China News Service, Taizhou, October 2 (Zhou Jian, Zhang Yingying, Wang Lingxuan) In early autumn, early-maturing Wendan is on the market in Yuhuan City, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. Local fruit farmers took advantage of the fine weather to pick Wendan and carried out grading, packaging and delivery in an orderly manner. Fruit farmer Gao Weidong said that this year's early-maturing Wendan in greenhouses is mainly sold to Hangzhou, Shanghai, Jiangsu and other places, and the market is in short supply. "After three typhoons this year, the overall output has decreased by 30%, but the retained fruits have better appearance, sweetness and taste."
In recent years, Yuhuan Wendan has followed the development path of the entire industry chain of "excellent first, continuous second, continuous third", consolidating the industrial base with high-quality planting, expanding value-added space through intensive processing and cultural and creative research and development, and amplifying IP value by relying on brand building and the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism. A small wendan achieves full fruit utilization and global value-adding, injecting continuous momentum into rural revitalization.
Yuhuan Wendan Orchard. Photo courtesy of Wang Lingxuan
At present, Yuhuan Wendan has a cultivation area of about 29,000 acres, an annual output of about 27,000 tons, and more than 10,000 employees. It has built 6 thousand acres and more than 30 high-quality commercial fruit bases of 100 acres. In 2025, the annual output value of Yuhuan Wendan's entire industry chain will exceed 909 million yuan, an increase of approximately 80% from 2024, and is expected to exceed 1 billion yuan this year.
Intensive processing, chain expansion, cultural and creative development, added value
At present, more than 500 acres of early-ripening pendants in Yuhuan have been rushed to the market. The total output is expected to be more than 1,300 tons. Large quantities of late-maturing pendants will be put on the market around the time of frost.
High-quality fresh fruits seize the morning market dividends, and a small amount of fruits that do not meet the standards for fresh fruit sales are sent to deep processing production lines for resource utilization to solve the problem of waste of defective fruits. In the production workshop of Zhejiang Guohe Industrial Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guohe Industrial"), the fully-automatic Wendan deep processing production line operates at high speed. The fresh fruits are cleaned and squeezed, aseptic filled, and sealed for testing, and then processed into Wendan juice and sold all over the country. The annual sales volume can reach 3 million bottles.
Ying Minyan, general manager of Guohe Industry, said that in the past, Yuhuan Wendan relied heavily on fresh fruit sales, with a short industrial chain and weak risk resistance. Starting from the deep processing of Wendan juice is to break the traditional limitation of "depending on the weather and the quantity of fresh fruits" and make the Wendan industry chain deeper, longer and more stable.
Yuhuan Wendan juice production line. Photo courtesy of Wang Lingxuan
As one of the first batch of Wendan deep-processing enterprises in Yuhuan, Guohe Industrial has its own standardized planting base of 150 acres. It has also signed guaranteed purchase agreements with more than 200 fruit farmers, and has built a "shared wealth workshop" with the support of the local government, driving the per capita annual income of farmers to exceed 5,000 yuan.
"Regardless of market fluctuations and weather changes, we always insist on purchasing at all costs, which not only stabilizes farmers' planting confidence, but also allows some of the poor-quality Wendan to realize resource utilization, truly achieving the goal of 'no waste, every fruit is valuable.'" Ying Minyan said.
In addition to food processing, Yuhuan actively explores the added value of Wendan culture and opens up cultural innovation tracks. Zhang Luman, who returned to his hometown to start a business in 2018, relied on Wendan's unique fruity aroma and appearance to develop cultural and creative products such as Wendan aromatherapy, diffusers, and aroma gift boxes. The annual sales of the popular aromatherapy exceeded 1 million yuan, successfully turning seasonal agricultural products into a hot-selling cultural and tourism consumer product throughout the year.
"Fresh Wendan fruit is greatly restricted by seasonal and market conditions. Most food processing uses only the pulp, but the aroma contained in the peel and the local cultural value have not been fully explored." Zhang Luman said that cultural and creative products can transform Wendan from seasonal agricultural products into cultural and creative consumer goods that can be circulated throughout the year. As a supplementary extension of the fresh fruit and processing industries, the value of a Wendan can be maximized.
