Xinjiang cantaloupe's journey to the east "family tree"

Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition

From the only production area of cantaloupe to one of the production areas far from the main domestic consumer market, how has the sales of cantaloupe in Xinjiang undergone changes and what new trends have emerged? The experience of a pair of grandparents relaying melons may give the answer.

The regret of the "Fruit King"

One day in July 1982. Mahemuti Mati Remu, who is in his 30s, took a donkey cart and spent 2 hours from the village to Yanshan County in Xinjiang, then switched to a green-skinned train and rushed from Turpan to Guangzhou, which took nearly a week.

He used the method of "human flesh" to carry a cantaloupe from his hometown all the way to Guangzhou. On the night of arrival, Mahmuti shared the melon with friends in Guangdong.

Since then, the flavor of cantaloupe has often been remembered by friends, and every time they meet, they ask: "When will I return to Xinjiang?" Tell me on your way back from Xinjiang that I'll pick you up at the train station!" Friends are looking forward to eating cantaloupe again.

At that time, Mahmuti was selling wholesale hometown specialties in Guangzhou. Cantaloupe and grapes are two of the most important specialties of his hometown of Turpan, Xinjiang, and grapes can be dried into raisins, while cantaloupes can only be eaten fresh.

Although there were very few cantaloupes on the market at that time and the price was expensive, Mahmuti never dared to sell cantaloupes on a large scale, and could only focus on raisins. Subject to the transportation conditions at that time, the long-distance transportation of cantaloupes was seriously damaged, and it was difficult to go out.

After more than 40 years of hard work, today, Mahamuti's raisin business is one of the best in his hometown, and the old man and his son are the important "fruit kings" of Turpan. The old man who has retreated to the second line always has a wish: to sell cantaloupes farther away. Until last year, the eldest grandson, Adilijan Abduli, fulfilled his wish.

E-commerce! The secret of the younger generation

Attiljan, who studied in Japan, remembers that in early 2019, he saw a 4-kilogram cantaloupe in a supermarket in Japan. The appearance of the melon is almost perfect, and each melon has a look, but when he looks at the price, more than 1,000 yuan, he was stunned!

In March 2020, Adilijiang cooperated with his uncle Akoremu Maihemuti to open a fresh fruit store on an e-commerce platform. In Japan, the Atirijiang is responsible for store operations, and his uncle in Xinjiang is responsible for purchasing and shipping.

The results were unexpected. With only one cantaloupe product, their fresh fruit store became the top three stores in the 2020 platform cantaloupe sales, with an average of 6,000 singles and nearly 30 tons of cantaloupe per day.

They have a secret. The operation and logistics speed of leading peers offset the drawbacks of the ultra-long transportation distance between Xinjiang and the eastern market.

Every afternoon, through the sales and visitors of the platform on the same day, the Addilijiang estimates the next day's cargo volume and gives orders to his uncle who harvests in the first line of melon fields throughout Xinjiang. That night, the uncle broke down the orders into various planting cooperatives. Early the next morning, the cooperative selects cantaloupes. At noon, the new melon is transported to the Urumqi transit warehouse, where the cantaloupe is packed and packaged.

At about 17:00 on the same day, thousands of cantaloupes were transferred from Urumqi transit warehouse to Urumqi Airport by logistics truck. With air freight, it takes no more than 48 hours for domestic customers to receive the cantaloupe, and it takes no more than 60 hours before the cantaloupe is plucked from the ground.

Returning from Japan to serve his hometown

In May 2021, he graduated from Atiljiang University, which studied in Japan. The next day, he was "ordered" by his grandfather to return to China. The day after returning to Xinjiang, he found that his grandfather had rented an office for him. The old man's request is very clear, and the business experience brought back from Japan is well used.

"Grandpa told me that if I learned my skills abroad, I must return to my hometown, and this is my root." Atirijan said.

Background data shows that the customers of addilijiang stores are mostly customers in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta, and more than half of the old customers have been repurchased.

"In fact, it's not that I'm doing a good job, it's that the cantaloupe in Xinjiang is too sweet." Atilijiang is modest, but the experienced Mahmuti knows that the key is that traditional agriculture is being transformed by new e-commerce.

(Xinhua News Agency Urumqi reporter Li Zhihao Aman)