Life and Death Farmers Market
China News Weekly reporter / Xuan Jiang
2020 is the review year for Wuhan National Health City.
On January 16, Wuhan City ushered in a research group organized by the Planning Department of the National Health and Medical Commission. The focus of this investigation team's investigation in Wuhan is to understand the comprehensive management of urban and rural environmental sanitation, market environmental sanitation and vector biological control.
At that time, the Wuhan South China Seafood Wholesale Market was already on the cusp. On December 31, 2019, on the same day that 27 cases of new coronary pneumonia occurred, the Wuhan Health and Medical Commission reported that China News Weekly visited the South China Seafood Market.
South China Seafood Market is located in the downtown area of Wuhan. It is only one kilometer away from Hankou Railway Station. It is divided into east and west districts and has more than 600 merchants. It is an old market that has been rumored to be demolished for many years. .
After the epidemic, many people are worried about how many South China seafood markets remain in the country? With the emergence of new business formats such as supermarkets, convenience stores and fresh food e-commerce, is there still a need for farmers' markets? The reality is that in China's trillions of fresh produce trading markets, farmers' markets are still the main fresh produce consumption channel for residents, accounting for more than 70%.
"Due to different perceptions of local governments at various levels, the farmer's market is not in place in planning, and after the opening of market entities, there are state-owned enterprises, private enterprises, and individual contracting, which has caused management difficulties." World Wholesale Market Union Ma Zengjun, vice chairman of the conference and president of the National Federation of Urban Trade Centers, believes that market managers and operators must establish strict market access and exit mechanisms. The construction of a farmer's market is always a livelihood project and needs to be coordinated with the urban Coordinate development.
Investigating Hygienic Cities
The research team from the Planning Department of the National Health and Health Commission stayed in Wuhan for two or three days. At this point, two weeks have passed since the Wuhan South China Seafood Wholesale Market closed for rectification.
On January 19, Mayor Zhou Xianwang of Wuhan City presided over an executive meeting of the Municipal Government to study and deploy the standardized reform of the Wuhan Farmers Market (vegetable market). "In the 100 days of the war, we will complete the upgrading work of 400 farmers' markets in the city." This was the goal of the work at that time.
In fact, these 400 farmer's markets are the main channels for solving the needs of citizens' fresh produce, accounting for 70% -80%.
The South China Seafood Wholesale Market, located on the edge of the Second Ring Road in Wuhan, is one of the focus of speculation on public opinion. It is less than one kilometer from Hankou Railway Station. The surrounding business districts are dense. The total construction area of the market is 50,000 square meters. There are more than 1,000 booths, including live animals and beasts in the western part of the booth.
After the closure of Wuhan, the farmer's market in the central city area was almost completely closed, and a large number of retail needs must be solved by the commercial supermarket.
An accompanying expert, who asked not to be named, disclosed to China News Weekly, "At that time, the judgment of the epidemic was not so serious. The farmer's market was a mandatory inspection unit for the re-examination of the sanitary city, and visited eight markets in Hankou and Wuchang. The South China Seafood Market, which was closed at that time, was a comprehensive market with both wholesale and retail. There were aquatic products, and there were some live poultry and wildlife trading. "
According to the information about the special wildlife market remediation activities released by the Wuhan Municipal Market Supervision and Administration Bureau in September 2019, there are nearly 8 merchants in the South China Seafood Market that can legally operate wild animals, including the sale of tiger frogs, snakes, hedgehogs, etc. The seafood market was burst out after constant media visits, and there were many illegal operations, such as failure to apply for a business or breeding license, and not to be monitored by the formal quarantine department.
"There are few wild animals that can be legally traded at present, so it is generally a model for merchants to sell in the market. As long as it is an approved legal transaction, the market will not do too much intervention. What types of farmers' markets can be conducted at present There is no clear regulation on the transaction. "Even ordinary market has requirements for interior decoration and sanitation in the market. Zhu Can, chairman of Xinwo Capital, which has been studying the development and development of the farmer's market for a long time, told China News Weekly," General Vegetables, fruits and meat should be set up separately. For aquatic products and poultry, which are prone to odors, separate zones are required, including the discharge of sewage. "
Several farmer's markets came down, and the above-mentioned experts revealed to China News Weekly, "Overall I feel that the level of management of farmer's markets in Wuhan is not high, such as the existence of private markets in some markets. Compared with cities in other provinces, the market development and construction, There is a certain distance in the level of management. Generally, a market is simply judged. The popular intuitive feeling is mainly to look at "six sides and one scale"-facade, scene, ground, countertop, wall, face and intelligent electronic scale.
Controversy over "agricultural reform"
As a farmer's market with public service functions, it is part of the social mechanism in urban planning. "These important places for the exchange of agricultural and sideline products throughout urban and rural areas were built relatively early, and problems such as poor facilities, extensive management, and poor supervision are common." Zhu Can analyzed.
