Surpass the post of Japanese Tao! Madou Farmers' Association supermarket has been transformed into a boutique department store, showing the charm of fresh fruits and vegetables and characteristic processing.

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Tainan Madou recently added a hot spot to punch cards. The Madou Farmers Association transformed the original store into a boutique supermarket, decorated like a department store, from fresh fruits and vegetables to home-grown pomelo flower shampoo. The products are all available. Small farmers can bring their own fruits and vegetables to the shelves in person. There are comfortable tables and chairs for rest. The flowers on the table are also from the hands of local farmers, which makes the outside world exclaim,"We have all the things we can buy, and we also have all the things we can't buy." Sun Cimin, the beautiful director-general of the Madou Agricultural Association, said confidently.

Sun Cimin, Director General of Madou Agricultural Association (Photo_Lin Yijun)

The Madou Peasant Association was famous for its Wendan, but it was also under great pressure. It had difficulties in operation.

Speaking of beans, the brain will automatically connect Wendan,"We are famous for Wendan, but also because of Wendan and pressure is not small." Sun says that this year is her third year as director-general. Having worked for the association for more than 20 years, she has served as a planning department and auditor. Unlike many associations, where the promotion department takes over as director-general, she confesses that she was scared when she took over.

Sun says that in the past, the association's financial situation was poor because of poor management, and the previous director-general had difficulty organizing additional activities because of financial constraints. At one point, farmers did not understand the association. When asked if they wanted to take over, they were afraid they would not do well, but because of their feelings for the association, they agreed.

On the first day of taking over, Sun Cimin looked at the report and the pressure also increased."The former director-general worked so hard, but the peasant association's finances were still very tight. When he took over, he must have been under more pressure than me." Looking at the report and the 77 employees of the Agricultural Association, Sun Cimin decided to take the initiative.

The area where the farmers 'association supermarket will hold activities and farmers' markets in the future (Photo_Lin Yijun)

North, cross-sea sales, local activities to attract people to Madou

"After Director General Sun took office, the activities of the Madou Farmers Association changed a lot." A member of the Madou Farmers 'Association, Yiru, says that because the director general was not from the promotion department, he went to Taiwan University to study the EMBA of the Graduate School of Education for the sake of the farmers' association. In the past two years, Madou's local and external activities have increased, and even the original local activities have added new elements, so that the whole Madou area can be seen by others.

"The former Director-General also organized local activities. I just brought everyone out." Sun Ci-min personally took the farmers 'association staff north to Banqiao and even crossed the sea to Hong Kong Food Exhibition, constantly letting the agricultural products of the Madou Farmers Association be seen.

Madou local activities in March there is a pomelo flower festival, August there is a grapefruit festival, Sun Cimin will be refined activities, to participate in the pomelo flower festival tourists to each group within 30 people, and let in each Li Wendan orchard rotation,"The premise is that the orchard should be tidied up, Now farmers will strive to hold activities, In this way farmers can also ask farmers to take good care of the orchard and reduce medicine."

Mr. and Mrs. Guo Yufei, farmers of Ma Dou, manage pomelo garden with the concept of "flower symbiosis". (Photography/Lin Peijun)

Purchase pomelo flowers to solve the production and marketing of Wendan, increase farmers 'income, and make Wendan trees grow better

Sun also wants to improve the annual production and marketing of Wendan. There are more than 2,000 hectares of cultivated land in the Madou area, nearly half of which are planted with Wendan. Sun says that Wendan sales are concentrated on the eve of the Mid-Autumn Festival every year, but they often encounter problems such as climate effects and large fruits. This year, he decided to respond early and purchase new Wendan pomelo flowers to make processed products, thus completely solving the problem of large fruits.

Wendan under 8 years old is called Xinyu. The large fruit pulp fiber grown is thicker and is not favored by consumers. Moreover, the price is very different from that of old Wendan, so it can only be collected for processing. Last year, the Sesame Bean Farmers Association purchased one million catties of large fruit Wendan, accounting for about 20% of the annual output of Sesame Bean producing areas, but the processing is quite labor-intensive, from peeling to cutting pulp is manual, and in a short period of time to purchase a large number, must make room for refrigeration, as soon as possible processing, time pressure is very high.

