How Mayang Blue Phoenix Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. seeks global expansion with agricultural products
Omnimedia reporters: Zhang Zhuo, Wu Tao, Huaihua Daily
Amid the morning mist, the automatic production line of Mayang Blue Phoenix Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Blue Phoenix”) is in operation. Eggs stamped with “Phoenix” are loaded onto vehicles. They will be exported to Hong Kong through the model of “combined shipment of fruits and vegetables + centralized declaration”.
Blue Phoenix is an agricultural development complex integrating laying hen farming, mountain land development, flower and seedling cultivation, specialty fruit production, organic fertilizer processing, and agricultural product distribution. Its products sell well worldwide, becoming breakout stars in the international market.
In the first quarter of this year, Blue Phoenix exported poultry eggs worth RMB17,871,000, a year-on-year increase of 18.7 times, which were stably supplied to Hong Kong on a daily basis.
(Lei Huaying, head of Mayang Blue Phoenix Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., introduces the automatic production line for laying hens to reporters from central and provincial media outlets.)
Setting a new benchmark for the agricultural industry with technology
In 2013, encouraged by national policies in support of agricultural development, Lei Huaying resolutely took out a loan and invested all her savings over the years into agricultural business. She founded Mayang Blue Phoenix Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. in her hometown Mayang.
The first few years have been difficult. The company lacked funds and technology and met challenges in market development. Lei Huaying, with an indomitable will, visited numerous experts to learn advanced agricultural technology and management practices, gradually finding the way forward.
Lei Huaying knew that to gain a foothold in the highly competitive agricultural market, she had to rely on technology. In its early days, the company almost came to a dead end due to massive flooding.
(Native eggs are shipped from Mayang Blue Phoenix and served to international consumers.)
“This was a heavy blow. My dreams were shattered all of a sudden,” Lei Huaying recalled.
However, this disaster also made Lei Huaying determined to make changes. She began to introduce more advanced technologies. The company engaged German
experts and took the lead in establishing an organic fertilizer factory to improve the breeding environment and ensure product quality from the source.
The company also actively established close partnerships with Hunan Agricultural University, Nanjing Agricultural University and other institutions of higher learning, maintained technical exchanges with industry leaders such as CP Group and Haid Group, and continuously promoted the innovation of breeding technology.
After years of hard work, Mayang Blue Phoenix Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. has built a standardized farm with 900,000 laying hens and introduced a complete set of automatic production lines from Germany for laying hens. The company has 90,000 broiler chickens and 500,000 laying hens on hand that produce 500,000 eggs daily and 12,000 tons of eggs annually. It is the only large-scale laying hen breeding and production enterprise in Huaihua City. The company has liberated over 28,000 people in Mayang Miao Autonomous County from poverty and paid RMB13 million in wages and RMB18.6 million in dividends to migrant workers.
In addition to laying hen breeding, the company has also developed mountain areas of 1200 mu (80 hectares), built sugar orange bases of 100,000 mu (6,666.67 hectares) and vegetable bases of 5,000 mu (333.33 hectares), planted 200 mu (13.33 hectares) of red kiwi and 300 mu (20 hectares) of flowers and seedlings, and established processing workshops with an output of 300,000 tons of specialty fruits and 300,000 tons of vegetables, forming an agricultural development complex integrating laying hen farming, specialty fruit production, organic fertilizer processing, agricultural product distribution, foreign trade, and agricultural tourism.
The “Blue Phoenix” and “Mama Liang” eggs have been recognized as famous trademarks in Hunan Province. Eggs, kiwi fruit, and sugar oranges have won the gold medal at the Central China (Hunan) Agriculture Expo. The product quality has been highly recognized by the market.
Expanding the market and introducing Mayang agricultural products to the world
Huaihua is the only intersection of the new western land-sea corridor and the great international land-sea trade corridor that connects the Indian Ocean in central China. Its international land port maintains smooth internal connection and externally connects to various countries and regions, including ASEAN, Europe and America.
(Mayang sugar oranges go global. They are first shipped to Canada.
Photos by: Zhang Zhuo, omnimedia reporter from Huaihua Daily)
In recent years, Huaihua International Land Port has brought about earthshaking changes to the city, and Lei Huaying turned her attention to the broader international market despite the achievements in the domestic market.
