Twenty years of cold chain

Another document in Hu Shutong's hand was a recent notice issued by the State Council regarding further promoting vegetable production and ensuring market supply—key areas of focus for people's livelihoods that have been ongoing for many years. However, this notice has one striking feature: those who are familiar with policy can immediately identify a new directive within it.

That is,

Strengthen the "mayor responsibility system" for food supply.

The mayor responsibility system, simply put, means that the "vegetable basket project" must strictly implement local responsibility, with local governments taking overall charge of the project and comprehensively controlling production, sales, regulation, and quality. In other words, the "vegetable basket project" is treated as a political task, ensuring stable production and supply.

This will address long-standing issues at a deeper level, such as vendors engaging in speculation, farmers struggling to sell their produce, and fluctuating market prices.

Hu Shutong then retrieved previous materials regarding the mayoral responsibility system.

My gaze fell upon it.

It gradually became more and more profound...

To ensure the supply of vegetables in this region, we must strengthen the connection between sales areas and production areas to prevent stockpiling and sales difficulties. We must focus on building vegetable bases in northern China, implementing staggered harvesting, and expanding supply. We must fully leverage the role of distribution enterprises and e-commerce platforms, and solidly promote the establishment of agricultural product transportation and transfer zones.

This system further strengthens the green channel, allowing compliant agricultural product vehicles to pass through without stopping, inspection, or fees, while providing subsidies to businesses and vehicle owners.

Before he knew it, his hands were already on the keyboard. Hu Shutong planned to analyze the production and sales issues of Qingning vegetables from the perspective of an entrepreneur and a cold chain professional, and to use his own strength to explain a feasible model. As for how well it could be implemented, that was not the question to consider at this time.

Many ideas are emerging, these are the thoughts that have been flooding Hu Shutong's mind these days.

Suddenly, things became clearer. Although inspired by the mayoral responsibility system, Hu Shutong did not focus on interpreting this point.

His explanation incorporated a great deal of content from the Seven National Policies on Cold Chain Logistics.

It must be said that Hu Shutong had some "selfish motives" behind this. If what he said could be implemented, it wouldn't just be a matter of production and sales; in line with the essence of the "Seven Measures," it would improve the level of cold chain logistics across a large region. The reason is simple: the "Seven Measures" include specific infrastructure construction projects, such as cold storage facilities, low-temperature distribution and processing centers, refrigerated trucks, and refrigeration equipment. In the major project of transporting vegetables to the south, cold chain enterprises will not only shoulder the responsibility but also receive new support.

While macro-level explanations are provided, practical feasibility is equally essential. The case study introduced in the plan is naturally Yuncheng. In Hu Shutong's explanation, Qingning vegetables are divided into zones. Vegetables from the three southernmost counties of Qingping City are not unloaded or stored locally, but are directly transported to Yuncheng for transshipment, where they are stored and then centrally allocated.

Connect with shopping malls and vegetable markets in Yuncheng County and City.

This can be seen as a microcosm of the essence of Hu Shutong's entire plan.

Vegetables from Qingning should not be stored in Qingning.

The Youth Sports Association's layered acquisition system appears to be a perfectly seamless and efficient system.

The plan can be summed up in four characters: Hu Shutong. It's all unnecessary!

Qingning vegetables don't need such complicated harvesting processes. Since we can handle the first mile well, let's move on to the last mile! Storage and transportation are the carriers of the cold chain, but they are not the essence of the cold chain. On the contrary, the fewer storage and transportation links, the more efficient the delivery. We cannot be more confident in stockpiling because of the proliferation of cold storage facilities and the longer shelf life. That would be putting the cart before the horse!

Imagine if Qingning mobilized internally to stockpile a large quantity of goods, but the sales destinations remained the same distance away as before. Wouldn't this so-called four-tier system be a complete waste of manpower, resources, energy, and money?

He was all talk and no action, full of energy, and tried all sorts of tricks, but when he looked up, he was still in the same spot!

Hu Shutong's words are sharp, and his writing is also excellent. Because his ideas are extremely solid, every word he writes on paper is powerful.

In short, his distribution and sales system involves building multiple transit bases similar to Yuncheng. It's worth noting that this massive project is not solely Qingning's responsibility. As a production area, Qingning will need to connect with various sales destinations in the future, so these transit bases can facilitate the joint development of production and sales.

In practice, the government invests in partnerships with large local logistics companies, which then operate the transshipment bases and take on the responsibilities of distribution channels and end-users. In this way, a single transshipment base can simultaneously operate a complete system encompassing acquisition, transportation, and distribution.

Regardless of what operational methods Hu Shutong devised, deep down he despised the Youth Movement Association, because it only provided models and didn't solve practical problems. Moreover, after so many years of development, with so many associations springing up, haven't we encountered enough difficulties due to overlap?

The eastern sky was turning blue, and the first rays of dawn shone on the branches of the green ivy by the window.

Hu Shutong got up, stretched, brewed a new cup of strong tea, and then sat down to carefully review the proposal. He looked at it for a long time without making any changes, and didn't even touch the keyboard again. Instead, his eyes grew brighter; in all these years, a proposal that satisfied him on the first try was truly rare.

This wasn't just the culmination of days of reflection and his understanding of the industry; it was also because he was writing with emotion in his heart. Though he didn't say it aloud or show it on his face, it didn't stop him from using this method to vent his long-suppressed resentment! With this proposal, it wasn't a question of which was better, but rather who deserved it and who was dispensable!

Upon closer reflection, this has always been Hu Shutong's weapon!

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.