Xu Chuanchao always makes quick moves. At the age of 16 he was admitted to college from the rural areas of Shandong. After graduation as a mechanical manufacturing major, he then chose an optoelectronics major for his Master degree, because “a lot of things need to correlate with electronics and computers in future.” In the second year of graduate study, he took an internship at a photoelectric enterprise in Jiangsu province and participated in the formation of a new company. As an intern, he helped apply for four patents combining his professional knowledge with the company's research. Two patents have been put into operation, helping the company cut taxes and realize a substantial increase in profits. The boss was stunned by the young man and offered a high salary to retain him. But he was recommended for admission to Tsinghua University to study an optoelectronics major, and "then I decided to go to Beijing." Surprisingly, he did not go to Tsinghua University for his Doctoral degree," because I wanted to change majors." Subsequently, he was admitted to the College of Management and Economics at Tianjin University to study a Logistics Supply Chain major, and by the age of 23 had completed a lot of projects under his supervisor. In the second year of his PhD, he started his own business selling vegetables.

This diligent and smart boy could run 5,000 meters in 19 minutes. He also used this “high efficiency” to sell vegetables. With the "Internet + store" model, Xu Chuanchao founded the Jishixian brand of fresh agricultural products for supermarkets. In less than two years, he has opened 22 chain stores in downtown Tianjin. Today, the Jishixian has become the largest single chain of fresh food supermarkets, with a daily turnover of over one million yuan and more than 370 employees.

Innovation of “Farming-Supermarket Docking” Model Truly Affordable

Yantai apple, Longnan honey, Inner Mongolia potatoes, Yutian cabbage… on the Tianjin West Lake Road in Nankai District, a Jishixian supermarket, sells more than 400 kinds of agricultural and sideline products from all over the country. "This is a fresh supermarket serving ordinary people. The biggest feature is cheap prices!" Xu Chuanchao pointed to a Guangxi tangerine as an example: from the original place through to direct processing, it only costs 1.9 yuan for each catty, while at the Luojiang Road vegetable market, the same catty of tangerine costs 3.5 yuan.

Why is the price difference so big? This is the biggest secret of Xu Chuanchao's Jishixian supermarket: the “Farming-Supermarket Docking model”. In short, the “Farming-Supermarket Docking” model is to have the production base at the terminal stores, reducing the intermediate links, costs and ensuring quality. Xu Chuanchao said that an apple, in the past, had to go through six links from the originating food source to the consumers' basket: "Now by cutting the intermediate links the farmers’ income increases and ordinary consumers get value.

It sounds easy, but to ensure all this it needs a completely new set of supply chain management systems. This happened by using his doctoral major - logistics supply chain management. And what he is doing is a subversion of the industry. He is working to build a whole channel supply chain management system to realize planting visualization of “Farming-Supermarket Docking”, and ultimately through the platform of large data analysis, guiding the fine cultivation and breeding of the originating food source to achieve supply-side reform of agriculture.

When he was offered one hundred million yuan to sell his company, he declined, saying: "the establishment of agricultural products supermarket is only the first step in entrepreneurship." Xu Chuanchao has a clear plan for the future, "I really want to build a supply chain financial services platform based on the circulation of agricultural products, and then reshape the industry."

Failed Twice and Lost Millions to "Buy" Successful Experience

Xu Chuanchao saw the opportunity for a logistics industry in agricultural products as the industry pattern is uncertain, the market is large, and the competition is in disarray: "only a sub-field has not yet developed, which is fresh and cold chain logistics."

The fresh food distribution market is expected to reach the level of trillions: "from the national statistics, the next three to five years of cold chain logistics will develop at 21% growth rate." And now the Tmall supermarket, COFCO I buy net and other large E-business owners distribute fresh products through their websites, mostly for the high consumption groups, "my goal is serving ordinary people."

Then he began field trips and has traveled to dozens of agricultural product cultivation bases in seven or eight cities and provinces. In the fields, he chatted with the farmers, made deals with long-distance transport traders, asked advice from the farmers, and discussed cooperation with fruit and vegetable shop owners ...He said he "often stayed all night in the farmers market, and then the next day went to the company to have a meeting." He insisted on participating in every link in the fresh food industry to explore the problems.