“Can we use the channels to promote high-quality agricultural products from our hometown to overseas markets?” Lei Huaying pondered.
On August 26, 2022, the first train loaded with Mayang agricultural products departed from Huaihua International Land Port under the supervision of Huaihua Customs. This China-Laos freight train linking Huaihua and Vientiane was loaded with selenium-rich mountain water and electronic products.
This is the first time for Blue Phoenix to ship the Mayang selenium-rich mountain water to Laos and marks the beginning of the global journey of Mayang agricultural products.
With this successful export experience and business acumen, Blue Phoenix paid its attention to the Hong Kong market. “Hunan is a major supplier of vegetables to Hong Kong. The high-quality Mayang vegetables and fruits are expected to sell well.”
However, the company faced many challenges. It was unfamiliar with the local conditions, and the local people took no interest in its products. Lei Huaying and the employees did not give up. They visited customers one by one, patiently introducing the high-quality agricultural products from Mayang and Mayang’s unique geographical advantages. Located at 27 degrees north latitude, the county is climatically a zone of microbial fermentation, selenium-rich soil, and plants high in linolenic acid. It is also known as a “World Longevity County”.
Staff members from Huaihua Customs and commerce and taxation authorities visited the company with preferential policies, customs declaration procedures and other materials, to make a detailed introduction of the export process. “Previously, I knew nothing about import and export business. The staff members of relevant authorities gave step-by-step directions and organized study tours, so as to connect us with the international market. The local government and authorities offered strong support, and the warm and enthusiastic local people boosted my confidence,” said Lei Huaying.
In June 2023, 90,000 eggs with a value of RMB66,000 produced by Mayang Blue Phoenix Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. were exported to Hong Kong after passing the quarantine inspection by Huaihua Customs. For the first time, Huaihua eggs were introduced to the Hong Kong market.
Lei Huaying finally won over the customers with her persistence and hard work and found inroad into the Hong Kong market. The fresh, high-quality eggs of Blue Phoenix quickly gained market recognition. At present, two-thirds of the 500,000 eggs produced by the company’s factory every day are shipped to Hong Kong.
“The eggs produced in Mayang today will be available in major fresh supermarkets and farmers’ markets in Hong Kong tomorrow morning.” Lei Huaying said that native eggs sell well in countries and regions such as Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao, Southeast Asia, and Canada. Blue Phoenix has extended its reach beyond the mountainous area.
Tapping the international market and introducing more agricultural products to the world
After its inroad into the Hong Kong market, Blue Phoenix further explored international markets. Its agricultural products have been exported to Russia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.
On the morning of June 14, 2024, the first batch of fresh fruits and vegetables were released by Huaihua Customs and exported to Hong Kong through the model of “combined shipment of fruits and vegetables + centralized declaration”. The fruits and vegetables were shipped by dual-licensed cold-chain trucks from Mayang Blue Phoenix Agricultural Development Co., Ltd., marking an improvement in the speed and quality of supply of fresh agricultural products from Mayang to Hong Kong.
On November 25, 2024, the international freight trains loaded with 120 tons of sugar oranges produced by Mayang Blue Phoenix Modern Agriculture Co., Ltd. departed. Specifically, 41.5 tons of sugar oranges were sold to Hong Kong, Canada, and other regions and countries after inspection and supervision by Huaihua Customs.
On April 19, 10.5 tons of sugar oranges produced by Mayang Blue Phoenix Agricultural Development Co., Ltd. were released after passing the inspection of Huaihua Customs and shipped to Malaysia. This is the first time that Mayang sugar oranges have entered the Malaysian market.
Relying on the advantages of Huaihua International Land Port, Blue Phoenix has sold more and more agricultural products such as sugar oranges and vegetables to countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Thailand, which are very popular with local consumers.
“Thanks to the international land port, our export value reached RMB1.26 billion last year. At the beginning of this year, we formulated a plan to achieve an export volume of 100,000 tons of sugar oranges and increase the export value to RMB2 billion,” said Lei Huaying with confidence.
The export value of agricultural products increased from over RMB100,000 to over RMB300 million in 2022, doubled in 2023 to RMB600 million, and reached RMB1.26 billion in 2024. Mayang Blue Phoenix has achieved new headway in export. The company has helped agricultural enterprises in the whole county and the whole city to go global and enter international markets.
(Translated by Professor Yu Jie)