ShekouDaily | January 28, 2020
Yesterday morning, many large supermarkets in Shenzhen were rushed by panicked buyers and some pictures of empty vegetable racks circulated on WeChat and online. Public concerns and the spread of internet rumors have led some to start hoarding supplies, which has caused some stores to sell out of current stock, thus increasing people’s panic.
On the afternoon of January 27, the Shenzhen Market Supervision Administration (Office of the Municipal Vegetable Basket Project Leading Group) organized representatives of commercial supermarket enterprises in the area to hold a conference on the supply guarantee of meat and vegetables in Shenzhen to study the supply security of vegetables in Shenzhen’s large commercial supermarkets and farmers’ markets. They announced at the press conference that the city’s vegetable supply will increase tenfold.
To ensure that daily necessities are kept in stock during the Spring Festival, the market supervision department has recently stepped up inspections and urged retail enterprises to increase the stocking and distribution of six major categories; including “rice, oil, salt, meat, fruits, and vegetables.”
Shenzhen has 1.39 million tons of grain reserves and 11,000 tons of frozen meat reserves.
Wal-Mart, Carrefour, Rainbow Supermarket, China Resources Vanguard and other large-scale supermarkets have vowed to keep shelves stocked but remind the public to consume responsibly and not to hoard. The city’s more than 200 farmers’ markets approved the supply of sufficient supplies. They assured that daily supply is guaranteed, and can fully meet the needs of the public.
A number of stores have reported that compared with the Spring Festival period in previous years, purchase volume currently is about 3 to 5 times higher.
Wal-Mart is stepping up replenishment and distribution. Wal-Mart stores, which open around 8 a.m. saw some vegetables, rice noodles, and pork out of stock by noon, while their inventory of dry goods and beef was sufficient. Wal-Mart said that it has replenished the out-of-stock categories, and due to the influence of logistics and suppliers during the Spring Festival, some individual categories have been relatively delayed. Vegetables will be replenished daily as planned.
Carrefour Shenzhen says they have stepped up their supply yesterday, and 12 tons of vegetables arrived on the 27th. Chinese cabbage, spinach, canola, Shanghai greens, red cabbage, fennel, celery, tomato, eggplant, radish, taro, yam, pumpkin, potato, green pepper, chives, chives, ginger, garlic, pork, beef, chicken, duck, etc. are all available and in stock. At present, about 2 tons of pork and poultry goods are on the way to distribution and prices are stable.
China Resources Wanjia said that in a very small number of stores in Shenzhen, citizens had purchased leafy vegetables and meat in large quantities, and there were insufficient stocks, but fresh vegetables were replenished as soon as they arrived.
Hema Fresh said that the shopping volume at their Shenzhen stores in the past two days has increased by 2-3 times compared with previous Chinese New Year seasons, and it has increased by 5-6 times compared with normal daily shopping periods.
The Municipal Bureau of Commerce stated that it will monitor the wholesale and retail data daily with the market supervision department, and require each enterprise to submit relevant data on a regular basis to understand the market supply and demand situation in a timely manner.
At the meeting, Huang Min, the deputy mayor of Shenzhen, said that the municipal government deployed major commercial supermarkets to increase their supply, and 147 vegetable bases to provide vegetables. The supply of goods arrived yesterday and today to ensure market supply.
Shenzhen’s Agricultural Supply Chain
The Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervision and Administration (Office of the Municipal Vegetable Basket Project Leading Group) reminds the general public that at present, 229 farmers’ markets in Shenzhen are operating normally. Meat, vegetables, aquatic products and other foods have sufficient sources, rich varieties, and stable prices.
At present, Haijixing International Agricultural Products Logistics Park has sufficient supplies with the daily inventory maintained at 2,000-3000 tons. They said some green leafy green vegetables are in short supply due to weather; however procurement has been increased.
In response to the concerns of citizens and netizens whether there will be “discontinued supply” of agricultural and sideline products and rising prices of goods, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Commerce, in conjunction with the Shenzhen Market Supervision Administration, assured that Shenzhen’s supply is sufficient, and compared with the same period last year, there is still a large increase, and there will be no supply cuts.
Additionally, the main vegetable supply regions are not affected by the epidemic, and the supply is in good condition. Currently, the supply market is 70% from Yunnan and 20% from Hainan, with Shandong and other regions accounting for about 10%.
Shenzhen’s Food Reserves
Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Commerce announced that Shenzhen has sufficient food reserves; including 1.39 million tons of grain reserves and about 23,000 tons of agricultural and sideline products in inventory.
It’s estimated that the 1.39 million tons of grain reserves in Shenzhen can provide for the needs of Shenzhen residents for 180 days. The edible oil reserve is 11,800 tons, which can meet the needs of the city’s residents for 30 days. The city’s 10,000 tons of salt reserves can meet the needs of the city’s residents for 30 days. Frozen meat reserves of 11,000 tons can meet the needs of the city’s residents for 10 days. The daily supply of fruits is 3,000 tons, and 10,000 tons of vegetables have been purchased in wholesale markets such as Haijixing to strengthen supply.
The Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Commerce and the Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervision Administration urge citizens to make rational purchases, do not believe in rumors, do not spread rumors, buy on demand every day, and do not stock up in large quantities. It is hoped that the general public will believe in Shenzhen’s urban management capabilities and Shenzhen enterprise management capabilities.