In Gaoshan Village, Wenjiang District, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, coffee and garlic, two seemingly unrelated things, have a wonderful chemical reaction, bringing the ordinary Gaoshan village into the public eye and bringing waves of people. The story of a group of young people and a mountain village slowly unfolds in the coffee-scented coffee.
Garlic vs. coffee? An amazing adventure for the taste buds
Garlic, a common condiment in every household, tickles our taste buds with its unique spicy flavor. Coffee, as a common companion of urban life, has become the choice of many migrant workers due to its mellow taste.
Δ The picture shows the inside of the "Garlic Coffee" store.
When spicy meets mellow, what kind of taste will this seemingly unreasonable combination collide with?
"Garlic coffee sounds strange, but not only does it not have the spicy taste of garlic, but it also smells like garlic, which is quite unique." Ms. Li, a customer who came to check in, commented. When garlic and coffee are skillfully combined, they not only do not produce the weird taste that everyone imagined, but they have a unique flavor.
It turns out that the "garlic" in garlic coffee is not fresh garlic slices, but garlic liquid extracted through a desulfurization process. When the sulfide is removed, the garlic retains its unique aroma and delicately removes the pungent taste that it may bring. Once the coffee is ready, the barista will sprinkle a thin layer of minced garlic on the surface as a garnish, so that a cup of garlic coffee with a hint of garlic aroma is complete.
Where did the "wonderful idea" of garlic coffee come from? This brings us to the story of the countryside and a group of young people.
In Gaoshan Village, there is a simple and modern style courtyard, with unique shingle walls and transparent floor-to-ceiling windows, which attract many people. This is a community of exemplary youth, a community of young people who love rural life. It's a place where they start their own businesses, make friends, and explore new beginnings that suit them.
Zhou Zhou is the brand manager of the Model Youth Community, and she has been engaged in rural operations for 5 years, hoping to promote the local culture. "Wenjiang's local culture is agriculture, and red Qixing garlic is a representative agricultural product of Gaoshan Village, and we were inspired by creative products such as green pepper coffee and Sichuan pepper ice cream that are circulating in the market, so we decided to integrate garlic into coffee to create a representative brand belonging to Gaoshan Village."
Since the opening of Garlic Cafe in October 2023, nearly 20,000 cups of garlic coffee have been sold, and more than 11,000 customers have been received, of which more than 70% are young consumers. At present, garlic coffee is the best in all the projects run by the Role Model Youth Community.
Nowadays, garlic has become a fast-moving consumer in urban consumption from a condiment iteration, and "garlic coffee" has become a beautiful "business card" of Gaoshan Village, and the enthusiasm of Gaoshan Village villagers for planting garlic has also improved. Local garlic growers have expanded their planting area by about 30%, and the price of garlic has risen from about 7 yuan per catty to 9 yuan.
When young people meet Alpine Village, it's a two-way street
The exemplary youth community where the Garlic Café is located was renovated from the site of an unused village council. In 2020, Mitsui Village and the original Gaoshan Village were merged, and in order to revitalize the idle land resources of the Mitsui Village Committee, Gaoshan Village invited Qincheng Cultural Tourism and the village collective to jointly establish Model Youth Technology Co., Ltd.
Δ Diagram shows a party being held in the role model youth community.
"At first, the secretary approached us and invited us to visit Gaoshan Village, hoping to build a youth community in Gaoshan Village to attract young people to return to their hometowns and start businesses." Zhou Zhou told reporters that Gaoshan Village is located in the hinterland of Chengdu Agricultural High District, with convenient transportation, and Yan Zeju, Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of the Village Committee of Gaoshan Village, attaches great importance to young people, so Zhou Zhou and his team decided to stay.
It is understood that the model youth community is positioned as a "youth innovation space", with the purpose of empowering agricultural products and promoting the development of alpine villages, and requires young people who start businesses here to have personal projects and operational capabilities. Here, young people join the "Township Innovation Residency Program" and participate in the construction of Gaoshan Village as new villagers, while the community and youth grow together based on the principle of "co-construction, co-creation and sharing".
It is not uncommon for young people to start a business, but it seems a bit "alternative" to entrepreneurship in the countryside. So why are these young people willing to choose to return to the countryside to start their own businesses? How did Takayama Village get their favor?