In fact, the farmer's market, which is responsible for the residents' dining tables, has always been standard in China's large and small cities. The star-studded farmer's market weaves the lives of nearby residents together like a needle thread, and becomes a part of the common life of the city and the countryside. Most of these farmers' markets serve as "vegetable baskets" and "rice bags", dealing with three meals a day for ordinary people.
"In the early days, there were state-owned vegetable markets. After the reform and opening up, the farmers 'market mainly solved two problems, one was the supply of vegetables in the city, and the other was the employment of migrant workers. During this period, the government used the farmers' market as a supporting measure for the construction of residential areas. Management is led by the government, unified planning and independent operation, relatively little investment, nor is it an enterprise or group operation mode. "Said Zhang Jingyi, director of Yonghui Supermarket.
After the reform and opening up, China began to reduce the variety and quantity of unified purchase and marketing and restricted sales, and the farmer's market and traditional agricultural and sideline product markets were restored and developed. At that time, the steel shed market quickly penetrated into the cities and towns across the country with advantages such as simple and low-cost construction and shelter from wind and rain, fixed operation, and stable stalls without being affected by the weather every day.
Most of the existing farmer's markets can be traced back to the national "vegetable basket project" that started in 1988. The original purpose of this livelihood project was to alleviate the contradiction between tight supply of agricultural and sideline products and rapid price rises that occurred in the 1980s. "During this period, the wholesale market for production and sales of land began to integrate on a large scale and realized group operations. The circulation pattern of agricultural and sideline industries by farmers—the wholesale market of production and sales—the farmer's market—has affected the industry so far. "Zhu Can said.
But then, the farmer's market became a representative of the “dirty mess” in the process of urbanization, and in the eyes of policymakers, miniaturization, chaining, and supermarketization are considered to be more “advanced” urban non-staple food supply formats, which is a corporate behavior . Therefore, at the beginning of the 21st century, opinions on accelerating the construction of supermarkets, convenience stores, and community vegetable stations and the decision to retire the farmer's market also appeared on the desks of policy makers.
Around 2000, the Fuzhou model as a typical representative of the "agricultural reform super" has achieved some success in Fuzhou, and began to be implemented nationwide. Local governments at all levels actively lead the promotion of "agricultural reform", on the one hand, to improve the appearance of the city, and more importantly, the government hopes to use the self-discipline of chain enterprises to solve food safety problems.
"In the early days of doing 'agricultural reform,' there were probably three models-one was to transform and upgrade in situ and demolish the original farmer's market to rebuild the supermarket; the other was to build a supermarket around the farmer's market, and through market competition, The farmer's market naturally exits; there is also a direct new supermarket, which basically accounts for one-third of each. "Zhang Jingyi said.
After the "agricultural reform" went into practical operation across the country, various difficulties followed. "There are more than 800 farmers 'markets in Shanghai. We have cooperated with Shanghai Guosheng Group for almost 5 years, and we have only renovated more than 30. The first farmers' market renovated in Chongqing had more than 400 small owners at that time. Zhang Jingyi explained that the property conditions in the old farmer's market are poor and the scale is small, and the investment cost of the renovation is very high. Compared with the same area, the cost of "agricultural reform" is 20% to 30% higher than that of the new fresh supermarket.
The vigorous "agricultural reform" has entered an adjustment period after more than two years of operation. At the same time, the domestic academic circle carried out "agricultural reform" in 2003 across the country, expressing various concerns, such as how supermarkets can meet diversification like farmers' markets Demand for agricultural products; the risk of operating fresh products is high, and once the supermarket encounters risks, will it give up not operating fresh products and change to other and so on.
Transformational standardization
After causing disputes among various parties, the "agricultural reform" has been difficult in various places, and the policy has shifted to encourage a transitional "agricultural supermarket" (additional supermarkets in the farmer's market), gradually changing the business format of the farmer's market.
In 2009, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the "Notice of the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Finance on the Implementation of the Standardization Vegetable Market Demonstration Project". The standardized vegetable market has become the main form of the transformation of the country's farmer's market, and it has quickly spread across the country.
Due to the existence of various constraints, the development of the farmer's market lags significantly behind the new formats such as commercial supermarkets and community vegetable markets, and the emergence of fresh e-commerce has replaced part of the demand for the farmer's market. Is there still a need for the farmer's market?
The answer given by the data is yes. In 2019, the retail sales of fresh produce in China exceeded 2 trillion yuan. According to the data of China Merchants Securities '"Depth of Vegetable Market Industry Report" in April 2019, traditional farmers' markets are still the main channel for domestic residents to purchase fresh produce, accounting for about 73% . Supermarket channels accounted for 22%, making it the second largest channel. At present, fresh consumption is not diverted by e-commerce channels, and online channels account for about 3%.
These farmer markets, which cover residents' three meals a day in urban and rural areas, are difficult to be replaced by other formats in the short term. According to the statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of farmer's markets above 100 million yuan in 2018 totaled 1,664, and there were 853 farmer's markets operating a certain type of agricultural products alone, and the number of market stalls involved reached 469,951. .