In recent years, Yuhuan has successively issued policies such as the "Yuhuan Wendan Production and Operation Reward and Subsidy Measures" and "Several Opinions on the High-Quality Development of Yuhuan Wendan Industry", established special support funds, and taken multiple measures to promote the sustainable development of the Wendan industry. At present, there are more than 30 local companies in Yuhuan City deeply engaged in the research and development of Wendan derivatives, with products covering food, beverages, daily chemicals, cultural and creative industries and other fields.
In addition, in order to coordinate industrial resources, Yuhuan relies on the "Fresh Jade Qiyuan" regional public brand to integrate Wendan fresh fruits, deeply processed beverages, and cultural and creative derivatives, unify quality standards, and promote industrial scale and high-end development. Kong Jie, a member of the Party Committee of the Yuhuan City Federation of Supply and Marketing, said that the Wendan brand packaging has been upgraded this year to further increase product premiums through brand empowerment and drive farmers to increase their incomes.
Agricultural tourism integration empowers diversified businesses to revitalize villages
Recently, nearly 50 women's federation cadres and members of the March 8th Red Flag Bearer (Collective) Alliance from various counties (cities and districts) in Taizhou gathered in Yanggen Village, Qinggang Town, and visited the Wendan Living Room, Wendan Live Broadcast Room, Digital Exhibition Hall and Aromatherapy Pavilion to learn more about Yuhuan Wendan Industry. "I didn't expect that a small dandelion could be of so much value. It's really an eye-opener." He Jia, the March 8th red flag bearer in Luqiao District, said with emotion.
While in-depth processing and cultural creation continue to increase the added value of products, Yuhuan continues to deepen the integration of "Wendan + cultural tourism".
Yuhuan Wendan cultural and creative products. Photo courtesy of Wang Lingxuan
Wendan Huakai Creative Industrial Park, located in Longgen Village, the “No. 1 Wendan Village in China”, was relocated and upgraded from an old furniture factory. It covers an area of more than 10,000 square meters and combines post-industrial style with pastoral countryside scenery. At present, the park has gathered more than ten cultural and entrepreneurial businesses such as film and television creations, specialty teahouses, and research and study experiences. It has also built teahouses, cafes and other leisure venues to provide diversified services such as business incubation, art exhibitions, and cultural and sports experiences.
Zheng Xiao, rural operator of Longgen Village, Qinggang Town, said, "We use Wendan IP as the core, connect surrounding orchards and village resources, coordinate the creation of Wendan-themed cultural tourism routes, and deepen the integration of primary, secondary and tertiary industries. Based on Wendan planting, we rely on research, picking, self-media promotion, and cultural and creative development to increase the added value of products and convert tourist traffic into product sales. At the same time, we build a sharing platform to drive employment for farmers and craftsmen."
In addition, Yuhuan has held the Wendan Tourism Festival for more than ten consecutive years, continuing to shape the "Love of Wendan" brand story, creating Wendan-themed attractions and tourist routes such as Xuanmen Bay Scenic Area, Qinggang Wendan Flowers Creative Park, and Longgen "Pomelo Valley", and launching diversified cultural tourism products such as parent-child tours, study tours, self-driving picking, and RV camping.
Local B&Bs and hotels have integrated Wendan into the research and development of dishes. Wendan nectar was selected into the "Hundred Counties Thousand Bowls· Yuhuan East China Sea Banquet", and souvenirs such as "Jade Pomelo" and "Gao Pomelo" won multiple tourism product awards, laying a solid foundation for the integration of agriculture, culture and tourism.
The relevant person in charge of the Yuhuan City Culture, Broadcasting, Tourism and Sports Bureau said that from October to November this year, Yuhuan will leverage on special activities such as "Ten Thousand Wendan Sweet Hangzhou" and "Concert + Wendan" dual IP linkage to launch an integrated tourism package of "taking the high-speed rail, watching concerts, picking up Wendan, visiting islands, and tasting delicious food" to amplify the high-speed rail diversion effect and the long-tail popularity of festivals. At the same time, we have accurately laid out the subdivided tracks of "Wendan + Wellness, Wendan + Study", optimized exclusive cultural and tourism products for new silver-haired groups and parent-child families, and polished the golden business card of "Haiyu Island" life and tourism destination. (over)
