On March 21, SBU of Agriculture of Sinochem Group (Sinochem Agriculture) released the Panda Guide 2018 (Spring) at a press conference held in Beijing. The guide, the first ever of its kind in China, was a list of time honored high quality product completed over several hundreds of days and nights by Sinochem, aiming to establish quality agri-products for consumers.
Panda Guide, a result of an independent, scientific and fair market research and laboratory tests, mainly recommends high-quality agricultural products featuring a unique evaluation model and a standard system represented by five “excellent” criteria (excellent in environment, variety, planting, quality, and value for money). Crops such as fruit, vegetables, and food were rated into three Star grades: One Star stands for "xquisite", Two Star suggests "Extraordinary" while Three Star denotes "Excellent." In the next three years, Panda Guide will cover more than 300 high quality agricultural products.
At the same time, Panda Guide will strictly follow three principles: Products under discussion must have precise parcel of land information as a replacement of the pan-geographical concept; will observe an exit and ongoing evaluation mechanism to substitute the old “once for all” practice and finally, will engage independent third parties for evaluation and selection to ensure fairness with no direct commercial interests involved.
Since 2017, the investigation team of the Sinochem Agriculture “Panda Guide” traveled 350,000 kilometers, passing through townships and villages in 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions. With the pre-, mid- and post-production investigation of certification officers, physicochemical index detection of top-notch laboratories at home and abroad, sensory tests, and in combination with satellite scans of the past 10 to 30 years, 56 agricultural products were selected from hundreds of high quality agricultural products to make it into being today’s Panda Guide. Of the 56 items made to the list, 51 were placed on One Star, including vegetables in 5 varieties, fruits in 27 varieties, and grains in 19 varieties. The Two Star list was contributed by 5 categories of agri-products: Maxida Organic Rice, Fuleyuan Kumquat, Coco Orange, Guhun Zhe Fang Gong Mi, and Ba Bao Rice. The planting area of some of these listed products ranges from a few hundred to as large as tens of thousands of mu, fully proving that China's vast and prosperous land, from north to south, east to west, is home to plenty of heavenly bestowed gifts.
It is worth noting the Panda Guide released this time was void with the Three Star list that due to the stringent evaluation criteria. (Click HERE to browse the first Panda Guide list)
On the same day, a new book, which was a joint effort work by Sinochem Group and CITIC Publishing House - Panda Guide 2018, was released.
With the continuous improvement of the people’s living standards, the market’s demand for agricultural products has gradually shifted from quantity to quality. To meet the people’s constant pursuit of a better life, improving the quality of agricultural products becomes a top priority. The Panda Guide will contribute to all aspects of China's agriculture, every link of it including upstream and downstream. For the government, the Panda Guide can help establish high-end agricultural standards and promote the development of rural economy with special features. For conscience growers, Panda Guide can help them build brands, sale of their products at premium prices, and achieve sustainable development; for consumers, the Panda Guide recommend trustworthy quality agricultural products to help them identify and promote the big health system of the Chinese people.