The love of the countryside is one of the main reasons why young managers stay away from the bustling city. Ye Qiu is the first batch of managers of the Role Model Youth Community, and she is also the owner of Garlic Coffee. In the past, Ye Qiu was a wedding photographer, and like most young people, she lived a life of three points and one line every day, shuttling between her home, studio and shooting scene, repeating similar workflows day after day.
But this fast-paced, high-intensity lifestyle makes Ye Qiu, who likes freedom, feel constrained, "Photography is still relatively reproducible, I don't like the life of three points and one line, I still prefer to go out." After quitting his job, he went camping, learned how to make coffee, and went into the countryside. I think the countryside is more of a way to slow down, calm down, and do what you want to do. So, after accepting the invitation of the manager Zhou Zhou in October last year, he did not hesitate to come to Gaoshan Village.
In addition to loving rural life, the support of Yan Zeju of the two village committees is also a big reason for young people to choose Gaoshan Village. "In the process of communicating with the secretary, we found that she values and respects young people very much, so this is an important reason why we set up this community." Zhou Zhou said that in Yan Zeju's view, if the countryside wants to develop, it must have young talents. These young entrepreneurs have brought vitality and vitality to the village, "They have also brought some new ideas to increase the sales channels of agricultural products." For example, we are taught that large seed farmers and cooperatives sell agricultural products through Xiaohongshu. ”
It is understood that Gaoshan Village collectively used more than 700 yuan of subsidy funds from the higher level and the former site of the Mitsui Village Village Committee to invest in Model Youth Technology Co., Ltd., accounting for 30% of the shares. The income generated by the model youth community will be included in the village collective economy in the form of guaranteed minimum plus dividends. In the first two years of cooperation, the village collective can obtain an annual guaranteed income of 100,000 yuan, and dividends will be distributed according to the proportion of 30%; Two years later, the guaranteed income was increased to 150,000 yuan per year, and the dividend ratio was increased to 35%. In this way, the agricultural products are more widely marketed, the villagers have received more benefits, and the road to development is also better.
Here, garlic coffee is no longer just a drink, and the community of exemplary youth is no longer just a house, but a link between the city and the countryside.
What sparks do young people spark when they meet?
In order to make Wenjiang's agricultural products go further, the role model youth community launched a "trunk coffee" with social attributes. After that, Ye Qiu will take the trunk of coffee to Dali, Yunnan, so that Wenjiang's special agricultural products can go out of Sichuan.
On the way to development and growth, garlic coffee has also brought a "new wind", attracting more young people like Ye Qiu to choose to return to the village to start a business. Among the 45 model youth community managers, there are Wang Jing, a "farm expert", Nanshan, a "rural photographer", and An An, a "self-media clothing person", although they have different experiences and backgrounds, they are willing to build Gaoshan Village more successfully through the exchange of ideas and collisions.
Don't look at Luo Tianhua as a post-95 baker, he is a good hand at growing vegetables and raising chickens. His parents work outside all the year round, Luo Tianhua grew up in the countryside with his grandparents, and his childhood memory was running in the fields, and when he was hungry, he stole a little sausage and bacon from the door of the house to eat.
Δ The picture shows the book house with a lamp.
With a strong attachment to the countryside, Luo Tianhua came to Gaoshan Village as the second batch of managers of the model youth community, and brought baking skills here. In addition to the daily dessert making in the community, he also works with other partners to complete the decoration of various activities. "Like a wedding reception, or a birthday party, whenever the guests need a coffee break, I will do it. We all work together. Luo Tianhua said. In addition, he will also take care of the farm with other managers, and prove the benefits of "co-construction" with his actions, so that young managers can understand that they are not lonely individuals, but can achieve the effect of 1+1>2 through cooperation.
In addition to the collision between the managers, the villagers and the youth also sparked different sparks.
Li Qin, a post-80s local grower who provides garlic to the model youth community, returned to Gaoshan Village because she was optimistic about the development of agriculture four or five years ago. In the past, Li Qin's garlic was mainly supplied to Yunnan as a seed garlic, but the price fluctuated greatly from year to year. Since cooperating with Garlic Cafe, the price of garlic sold by Li Qin has stabilized, and the income has become more considerable. When asked how she felt about working with Garlic Coffee, Li Qin said to us with a smile: "When I first heard about making this coffee, I felt quite strange, but after the cooperation, I felt quite good. It's a good idea to go and relax with them after a busy day's work. ”
The pace of rural development will not stop. In the vibrant land of Alpine Village, young people can unleash their enthusiasm and creativity to build a better village.
Source: Farmer's Daily