Digital Transformation of the Majia Pomelo Value Chain in Jiangxi Guangfeng

I. Project Description

Guangfeng County is located in the easternmost part of Central China’s Jiangxi Province. The Ma Jia Pomelo is a local red-hearted pomelo known for its delicious taste and rich nutrition. It is highly popular among consumers and a high-quality agricultural product promoted by Guangfeng County. However, Majia Pomelo industry also faces bottlenecks, mainly manifested in low levels of technological innovation, low brand awareness, and lagging brand marketing systems. Relying on the digital resources of e-commerce platforms, the project aims to improve the brand awareness and influence of the MaJia Pomelo industry in Guangfeng and help farmers increase their income. Many farmers have become wealthy through the MaJia Pomelo industry, with a total output value of nearly 2 billion yuan(US$0.29 billion).

II. Program Model

Guangfeng has focused on the "cultivation-production-supply-sales" chain, leveraging the technological, resource, and channel advantages of e-commerce platforms to reduce consumption, increase efficiency, and promote sales. This has helped improve fruit quality and increase farmers' incomes.

1) IoT Technology Empowers Smart Planting

An investment of 150 million yuan was made to transform the orchards into standardized pilot projects. The introduction of integrated water and fertilizer intelligent irrigation systems, IoT monitoring equipment, and the construction of a large database for the Majia Pomelo industry provide a foundation for historical data accumulation and model analysis. At the same time, experts offer timely online guidance for farmers' management.

2) Cultivates Industry Chain and Enhances Added Value

More than 60 deep-processed products, including pomelo juice, pomelo wine, pomelo essential oil, and pomelo-flavored candies, have been developed. For example, deep-processed pomelo pulp is used to make mango pomelo sago juice, which sells for 13.9 yuan per bottle. In one year, more than 800,000 bottles have been sold, effectively increasing the added value of the Majia Pomelo.

3) Multi-faceted Marketing for Brand Creation

2022 Guangfeng Majia Pomelo Harvest Picking Festival attracts many citizens to visit and post on social media. 

In offline marketing, Majia Pomelo is showcased and promoted at events such as agricultural exhibitions and expos. It is also available for sale in 57 supermarkets across five cities. In addition, the local government cooperates with e-commerce platforms to jointly launch the 2022 Guangfeng Majia Pomelo Harvest Picking Festival, attracting many citizens to visit and post on social media.

In online marketing, targeted marketing topics and invitations to authoritative media, experts, scholars, and internet influencers are used to increase the exposure of Majia Pomelo. During the 2022 Single’s Day shopping carnival, there were thousands of related news articles, with a total exposure of over 100 million.

4) Building Warehouses at Production Site to Enhance Bargaining Power

An Automated sorting line is used to store Majia Pomelos.

After entering the warehouse at production site, the Majia Pomelos are cleaned, automatically weighed and graded by an intelligent sensing system, and standardized to ensure uniform size, appearance, and taste. The digital warehouse can store and prolong the supply cycle, improving its bargaining power.

III. Benefits

1) Marketing Effectiveness

By generating traffic through topics and creative content planning, the core selling points of the Majia Pomelo are highlighted, sparking online discussions and attracting more people across the country. This increases consumer familiarity with the Majia Pomelo and stimulates their purchasing desire.

2) Supply-side Effectiveness

The intelligent sorting line built with local investment can sort approximately 5,000 kg of fruit per hour, improving the overall sorting efficiency by about tenfold. Graded sales bring tangible benefits to farmers, with the purchasing price for Majia Pomelo increasing from 7 yuan per kg to 8.3 yuan per kg in 2022, resulting in a more than 20% increase in farmers’ income.

3) Industrial Chain Expansion Effectiveness

A complete industrial chain integrating seedling cultivation, planting, processing, storage, and sales has been preliminarily formed, by deeply researching and developing products with medium-to-high added value, such as pomelo peel, pomelo wine, fresh fruit juice, fruit gum cosmetics, and pomelo bud-scented tea.

IV. Lessons Learned

The initial processing of agricultural products after harvest is an important link in the development of modern agriculture. The "Agricultural Cloud Warehouse" establishes a logistics and distribution model from the factory to the consumer, maximizing logistics efficiency through "regional distribution + community delivery," providing a channel for farmers to bring their Majia Pomelos into cities and achieve integrated "harvesting, production, and sales."

The "processing plant + market" model not only allows for the direct sale of primary agricultural products like Ma Jia Pomelo but also enables on-site initial processing to preserve the freshness and quality of the fruit. This combines the sale of fruit with the sale of processed products.

For more information, please contact WFP China COE (wfpcn.coe@wfp.org)