Archive for 'On The Road Again'

Well, not nowhere this time, but here are several (and various) produce merchants I spotted while out and about in Beijing.

Produce stalls on campus at Peking University

Beijing greengrocer

Greengrocer on two wheels

Melon delivery truck: straight from farm gate to city = very short supply chain

Supply chain value add: melon on a stick for sale in the Forbidden City

Has local produce wholesaler/ exporter Freshmax branched out into mainland China?

Whilst at Hong Kong airport, waiting to board my first ever flight into mainland China, I took the time to look around.

Things looked reassuringly normal…

This could be any plane, at any airport.

But then I noticed this industrious person.

I suppose this is one way to ensure a clear view for the pilot!

Then I noticed this guy…

Not sure I would  want to sit there for my break, given how luggage trains and the like can whiz around the tarmac.

While boarding, I noticed this.

Not that unusual to have economy separated from business class by a curtain, but I’d never seen it signposted so clearly before!

Definite class distinction going on here.

There was also nothing subtle about how the Chinese leave  a plane: the minute the plane stops after landing, the people seated at the back are out of their seats and pushing towards the exit.  No patient waiting in the aisle here.  For obvious reasons though, no photo of the exit strategy!

And by New Zealand visitor I don’t mean me!

No, having gone past the sushi and the asparagus, I came across some product from The Yummy Fruit Company:

It’s great to see our apples here, and at such a good price.  That’s Euros on that ticket, which roughly translates to NZ $6.80.  If it moves at that price, that’s got to be good news for the grower.

All good, then.

Well, no actually.

I have concerns about what I’m seeing here.

Yummy is supposedly a premium brand.  Is the size of the fruit, the shape, colour or skin markings seen in the photo above typical of a premium grade Braeburn?  I think not. 

So what gives?  I know John Paynter, founder and guardian of the brand, well enough to think that he would have concerns too.  Can New Zealand really afford to be sending subpar fruit to one of its most important markets and hope to maintain good grower returns? 

I really hope your answer is the same as mine:  NO. 

I’m still enjoying Nuremberg’s market…and the more I think about it, the more I think that such markets are using their ability to focus on seasonal and local produce as their main marketing tool, their real point of difference – which is why the sushi in the previous post really stuck in my mind.

This market has survived very nicely by serving the Nuremberg inner city dwellers with very local and seasonal produce, as illustrated below:

Fresh Franconian asparagus.  Not German asparagus, or even Bavarian asparagus – but asparagus grown in the region of Franconia in the state of Bavaria.  Nuremberg happens to be the largest city in Franconia with a population of just over 500,000 in the city itself – including the suburbs that figure rises to 1.2million. 

In contrast, the local discounters like Aldi and Lidl stock asparagus from 4-5 different regions all year round.

Which one do you find more appealing?