Sun Cimin believes that the inflow of new fruit into the market will lower the price of Wendan, not only to the bean has an impact, but also other areas of Wendan will be affected, and the best way to reduce the big fruit is to directly buy new pomelo flowers, so that no fruit will be produced, and farmers have income, but also can save the cost of fruit care, Wendan tree will be well maintained.

The first cabinet in the supermarket is Wendan pomelo processed products (Photo_Lin Yijun)

Develop processed products such as pomelo black tea and cosmetics. Farmers 'associations will not rob farmers' business and help farmers increase their income.

Last year, the Madou Farmers 'Association tried to use the new pomelo flowers provided by farmers to cooperate with the Yuchi Township Farmers' Association to make a new product pomelo flower black tea. Sun Cimin said that the sales of pomelo flower black tea last year was good. If we can continue to develop high value-added processed products from pomelo flowers, we can improve farmers 'willingness to purchase. This year, cosmetics, facial masks and other maintenance products will be developed.

At present, the purchase price of pomelo flowers is set at 200 yuan per kilogram. Sun Cimin said that at present, meetings have been held with each production and marketing team leader. The purchase demand is for the new pomelo flowers with no pesticide in the complete area. The bud is not fully opened. If there are petals, the price will be higher. Pesticide residue inspection will be done after purchase. All bean Wendan fruit farmers are welcome to register.

"The peasants sell the old fruits, and the peasant associations properly handle the secondary fruits. This is the positive cycle." Sun Cimin said that most farmers of Madou Wendan have their own sales channels, and farmers 'associations will not compete with farmers for business. What farmers' associations can do is to reduce the flow of big fruits into the market, make the price of Wendan good, and convert secondary fruits into farmers 'income.

The adjusted Wendan gift box has a smaller size and a variety of flavors and items (Photo_Lin Yijun)

Not only Wendan farmers, but also other large and small farmers

In addition to Wendan, there are still other crops in the Madou area."There are many farmers in Wendan, but other farmers should also be taken care of." Sun Cimin pointed to the cutting yard and the collection yard opposite the farmers 'association, saying that the farmers who grow other agricultural products in the soybean area can be purchased by the farmers' association, and the farmers 'association will have its own cutting yard to handle and deliver the school nutrition lunch and the group meal of the coast guard bureau. "We will also handle meat with production and marketing records."

As for the small farmers, Sun Cimin also did not neglect, Madou farmers association supermarket opened on January 18 this year with a brand-new attitude, farmers association heavy capital, from the overall color, visual layout and display redesign, to create a new farmers association supermarket,"supermarket is to give young farmers and small farmers as a sales platform, so must be very eye-catching."

Sun Cimin recalled that in the past, most of the farmers 'association supermarkets came to purchase people's livelihood articles, but the sales speed was limited, and at present the new main visual exhibition after-sales, expanded a batch of new customers,"holiday tourists will always come in to buy gifts." Sun Ci-min says that there is a parking lot outside the farmers 'association supermarket, which is quite convenient for tourists and can also increase their stay time.

Madou Supermarket has comfortable and beautiful decoration (Photography/Xia Ruihong)

Farmers Association supermarket beautification, no shelf fees only to take care of small farmers in Tainan

The first thing you see when you walk into the supermarket is dried fruit, fruit slices, shampoo and shower gel made from Wendan pomelo, while the first cabinet is processed products from farmers 'associations and farmers in Tainan districts."The best position should be reserved for Ma Dou and Tainan farmers first." In order to facilitate tourists to carry, all accompanying gifts after packaging, but also the weight and volume will be reduced, so that people can buy a variety of flavors in a bag.

The next few cabinets are filled with processed products from farmers 'associations and farmers in other areas, such as sake from the Wufeng Farmers' Association in Taichung, peanut oil from the Huwei Farmers 'Association in Yunlin, red beans from the Meinung Farmers' Association, and honey black tea from the Mizuho Farmers 'Association in Hualien. Almost all processed products are personally selected by Sun Ci-min."For tourists, you can buy products from other places when you come to Ma Dou," she says."For other farmers' associations, there is also an extra place to sell them."