Sheng Qiang, an associate professor at the School of Architecture and Art of Beijing Jiaotong University, has been tracking changes in the Beijing food market. Beginning with a doctoral dissertation in 2005, a carpet-like survey of the vegetable market in Beijing's Third Ring Road was conducted almost every five years. Shengqiang's most intuitive feeling is that the actual market stalls in the vegetable market are decreasing, and the market will make some adjustments spontaneously, such as the consolidation of stalls to increase the operating area, improve the environmental quality of operations, and so on.
In his opinion, regardless of the policy orientation, the demand for farmers' markets will always exist. "Whether it is suitable for a grocery market or a supermarket is determined by the objective laws of the market itself. From the perspective of architecture and planning, there is also a dimension-location, what level of traffic it is in, which is more suitable. What type of business do you do? "
In the 1950s and 1960s, some large cities in the United States also experienced the phenomenon of "desertification" of vegetable markets-government departments issued policies to restrict the development of vegetable markets, and urban vegetable markets were shut down on a large scale. Later, after researching the public space management organizations in some areas, they decided to resume the establishment of vegetable markets in urban public spaces. In the square in front of the Federal Building in Bern, Switzerland, if there is no special election activity, it will become a free market twice a week. Hawkers from all over the country and even neighboring countries will set up stalls to buy and sell products here.
Comparing foreign development experience, Ma Zengjun believes that compared to supermarkets and community food stores, farmers' markets are indeed more difficult to manage, but consumers' needs for farmers' markets cannot be ignored. In his opinion, the first problem to be solved is planning. "Because the local governments at all levels have different understandings of the vegetable market, the planning is not in place, and the reasonable density of the farmer's market needs to be determined according to the situation of the community."
In urban planning, the control index of urban public facilities is called the "thousands of people index", which is reflected in the vegetable market as how many square meters per thousand people can be allocated to the vegetable market. This indicator varies from place to place. For example, Beijing ’s food market allocation standard is 50 square meters per 1,000 people, and Shanghai ’s target is 120 square meters per 1,000 people.
The indicator is used to determine the rationality of the spatial distribution. The key issue is whether the theoretically established indicator can land. "Existing reasonable and legal commercial land is often located along city-level roads on the block boundaries. These locations have higher profit potential in today's urban economic structure, while convenient businesses such as the grocery market have lower profits and are not suitable for distribution in These areas. "Sheng Qiang told China News Weekly that it is a reasonable way to adjust the land use plan in accordance with the contemporary market rules. Otherwise, even if there is an index control, the implementation is difficult, and the forced implementation is also a waste of land resources.
Urgently need to upgrade
"China News Weekly" learned in the interview that the property rights of the farmer's market are relatively decentralized. The market management includes state-owned, private enterprises, street communities, and individuals as management. The phenomenon of "receiving light pipes" is common.
Hangzhou attaches the greatest importance to the reform of the farmer's market and is one of the earliest cities. In the opinion of Wu Gang, the chairman of Hangzhou Yihong Market Research Consulting Co., Ltd., the reform of the farmer's market is a systematic project, divided into hardware and software. The market is more or less improving hardware. The most intuitive thing is that the environment has improved. It is just that the capital investment and strength of each market are different.
"The key to deciding whether a market is going to change or not meets the needs is to look at software. For example, relying on software to achieve intelligent operations and management of food safety and fire safety issues in the market, including the establishment of ledger accounts and product traceability, etc. Wu Gang said, "The key is to do a systematic investigation and positioning of the market in the early stage, how to improve the quality of the merchant's brand, the management of the system, or the lack of restrictions on the merchant, the investment effect is not good, will affect the later effect . "
After the outbreak, Zhu Can wrote an article calling for intelligent and standardized transformation of the farmer's market. He observed that due to the special epidemic situation, farmers 'markets faced the demand for vegetable distribution, and more often used telephones, WeChat and other methods to achieve primary onlineization of offline demand, exposing the online capabilities of farmers' markets. Shortfall.
"In the internal management of the market, through the innovative application of modern technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and the Internet, the traditional farmer's market should be transformed in a smart, digital, technical, and standardized way. In the sales process, online and offline operating channels should be opened and actively developed. Online trading and logistics distribution. The new-type farmer's market should establish cooperation with e-commerce and distribution platforms to establish direct supply direct sales, online ordering, and chain distribution models. "Zhu Can suggested.
Ma Zengjun inspected Rotterdam's colorful vegetable market in the Netherlands and found that the construction and operation model of this agricultural product market, which has successfully operated in the world's metropolises, has reference significance for the construction and development of agricultural product markets in Chinese cities. The Rotterdam colorful vegetable market is a functional combination of parking lot, apartment and vegetable market. It integrates multiple formats such as tourism, leisure, shopping, and catering. Although it is an urban complex, the operating cost of the vegetable market is not high.
Ma Zengjun believes that for the farmer's market, it is more important to realize the improvement of functions and integrate with the development of the city. These iconic farmer's markets reflect the shape and customs of a city, and become a window of urban culture, such as Tsukiji in Japan, red slate in Hangzhou, and eight cities in Xiamen.
China News Week No. 7 2020
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