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Market flourishing at upscale city complex
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CHEN Hua was delighted when she took up residence in an upscale housing development called Hongqiao Garden 10 years ago. But her fancy new surroundings lacked one amenity dear to traditional Chinese housewives — a local fresh food market.
Chen, now in her 60s, resolved to do something about it. With the assistance of her neighborhood committee and nearby residents, a morning market now thrives just outside the gate of her housing complex.
“It was very inconvenient for older people like me and my husband to buy food at that time,” Chen told Shanghai Daily. “We had to walk nearly half an hour or ride a bicycle to the nearest fresh food market. It was difficult carrying home what we bought.”
Government authorities and developers don’t tend to think of wet markets when luxury housing estates are built. They figure that higher income residents will patronize supermarket chains like Carrefour. But for many Chinese, no matter how much money they have, you just can’t beat the freshness of a local market.
Fresh food passion
The success of the market Chen helped establish is providing a blueprint for other upmarket housing estates. There are now nine local wet markets in the Lianyang New Community of Pudong, where Hongqiao Garden is located and where 40,000 Chinese and 7,000 foreigners live. Another 11 have been set up in the Huamu sub-district that includes Lianyang.
When Chen first got to know her neighbors, she found that many shared her passion for fresh food and her disappointment that no local market was available to provide it.
“We are traditional Chinese who have lived through hard times,” Chen said. “We care about the health of our families, and we don’t like to spend money unnecessarily. We wanted to be able to buy inexpensive food that was fresh on the day.”
Four years ago, Chen heard about the Shopping Basket Program, a national initiative to supply fresh farm produce to local communities. Under the program, several Shanghai districts invited wholesalers to set up wet markets in neighborhoods where none existed.
As a director of her neighborhood committee, Chen and other residents decided to look for a farmgate supplier who would bring fruit, vegetables and fresh meat to Hongqiao Garden on a regular basis.
The group visited several companies in the Sunqiao Modern Agriculture Development Zone of Pudong and chose Huilu Vegetable Garden to run a trial program providing fruits and vegetables.
“We inspected their production procedures and tasted their products, and were satisfied with what we found,” Chen said. “Their fields were neat and they used only safe pesticides.”
At first, things didn’t go well. The company was asked to set up a temporary market between 5:30-10:30am every Tuesday in a public space in front of the estate’s southern gate.
Although many local residents went to buy food there, the property management company and chengguan, or urban management officers kept trying to disperse them.
“Strictly speaking, the vendor did not have a business license to sell food there,” Chen confessed.
She and other neighborhood committee members talked with the management company and city officials, explaining how residents sorely wanted a local wet market and were willing to manage one without creating a public nuisance.
“It was a different situation from illegal itinerant vendors, who hawk products from unknown producers and of dubious quality,” she said. “All the products at our market are directly supplied by a legal production company with an operating license and are sent straight after harvesting.”
After complaints that the market was too noisy too early in the morning, Chen and her team members renegotiated with the supplier to postpone the starting time to 7:45am.
Volunteers patrolled the market to handle any disputes and keep the noise down.
“For example, some people took their dogs to the market and that created a lot of noise,” she said. “So we insisted they tie their pets to nearby trees.”
After the market closed in late morning, volunteers would help clean up the area so there were no complaints about it creating an environmental eyesore.
With all the safeguards in place, the market grew in popularity. It was later extended to Thursdays and Saturdays and moved to the more convenient north gate of the estate. Another company was commissioned to supply fresh meat to the market on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Shanghai Daily recently visited the market, where fresh vegetables were displayed in about 50 red plastic crates. The area was clean and free of the unpleasant odors that sometimes permeate wet markets. Some 20 people were lined up to have their selections weighed and paid for. Chen was there helping with the packing.
“The vegetables sold here are about 10 percent cheaper than in regular supermarkets,” one middle-aged shopper surnamed Wu told Shanghai Daily. “But most importantly, it is convenient. I don’t have to a walk long distance to buy food. The vegetables keep fresh for a week, longer than the usual three days for vegetables bought elsewhere.”
The market is equally popular with expat residents.
“I love the market,” said a Chinese wife of a British expat. “It's clean and so close to home. I always bring my two kids with me, and sometimes even my husband comes along. He wouldn’t do that if I were going to a supermarket.”
The food supplier is happy with the results.
“We bring vegetables here by truck and deploy three people for weighing and collecting money,” said a man surnamed Zheng from Huilu Vegetable Garden. “We don't have to pay any site fee, and we make more profit selling directly to residents than to middlemen.”
Chen said the market is now sanctioned by the property management company, the police and government officials.
“Self-established markets are a beneficial option for consumers,” said an official with the Shanghai Commerce Commission.
“We welcome such practices and monitor them on management and food quality.”
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