long run. At present, the positioning of domestic convenience stores is chaotic, and cross-border freshness is not conducive to its development.

Some analysts also believe that gas stations sell fresh food across borders. The main purpose is to divert fresh water instead of profits. The core of fresh freshness is to help Yijie drain, and eventually cash in on other products through Yijie.

What is the enterprise cross-border mask?

During the interview by the reporter, relevant persons in charge of Easyjet stated that the gas station launched the "easy food shopping" business to solve the situation of "difficult farmers to sell vegetables, difficult for citizens to buy vegetables", not to make money. During the "epidemic" of the war, this was not the only project not for profit.

On March 2, the National Development and Reform Commission announced that China ’s daily production capacity of masks has continued to increase rapidly and both have exceeded 100 million. More than 3,000 domestic companies have contributed to this, and many of them have come across borders.

If it were not for the epidemic, many people would be hard to imagine: two unrelated products, masks and cars, could have come from the same factory. The material of sound-absorbing cotton and medical protective masks on cars are both polypropylene fiber non-woven fabrics; after the dust-free workshop of the car company is transformed, it can meet the production requirements of the aseptic workshop ...

On February 8, BYD issued a military order of "Products within 10 days", the first step in cross-border mask making by domestic auto companies. "What the people need, Wuling creates what it takes." From presenting ideas to putting the masks offline, SAIC-GM-Wuling only took 3 days to refresh the speed of cross-border mask making.

The reporter learned that the cross-border pace of car companies is so decisive, not to make money selling masks. The relevant person in charge of GAC Group said that the cross-border cost is actually very high. Due to the surge in the number of mask making enterprises and the shortage of mask machines, a set of production equipment rose from 250,000 yuan to about 1.2 million yuan.

In addition to supporting the front line of epidemic prevention, cross-border mask making by car companies is also preparing for their resumption of work and production. A BYD official said in an interview: "We also have gap masks. BYD cross-border manufacturing of masks is also related to the early resumption of production and sales, and some of them are supplied to internal production workers and strategic partners such as parts suppliers and distributors."

Takeaway is not enough, the restaurant industry still wants to be an e-commerce?

The people take food as the sky, and this epidemic has left the sky full of clouds. A report released by the Chinese Cooking Association shows that 93% of catering companies closed their stores during the Spring Festival, and the total amount of New Year's dinner cancellations reached about 94%. According to the data of the Evergrande Research Institute, within 7 days of the Spring Festival holiday, the loss caused by the epidemic to the retail sales of the catering industry reached as much as 500 billion yuan.

In the cold winter, catering companies have started the "Jedi Survival" mode. "Take-out is recognized by catering companies and is most suitable for self-rescue at this stage." A person in charge of a catering company said that they have only eaten for a long time. Although the take-out business has been launched, the income has not met expectations.

The "Old Hot Pot" is located in Chongqing's popular landmark "Hongyadong". The biggest reflection brought to the founder Zhang Wei by this epidemic is not to rely too much on offline operations. Zhang Wei said that after the introduction of hot pot take-out, corporate cash flow has been eased. The current sales model is not just take-out, but more to shift to the direction of content e-commerce.

Some people in the industry predict that after the epidemic, the catering industry will usher in a major reshuffle, and small and medium-sized chain catering will be hit the hardest. The US group survey shows that 15.3% of catering merchants have a clear plan to close their stores. It is no exaggeration to say that the catering industry is about to face a wave of "closed stores."

"The epidemic is an examination question placed in front of the catering industry. It allows us to see the needs of consumers in food safety, traceability systems, and consumption methods, which has forced us to grow." Liu Wenjun, vice chairman of the Shandong Cooking Association, said that In the "epidemic", consumers will have stricter requirements on the dining environment, food sources, and health conditions, which will help the healthy development of the catering industry.

Zhou Yi