Chapter 463 - 212: Special Excellent Level (Part 2)

Chapter 463: Chapter 212: Special Excellent Level (Part 2)

Jiang Miao asked Li Zixuan, "Zixuan, what price did the market research department set for these oysters?"

Li Zixuan quickly checked the memo on his phone before looking up to reply, "Boss, it’s 100 yuan per kilogram."

"100 yuan? That’s decent. By the way, do these oysters have a name?"

Li Zixuan glanced at his phone. "They’re just called Shanmei Special Excellent Level Oysters."

Jiang Miao shook his head. "Too generic. Besides, the Shanmei region is too broad. We can’t use that name."

He thought for a moment, then instructed, "Relay this to the market research department: change the product name to Salt Town Oysters and add the ’Special Excellent Level’ label."

"Got it, Boss." Li Zixuan quickly noted it down in his phone’s memo.

For such high-end oysters, a regional brand was a must. If they used "Shanmei Oysters," then farmers in other parts of Shanmei could also claim their oysters were "Shanmei Oysters." After all, you can’t patent or trademark a city-level geographical name.

Jiang Miao remembered something else. "Yonggong, when you have a moment in the next few days, go find your village committee and have them set up an oyster farming cooperative."

Although Lin Yonggong was very happy inside, ’The boss really does care about the local villagers,’ he still felt the need to caution, "Boss, our technical requirements are very high. The average villager can’t afford the cost of farming like this."

"That’s why I want them to form a cooperative. We’ll standardize the planning for the oyster ponds, and the company will help them purchase and build a seawater purification station. With that, plus the special feed our company sells, they’ll be able to raise high-quality oysters. Since I’m using the Salt Town name, the local villagers should be part of it."

"No problem. I’m sure the village committee will cooperate fully." Lin Yonggong smiled and nodded.

Jiang Miao was also considering it from a management perspective. Plus, there weren’t many fishponds left to rent in the area. To expand production, he had to bring the neighboring villagers into the fold.

As for the neighboring Chenzhou Village, their oyster farming operation was massive. The aquatic farming area covered 12 square kilometers, about 18,000 mu, with a staggering annual output of 18,000 tons.

This clearly showed that Chenzhou Village’s oyster farming techniques were quite backward. An 18,000-mu farming area produced only 18,000 tons annually, for an average yield of about 1,000 kilograms per mu.

With Hailufeng Company’s technology, that same 18,000-mu area could produce approximately 360,000 tons of oysters annually, even when starting from spat, which requires a 9 to 11-month growth cycle.

It was a complete technological domination.

Moreover, the Salt Town Oysters were high-standard, sashimi-grade quality.

Although both used the same species of oyster, the differences in farming techniques and conditions resulted in a world of difference in their value.

However, that production capacity was definitely excessive.

Jiang Miao wouldn’t allow farming on such a massive scale. After all, at 100 yuan per kilogram, Salt Town Oysters were a premium-priced product.

The 100 mu of oyster ponds at the Salt Town Farm, combined with the over 1,000 mu from Salt Town Village, could produce an average of 24,000 tons of oysters annually. That’s 24 million kilograms, which would be enough to satisfy the demand from domestic oyster lovers.

After all, not everyone is comfortable eating raw oysters.

If they expanded production too much, it would easily lead to a surplus, and their gains wouldn’t be worth the losses.

But besides Salt Town Oysters, the Salt Town Farm had other aquatic products.

For instance, the South American whiteleg shrimp that Jiang Miao was currently inspecting.

And not far off, there were Chinese mitten crabs (hairy crabs), Luo’s Shrimp, mud crabs, and Shiba shrimp.

Farmed under such high standards, the quality of all these aquatic products was superb, each of them falling into the Special Excellent Level category.

Back in Jiang Miao’s hometown of Xinxiang, a prawn farming cooperative had recently been formed specifically to raise whiteleg shrimp for Hailufeng Company.

This was part of the "One Village, One Product" initiative that Hailufeng Company was promoting.

The situation in Chenzhou Village, however, was more complicated. Many farmers were unwilling to change their traditional farming methods, and there were significant internal disagreements.

Therefore, Jiang Miao didn’t force the issue, choosing instead to first focus on implementing the "One Village, One Product" initiative in the three locations of Salt Town Village, Xinxiang, and Langqing Village.

Salt Town Village would farm Salt Town Oysters, Langqing Village would farm mud crabs, and Xinxiang would farm whiteleg shrimp. Each of these villages had a farming area of around a thousand mu or more.

Jiang Miao looked at the lively whiteleg shrimp squirming in the net. According to the data on his appraisal panel, their quality was excellent.

Because the water quality and feed were strictly controlled, their internal accumulation of heavy metals was minimal—less than one percent of that found in ordinary whiteleg shrimp.

Even in parts like the hepatopancreas in the shrimp’s head, the heavy metal content was extremely low. For diners who love to eat the rich tomalley, this was nothing short of a godsend.

Jiang Miao poured the squirming whiteleg shrimp from the net back into the pond. He thought to himself, ’I have to speed up the rollout of the "One Village, One Product" plan. Only through large-scale farming, centralized water treatment, and custom special feed can we guarantee the quality of our aquatic products.’

Small, independent farmers would find it very difficult to control water quality. Even with the special feed provided by Hailufeng Company, they couldn’t guarantee product quality one hundred percent.

After all, small farmers have limited capital. Asking them to invest several million yuan in a seawater purification system was obviously asking the impossible. Even if they had the money, it would be a very difficult decision to make.

Moreover, small farmers had another fatal weakness: they lacked the ability to build a brand and could only rely on local word-of-mouth. In such a situation, they would face a serious case of bad money driving out good.