Moving to the fresh and frozen area, you can see the meat of Ryukyu and Donggang Fishery Association in the refrigerator, and the whole row of vegetables in the large fresh area. The big sign reads "Rural Community Shop", and there is also a sign beside it, which reads the names of all producers, farms and agricultural products."Locals and tourists like it very much. Housewives who have met Shanhua drive to buy it."

Fresh area of Madou Farmers Association Fresh Supermarket, rural community shop (Photo_Lin Yijun)

Sun Cimin pointed to the vegetables displayed on the shelves, explaining that the cooperative farmers are small farmers on the ground, who will personally put them on the shelves in addition to delivering goods, and the role of the peasant association is to assist in consignment sales."Farmers are free to set prices and put them on the shelves. We only charge 10% as electricity and personnel costs, not shelf fees." She says that small farmers have higher production costs and limited sales channels, and farmers associations provide sales locations, so small farmers don't have to go to Taipei to catch up with the market.

On the other side of the fresh food area, there are also production and marketing resume areas and green farmers 'areas."There used to be sales, but after the zoning marks, consumers are more clear, and more people buy!" Sun Cimin said that at the opening, he bought some processed products from Qingnong. Qingnong thought it would be a hot sale only for display, and the production and marketing resume area also drove the products of other peasant associations.

Not only agricultural products, but also daily necessities can be bought. In the future, there will be cooking classes and holiday markets.

In addition to the display and sale of agricultural products, Madou Farmers Association Fresh Supermarket can also buy other livelihood products, such as toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc., and even pet food."Although it is a farmers association supermarket, it must have the appearance of a supermarket!" Sun Ci-min explains that farmers 'association supermarkets must also have a business mentality, so that people can buy enough at once, in order to increase the rate of return visits.

"We still have tables, chairs, and toilets to rest on." Sun Ci-min says that the more complete the functions of a farmers 'association supermarket, the more comfortable visitors will feel. Moreover, ordinary supermarkets also have basic household items. The agricultural products and small-scale vegetables sold by farmers' associations are more convincing than any supermarket, and they can also demonstrate the value of farmers 'associations.

Madou Farmers Association Supermarket has spacious space and can rest (Photography/Xia Ruihong)

The tables and chairs in the supermarket can be used for rest. Every flower on the table is also produced by the hands of farmers. The two islands next to the checkout counter also have functions. After Sun Cimin's plan, the supermarket will also handle various cooking activities. The island in the supermarket will be used as a teaching area to teach various agricultural products in the supermarket and tell visitors how to use them on the spot.

Not only does the store space make the most efficient use, Sun Cimin said that the outdoor space has also been sorted out, and do a good back layout, next is expected to let local small farmers in the holiday to set up the market,"supermarket has refrigerator, can give farmers ice vegetables." She explained that the cold storage space in supermarkets could solve the problem of preserving vegetables in the market. Once the crowd flow was sufficient, preparations would begin.

Madou Farmers Association Fresh Supermarket Nakajima and Blackboard (Photo_Lin Yijun)

Continue to cooperate with other agricultural associations in the future

The farmers 'association supermarket has only been open for less than two months, and sales are quite good. In addition to the previous two years, Sun Ci-min said that the current financial situation of the Madou farmers' association has become healthy and can do more to support farmers. "If it weren't for the pneumonia, our performance would have been better." Sun says that in addition to assisting in sales, farmers 'associations have also helped farmers secure environmentally friendly and cheaper fertilizers, which they sell at near cost prices, helping farmers reduce production costs.

In the near future, the Ma Dou Farmers Association will also cooperate with other farmers 'associations. Sun Ci-min said that the strengths and characteristics of farmers' associations in different regions are different. They communicate and cooperate with each other, which also makes the customer base larger. For pomelo black tea, it is equivalent to taking care of farmers in Ma Dou and fish pond at the same time. Cross-regional cooperation will be the future business trend.