Even though, he still suffered a failure. The first time, he made a car docking service platform, due to lack of experience, "only information flow, no capital flow", and a one-time investment of more than 90 million was all lost. Later, he reformed the "fresh logistics platform". "At that time the Internet business prevailed. Many entities were transforming to the O2O (online to offline) model." Xu Chuanchao wanted to build a fresh logistics platform, docking vegetable origins and community retail vendors. However, due to the lack of understanding of sales industry of agricultural products, coupled with difficulties to solve the problems of selection of agricultural products and high sorting, transport costs, the second venture failed again, and he lost more than 100 million yuan.

After losing his previously earned money and the reserve fund that his parents prepared for housing for his marriage, Xu Chuanchao "bought" valuable experience: only cash flow, logistics and information flow are guaranteed; only by improving efficiency and cutting costs, can it generate profit and bring sustainable development.

Now, Xu Chuanchao manages the chain store, picking and grading a variety of fresh food from the places of origin in the store: "first with vegetables you have to test the market, and gradually promote the fruit, grain and rice noodles, and the result is good."

Xu Chuanchao makes the "fresh food supermarket transformation" within the existing old vegetable market. The large area of the traditional vegetable market, the large variety of agricultural products and dirty shopping environment make it difficult to guarantee the quality of agricultural products and the vegetable prices. Through Internet technology and operational experience, Xu Chuanchao uses the Internet platform to upgrade the vegetable market with modern design concepts, creating a new vegetable market shopping experience, and forming "Internet + vegetable market" new community vegetable market platform. Therefore, “Internet + vegetable market” service expansion and data conversion applications can be achieved.

Currently, Xu Chuanchao has transformed the West Lake Road market. The vegetable prices, shopping environment, food safety and service have been greatly improved. Jishixian has developed rapidly, opening one more new chain store each month. “We have insisted on flat management, no middle management and, in addition, we have hired more than 300 employees, solving the local employment problem.”

Do One Thing Well for Lifetime

His parents are farmers. That Xu Chuanchao was admitted to a doctoral program was the most glorious thing at home. “My parents were really disappointed at first after hearing that I was selling vegetables,” Xu Chuanchao told a reporter. His parents expected him to find a stable and comfortable job since they have had a tough time as farmers over a lifetime. "Earning eight thousand yuan a month is quite good in their opinion." But Xu thought developing a fresh food supermarket was a different kind of feeling.

In October, 2016, Shandong Yantai red Fuji apple faced large-scale poor sales, before Jishixian pre-stored one million catties of apples in Yantai to help the local farmers get through the drought. "We directly supplied red Fuji apple from Yantai, ensuring food safety from the source."

Xu Chuanchao once went to Tianjin Jizhou District with teachers and students of the College, to help solve the problem of slow sales about Jizhou Apple. On the first day, he purchased 5 tons of unsalable apples for the Jishixian supermarket. Xu Chuanchao also found that the quality of Jizhou apple was very good, but compared to Shandong Yantai, Shanxi and other areas, apple production was still not guaranteed. Moreover, the lack of sales channels resulted in a lot of farmers abandoning farming and go to work. He suggested: "If the slow sales problem is solved, farmers are willing to stay at home and they can have better life by growing apples. Thus, it can not only achieve targeted poverty alleviation, some social problems like left-behind children, empty nest elderly can also be fundamentally resolved.”

He, together with Song Peng at Tianjin University who worked for supporting Gansu, then forged a supporting program of “agriculture and supermarket docking”. The program helped the local specialty agricultural products find modern logistics systems and sales platforms and develop a chain based on integration of production and marketing, achieving a win-win among businessmen, farmers, and customers.

He made a plan that Jishixian would create "a product for a county" support program in the future. For different geographical locations in different regions, the program was to create a suitable single product support program to achieve the visualization and traceability of agricultural products.

Xu Chuanchao feels the “Farming-Supermarket Docking” model, on the one hand has increased agricultural sales in poor areas and also helped local farmers get rid of poverty; on the other hand, it has achieved mutual benefits and win-win results, facilitating the public enjoyment of healthy, ecological, pollution-free safe produce.

"The safety and quality of food is the protection of people's livelihood. I may do this for my whole life.” Xu Chuanchao said, "If I only do this one thing, it is very meaningful to do it well."