Team:XMU-China/Entrepreneurship
This year, XMU-China designed a system to detect glyphosate. Combining with the modified engineered E.coli, our team also invented a small portable testing instruments and its supporting software. Compared with chromatography, mass spectrometry and other traditional methods, the detection system does not need large and expensive instruments, nor complex transportation and pretreatment process to detect glyphosate. It makes on-site detection and in-situ monitoring possible and also has more cost advantages in commercialization.
See the details in the section of Design, and Hardware.
Market targeting
According to the advantages and characteristics of the products, the convenient detection of glyphosate in tea is suitable for tea buyers & analysts.
The detection of glyphosate in tea is aimed at tea buyers and tea growers. Since the existing detection methods of glyphosate stay in the laboratory, it is very inconvenient for tea buyers and tea growers. Therefore, the main features of the promising tea pesticide residue detection product are convenience, accuracy and portability, which are of great benefit for consumers to test when drinking tea daily, or for farmers to use this product in outdoor tea gardens for quick check.
Market planning
1.Product
Service: We will put away timely delivery service and use guidance services to increase the quality of user experience, if it goes like the plan.
2.Price
The Cost-Plus Pricing strategy. Setting product prices based on product unit cost plus a certain percentage of profit.
Discount and Compensatory Pricing strategy. In order to expand sales, accelerate capital turnover, reduce the backlog of goods, and recover funds as soon as possible, we intends to adopt discount and compensatory strategies, such as cash discount pricing, quantity discount pricing, and subsidized pricing.
3.Distribution
The project team must seek partners in the target market, cooperate with agents through online, offline and other ways, and expand the market with the help of their resources. Therefore, the products are mainly distributed indirectly, supplemented by direct distribution. At the same time, in view of the authority and credibility of the government departments, in order to encourage the government agricultural departments as a specific user, the project will give them a certain discount on the product price to achieve good publicity effect.
4.Promotion
Launch trial products to specific users, focus on large demonstration farmers of planting industry, and take the initiative to visit the home, so as to expand the influence of the product in the local area and improve the reputation of the product;
Discount sales at certain times, such as festivals;
Public relations to promote the good image of the enterprise, in order to enhance the recognition of the project products;
Advocate the concept of safety, environmental protection and pollution-free, and win the support of local government departments.
For traditional media, advertisements for some project products can be published in some key agricultural, forestry and plant protection magazines to achieve the purpose of accurate push; for new media, WeChat and Sina Weibo can be used for public promotion.
1.macro-environment analysis (PEST analysis)
The Antea-Glyphosate project focuses on effects in three industries: agriculture, biology and environment. Therefore, the project needs comprehensive macro environment analysis of the relevant fields.
2.SWOT analysis
1.Sale
There are currently about 80 million tea growers in China. The products developed by our project can detect the most common pesticide residue in tea-glyphosate. The market prospect is broad. After the new products are on the market, the price is about CN¥(Chinese Yuan, RMB) 2,000 per copy, and the sample processing time is short.
Compared with the complex derivatization process of traditional large chemical instruments, our product has strong competitiveness. Although the cost of early product development and verification experiments is high, and the construction of the later production line costs about 1 million, the cost of raw materials for the production of drugs is ¥ 100 per person. Based on the above estimation, make the following sales forecast:
2.Cost
The cost for producing testing instruments can be attributed to the product cost of consumables for each ¥ 300 per person and labor costs production workers per month ¥ 3,000 salary. Prediction is based on following assumptions: production line service life of 20 years, the use of straight-line depreciation, no residual value, annual depreciation expense of ¥ 50,000.
3.Operation
1.marketing (million ¥)
2. management (million ¥)
3.research and development (million ¥)
Financial statement
As a biotechnology company established in 2020 aiming to develop, produce and sell glyphosate detection instruments, we have made a profit forecast for the first three years based on the capital situation after the establishment of the company and the sales forecast:
Visiting Tea Farmers in Mount Wuyi，Fujian
Mountain Wuyi is a famous tea producing area. We visited local tea farmers there and obtained some specific information about the use of glyphosate. Through the interview, we have a better understanding of their needs for simple, rapid and cheap detection of glyphosate, which is important for the market positioning of our product.
Visiting Tea Retailers in Mount Wuyi，Fujian
We also visited the local tea retailers in Mount Wuyi. Through the description of the shop owners, we learned about the quality of tea in circulation in the market and the relevant information of quality inspection. The excessive pesticide residues will cause great damage to the interests of tea retailers, but the existing conditions make them unable to detect by themselves, which makes us more determined to develop a convenient and low-cost detection equipment.
Visiting Food Quality Supervision and Administration Department in Mount Wuyi
In China, food quality supervision and administration department plays an important role in the detection of pesticide residues. We visited the department in Mount Wuyi, where the director Zhong Xingwang briefed us on the current difficulties in glyphosate residue testing and some of his expectations for future testing instruments.
Visiting Professor Gong Zhenbin and Li Quanlong
We visited Professor Gong Zhenbin and Li Quanlong at College of Environment and Ecology, Xiamen University. Professor Gong Zhenbin gave us some advice in hardware design and fluorescence detection and finally expressed his willingness to provide assistance for our further research.
Professor Li Quanlong appreciated it that our ideas are innovative and helpful and took us around the laboratory, where he was working on various testing projects.
Through the visit to the above two professors, we learned about the advanced detection technology, which is helpful to optimize our product and make it more innovative and competitive.
Business cooperation with Qingshiyan Tea Co., Ltd. and Wuyishan Ruizhuang Tea Co., Ltd.
In order to apply the results of the project "An-TEA Glyphosate" to the actual production of tea in the future, we decided to set up a company whose main business is to produce products that can detect glyphosate in tea. We have written a business plan and hope to find a partner.
On October 2, we visited Qingshiyan Tea Co., Ltd. and Wuyishan Ruizhuang Tea Co., Ltd. Among them, Qingshiyan Tea Co., Ltd. was founded in 1926 and was recognized as a well-known trademark in northern Fujian in 2012. We showed them the results of our project and the team's business plan. In the end, the two sides reached a follow-up intention of deep cooperation: Shiyan Tea Co., Ltd. and Wuyishan Ruizhuang Tea Co., Ltd. will provide experimental tea gardens to the team, and in return, the XMU-China team will provide the other company with the first batch of products that free of charge and guide their use.
It is hoped that this project could provide new ideas for the detection of pesticide residues. Taking care of the earth by tiny bacteria, we here promise a better future of tea.
Xiamen University, Fujian, China
No.422, Siming South Road, Fujian, P.R.China 361005
