A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

The alliance was something Li Chao started preparing three months ago.

The lesson learned from being besieged by acquirers last year was too profound.

Going it alone, you can never beat a coalition of capital.

He first contacted Old Wang in Changji, who also grew apples and had been driven to despair by price gouging last year.

"Old Wang, let's join forces."

You grow your Changji Fragrant Grass, I grow my Shihezi Red Grass; both meet quality standards, have standardized packaging design, and uniformly set prices.

When buyers try to lower the price, we have only one answer: We're not selling.

Old Wang hesitated: "But what if they really refuse to accept it?"

"If they won't buy it, we'll sell it ourselves."

Li Chao had already planned it out: "Online e-commerce, live streaming sales, directly to consumers."

With fewer middlemen, profits are higher.

Next up was Old Ma from Tacheng, and Old Liu from Altay…

After negotiating with each of them, we found six cooperatives with a total of 800 mu of organic apple orchards, producing 400 tons of apples annually.

On the day the alliance was formed, the six men roasted a sheep on the Gobi Desert, drank tea instead of wine, and made their pact:

"Those who do not meet the quality standards will not be allowed to join the alliance."

Prices are not uniform, and the products are not sold to the public.

We do not share channels, and we do not harbor any selfish motives.

Buyers pressured for lower prices, so they joined forces.

Now, this covenant has come in handy.

Boss Zhao looked at the alliance group on Lao Yang's phone; the group was displaying real-time price quotes.

"Changji Lao Wang: Today's shipment is 2 tons, at a unit price of 15 yuan/kg, to a supermarket in Shanghai."

"Tacheng Lao Ma: Shipped 1.5 tons at a unit price of 15 yuan. Customer: Guangzhou Fruit Chain."

"Old Liu from Altay: Shipped 3 tons at a unit price of 15 yuan. Customer: Hangzhou e-commerce platform."

Every single one was fifteen yuan, not a penny less.

"You...you really dare..." Boss Zhao was so angry that his hands trembled.

"We dare to do it because our apples are worth the price."

Li Chao calmly said, "Boss Zhao, if you want to take it, it'll be fifteen yuan."

"No, please take it or leave it."

With offline channels stabilized, the online battlefield has only just begun.

Li Chao is trying his hand at live-streaming e-commerce.

Hello everyone.

This is the Gobi Desert in Xinjiang. The place where I am standing now is the orchard of Shihezi Red Organic Apples.

Look, these apples are all naturally grown, without chemical fertilizers or pesticides...

The comment section was initially quiet.

"Really?"

Does it have organic certification?

"How much does it cost?"

Li Chao quickly held up the organic certification certificate to the camera: "This is a nationally certified organic certificate. You can scan the QR code to check its authenticity."

Then, he picked an apple on the spot, cut it open, and measured it with a saccharimeter: "Look, the saccharimeter is 21.8."

Let me try a bite... Mmm, crisp, sweet, and juicy.

Real-world testing is the most convincing.

The comment section is becoming active:

"Looks good!"

"How do I buy it?"

"Is shipping free?"

Li Chao seized the opportunity and began to tell a story: "Family members, these apple trees suffered from frost damage of minus forty degrees Celsius three years ago and almost all of them perished."

We saved them one by one.

That's why their fruit is especially sweet, because they grow in adversity...

After the story was finished, the comment section exploded:

"I'm moved to tears."

"I'll take a case, please."

"Buy a case for Grandpa and Grandma."

Three hundred boxes were sold in two hours of live streaming.

Although the quantity was small, it was of great significance—for the first time, apples went directly from orchards in the Gobi Desert to consumers thousands of kilometers away.

After three live streams, word of mouth gradually spread.

During the fourth live stream, a special comment appeared in the comments section:

"We are purchasing agents from Beijing Hualian Supermarket and would like to discuss cooperation with you. Please send us your contact information via private message."

Li Chao thought it was a scam and ignored it.

The next day, I actually received a call.

"Hello Mr. Li, I am from the fresh produce purchasing department of Beijing Hualian Supermarket."

A capable female voice came from the other end of the phone: "We saw your apples on a live streaming platform and are very interested. We'd like to ask if you could send us some samples?"

If the quality meets our standards, we can sign an annual procurement agreement.

Li Chao was stunned.

It used to be fruit farmers begging supermarkets to buy their produce, but now it's the other way around?

"sure!"

He quickly said, "How many samples do you want? Send me your address, and I can ship them out today."

Three days after the sample was sent, I received another call.

"Boss Li, we received the samples. We tasted them and tested them."

The purchasing manager sounded very satisfied, saying, "The quality fully meets the standards."

We'd like to order five tons first, as a trial sale.

"The price... let's go with the price in your live stream, twenty-five yuan per kilogram, how about that?"

Twenty-five yuan!

It's ten yuan higher than the alliance's unified purchase price!

"Sure! Of course!" Li Chao was so excited he almost stammered.

After hanging up the phone, he did the math: five tons of apples at 25 yuan per kilogram would cost 125,000 yuan. After deducting packaging and logistics costs, the net profit would reach 80,000 yuan.

And this was just a trial order from one supermarket.

For the next week, Li Chao's phone was ringing off the hook.

Supermarkets across the country, including Shanghai Lianhua, Guangzhou ParknShop, and Hangzhou Wumart, have proactively contacted us for procurement.

One airline even ordered apples as in-flight dessert.

"Officer Li, our apples... are a hit." Xiao Zhang looked at the warehouse full of orders.

"It's not that Apple is popular."

Looking at the bright red fruit, Li Chao said softly, "It's the quality that's made it popular, it's the story that's made it popular, it's the perseverance that's made it popular."

Apple sales peak in early November.

Boss Zhao came again, this time alone, without his car.

"Boss Li, shall we have a chat?" He adopted a very humble attitude.

"Please speak, Mr. Zhao."

"What happened before was my fault."

For the first time, Boss Zhao conceded, "Okay, I'll buy fifty tons at your alliance's price of fifteen yuan per kilogram. Cash on delivery."

Fifty tons, that's a big order.

But Li Chao shook his head: "Boss Zhao, I'm sorry. Our Apple products are no longer sold through distributors."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that we have our own channels."

Li Chao opened his phone and showed him the order system: "Supermarket direct procurement, e-commerce retail, corporate group purchases... the profits from these channels are much higher than those from resellers."

Moreover, there are no middlemen to drive down prices.

Boss Zhao's face turned ashen.

Before leaving, Boss Zhao turned back and said, "Boss Li, you win."

But let me remind you, the market is constantly changing.

You have an advantage today, but not necessarily tomorrow.

"I know.

So what we need to do is not just win once, but keep winning.

Watching Boss Zhao's car drive away, Li Chao turned and went back to the warehouse.

Workers are packing boxes of "Shihezi Red" liquor, ready to be shipped to destinations across the country.

Old Man Abudu came over and handed him an apple: "Cadre Li, have a taste. This year's fruit is especially sweet."

Li Chao said, "Next year, we will expand our scale."

"Let more farmers join in, and let them grow more apples."

"Still planting?" Abudu laughed. "Aren't you worried about not being able to sell them?"

"I'm not afraid." Li Chao looked into the distance. "Good apples will always be in demand."