An Ordinary Rice Lover Actually Triggered a 60-Billion-Yuan 'Rice Revolution'?
As the saying goes, food is the first necessity of the people. Different generations often have conflicting views, but when it comes to eating, they surprisingly reach a consensus. Today's rice lovers are not only keen on checking in at traditional old shops and time-honored brands, but also pursue a sense of ritual in every meal, elevating the pursuit of food quality to new heights.
Consumption upgrade winds blow into young people's kitchens
Young consumers have become the main force in today's consumer market. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2021, the 'Gen Z' group, which accounts for only 18.6% of the total population, contributed 40% of overall consumption. The consumption expenditure they drove reached 5 trillion yuan, and it is expected to grow to 16 trillion yuan by 2035. Any field favored by young consumers will give rise to a huge blue ocean market.
Catalyzed by community bloggers, a 'kitchen trend' is quietly rising. From the rise of smart rice cookers and the popularity of Bear Electric Appliances to the boom of self-heating hot pot and snail noodles, these are all products of young kitchen consumption, showing their influence. Taking rice, the 'basic single item' in the kitchen, as an example, according to the latest consumption report from the Tmall platform, high-end fresh rice priced at 10-30 yuan is growing rapidly. The number of rice consumers continues to grow, with the proportion of young groups, especially those born after 1995, expanding further. Guojin Securities Research Institute expects that by 2023, the market size for high-end rice could reach around 60 billion yuan. The meticulousness in 'eating rice' reflects young people's life philosophy of pursuing quality and self-pleasure.
A time-honored brand from the millennia-old black soil becomes a new favorite again
According to 2021 Tmall platform rice consumption data, Wuchang rice, as a representative of top geographical indication rice, is most beloved by users, with the highest consumption share, becoming the 'white moonlight' in the kitchen consumer market. Behind the popularity is the extraordinary endowment of Wuchang rice.
Unlike the two-crop-a-year rice in the south, Wuchang rice enjoys unique growing conditions formed by long geological and climatic evolution. Wuchang City is located in one of the world's three major black soil belts, with a green vegetation coverage rate of up to 70%. The cold, semi-humid unique climate prevents the complete decomposition of humus deposited by lush forests. It takes about 400 years to accumulate just one centimeter of black soil, with an organic matter content of over 10%. Among them, the Wuchang Daohuaxiang variety uses water from three rivers for irrigation and an organic planting model of duck-rice co-culture, growing only one season a year, for a full 150 days.
These unique environmental advantages give Wuchang rice an edge in taste and nutrition. According to national standards, the amylose content of high-quality japonica rice must be above 14%, while Wuchang Daohuaxiang No. 2 is about 16.6%. The cooked rice grains are plump, crystal clear and oily, with a natural sweetness when chewed, combining both taste and nutrition, winning over the picky young rice lovers and standing at the top of the rice hierarchy.
Direct supply ecological chain from origin, whole season helps rural revitalization
Along with the universally recognized reputation, the market for Wuchang rice is mixed. Ten years ago, there was even a strange phenomenon of annual production of 800,000 tons but sales of 10 million tons. Impacted by low-priced counterfeit Wuchang rice, on one hand, consumers find it hard to buy good rice at high prices; on the other hand, Wuchang rice farmers who work hard to produce good rice cannot make money. How to bring this sweetness to more tables and help the rice farmers who toil hard achieve a better life?
Huazhu Group has established a targeted assistance industrial model with the Wuchang Xinglong Xinli Village Cooperative to achieve large-scale centralized procurement of Wuchang rice. The Ji Hotel under Huazhu Group creates a Ji Ecological Farm through a direct supply ecological chain, strictly controlling quality from the source, turning the real Daohuaxiang Wuchang rice into the white congee on the Ji breakfast table, offering a soft, sticky, and sweet taste from the black soil to 40 million travelers every year.
Relying on the normalized strategic cooperation of Huazhu Group's supply chain, Wuchang rice has a stable sales chain. The advantages of source, brand effect, and stable channels have also given young people from Wuchang who have been working outside for many years new opportunities to return to their hometowns and start businesses, paving a new path to rural prosperity. In Xinli Village, which has over 700 households, dozens of Wuchang rice e-commerce businesses have emerged, and the rice farmers' lives have reached a new level.
In addition to the Wuchang rice ecological farm, the soy milk in Ji Hotel's Oriental Vitality breakfast is selected from the non-GMO soybean production area of the Beidahuang black soil, and the tea eggs are brewed with Wuyishan Zhengshan Xiaozhong black tea. Behind these seemingly simple items are careful selections. Shen Yijun, CEO of Ji Hotel, said, 'Ji advocates an Oriental aesthetic lifestyle, and the Ji breakfast is also Eastern and moderate.' From farm to table, Ji Hotel's more than 1,600 stores nationwide are committed to letting more people feel the 'taste of nature' during their journeys.
Supporting rural revitalization is a path of sustainable development and a relay for a better life. Wuchang rice and non-GMO soybeans from the black soil are now available on Ji Hotel's 'Ke Ting' shelves, allowing more people to bring this 'taste of nature' home, working together to help farmers achieve a better life and jointly pursue life's 'sweetness'.
