Twenty years of cold chain

Over the past six months, Tongxing has witnessed the rapid development of the cold chain logistics industry, with emerging cold chain enterprises, expanding bases, and industrial parks constantly springing up across the country. Now and in the near future, they will all become radiating points, forming a nationwide network.

Tongxing's business framework has gradually matured. Hu Shutong uses warehousing as its core business, while also engaging in distribution and processing, covering four major categories: vegetables, aquatic products, pork, and fruits. Over the course of two years, from large-scale planting and breeding bases and first-hand agricultural markets to private entrepreneurs and large industry enterprises, Tongxing has established both a reliable supply and a solid customer base.

Only at this point can we say that a stable Tongxing has been born.

This will be a prominent milestone in Hu Shutong's entrepreneurial career.

At the same time, Hu Shutong began to adjust the internal operating system. Previously, there was a lot of overlap between departments. For example, warehousing involved distribution, and processing also involved distribution, requiring multiple people to handle a single task. In this reorganization, Hu Shutong directly streamlined Tongxing into three departments: Marketing Department, Processing Department, and Distribution Department.

The marketing department is responsible for business negotiations, as well as data analysis and research from all aspects. The processing department focuses only on products and technology and does not participate in any other business. He assigned warehousing to the distribution department. This is Tongxing's brain, hands, and legs.

After the 11th Five-Year Plan was released at the beginning of the year, many industry insiders predicted that a special sector outline would be released. Sure enough, in October, the "11th Five-Year Development Outline for the Food Industry" was released.

Food safety was mentioned multiple times in this outline.

The importance attached to food safety is a concern for the entire society. As people's living standards improve, consumers today have higher demands for clothing, food, housing, and transportation. This change is also evident in recent years' "315 Consumer Rights Day," where food safety is receiving increasingly stronger calls for action, and public reports and complaints are constantly becoming clues for law enforcement agencies to supervise and thoroughly investigate.

The changes in the ownership structure of food industry enterprises during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period not only demonstrate the enormous vitality of private enterprises, but also give rise to a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises with various qualifications, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of supervision.

More importantly, the numerous domestic food companies are facing a significant challenge from foreign-invested food companies, and are severely threatened due to their lack of technological advantages. Furthermore, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have small asset sizes, low credit ratings, and limited collateral, making it difficult for them to obtain commercial financial support.

When it comes to the specifics within a company, it becomes a matter of survival, which leads many companies to engage in speculation and profiteering through various means.

The recent series of poisoning incidents in eastern coastal cities has once again made Hu Shutong uneasy.

The origin: clenbuterol!

In the most severe incident, more than 300 people were poisoned!

Essentially, ractopamine is a type of drug, originally used to treat asthma. In the 1980s, it began to be added to animal feed abroad, used in the production of lamb, chicken, and pork, and trials have shown that it can inhibit animal fat production and increase the lean meat percentage by about 10%.

After being valued and even touted, ractopamine once became popular worldwide. However, after the turn of the century, ractopamine incidents continued to erupt because some components of ractopamine could remain in animal tissues!

After consuming it, people may experience palpitations, chest tightness, vomiting, weakness, and tremors in their limbs. Long-term consumption can induce malignant tumors. For example, some pigs that consume clenbuterol often die suddenly during long-distance transportation.

The Ministry of Agriculture launched a special campaign to crack down on ractopamine and other prohibited drugs in 2005. However, current laws and regulations do not require mandatory testing of ractopamine content in meat products before they are put on the market. This has allowed some businesses to take advantage of the loophole. But no matter what, people's health should not be used as a testing instrument!

Tracing the origins of these incidents reveals that not only did farmers purchase ractopamine-laced feed, but middlemen also targeted the more popular lean meat market, resulting in problems from production to transportation.

This incident has had a wide-ranging impact, affecting everything from livestock farms in various counties of Qingyan City to major processing and distribution companies, all of which underwent testing for clenbuterol.

Tongxing has weathered this storm, but Hu Shutong cannot feel relieved. Last year, during the Pingchengshan incident, Tongxing had no pork at all. But today, Tongxing handles both processing and distribution, becoming an indispensable link between farms and consumers. The earthquake that Pingchengshan caused to the industry is still fresh in everyone's mind; whether in the meat industry or elsewhere, everyone shares the burden.

Industry insiders are also deeply worried about this lean meat powder incident. This is a matter for the entire industry. If one company is found to have lean meat powder, every company will have to go through the testing process. If something really happens, the Qingyan meat market will be in even worse shape.

Last time, Tongxing could remain an observer, but this time, how could it stay out of it when it's directly involved? In fact, being directly involved is an understatement. Tongxing connects with state-reserved meat farmers, its own livestock farms, and its e-commerce business with Qingyan's largest meat trader. It is also a representative of emerging processing enterprises.

Hu Shutong wanted to do something, but the lesson from last time was still fresh in his mind, and he dared not think about doing anything outrageous again.

He was no longer the person who was solely focused on technical equipment and process standards, who would argue vehemently with others in the conference room even if it meant getting red in the face, who would roar at others for something more advanced, and who no longer felt that the industry's ideals could inspire others in any way.

The way businesses operate is similar to how people operate; it's a universally accepted principle that it's better to say less than more, and better to say nothing than to say less.

But one quiet night, Zeng Zhaoda called, "Mr. Hu, let bygones be bygones, what do you think?"

"There are some things that I hope Tongxing can take the lead on."

"What is it?"

"Mr. Hu, the Meat Products Association has been waiting for you for a long time."

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.