In Wuhan, a vegetable base is selling a gift box of two “Hongshan vegetable shoots” for 18,888 yuan (RMB), which has been jokingly referred to by netizens as “eating it will make you immortal.”
According to the report from Fengmian News on January 28th, red vegetable shoots are commonly consumed seasonal vegetables in the Hubei region, almost every household can enjoy them from the beginning to the end of the year. However, recently, several gift boxes of red vegetable shoots on the market have shocked people with their prices. Among them, two gift boxes are priced as high as 13,888 yuan and 18,888 yuan, both beautifully packaged with two “Hongshan vegetable shoots”, weighing about 500 grams in total.
In a video circulating on the internet, a product priced at 599 yuan is shown by sales personnel, with a single shoot costing around 300 yuan.
Some netizens were shocked by these prices, asking, “Can ordinary people afford to eat it?” “Will eating it really make you immortal?” Sales staff responded by saying that many people eat it, “Eating vegetable shoots priced at 500 yuan per catty won’t make you immortal, but it will make you feel happy.”
The anchor also commented, “The vegetable shoots are too closely related to ordinary people’s lives. There are so many cheap vegetable shoots available that suddenly having such expensive ones on the market is unacceptable to many people. Thousands of people come to watch the livestream out of curiosity, but few actually buy them.”
The comments under the video mainly express confusion and disbelief.
Reportedly, the base producing the 18,888 yuan Hongshan vegetable shoots is located in a residential area in the Hongshan District, where the history of cultivating Hongshan vegetable shoots in Wuhan dates back over 1700 years. The vegetable shoots have been recognized as intangible cultural heritage and an international geographical indication product of Wuhan. The original cultivation area of Hongshan vegetable shoots has been reduced to the current size. In 2004, it was designated as a redline area by the Wuhan government, limiting the area to 80.13 mu for vegetable cultivation without further development.
Fengmian News indicated that outside the Hongshan vegetable shoots cultivation base, many vendors sell Hongshan vegetable shoots along the streets, offering products with similar thickness and length as the original ones from the area at prices ranging from 15 to 20 yuan for every 500 grams.
Inside another Hongshan vegetable shoots sub-brand store nearby, the salesperson claimed that their most expensive product is priced at 120 yuan per 500 grams, with several products priced at 10 and 20 yuan per 500 grams. The salesperson stated, “At the end of the day, it’s still a vegetable. Pricing it at thousands or tens of thousands, I think it’s excessive hype. Both the district and other companies sharing the brand all feel it’s inappropriate.”
Hu Xiaoyun, Director of the China Rural Development Institute at Zhejiang University and an expert in regional public brands, expressed confusion over the marketing approach of selling a single Hongshan vegetable shoot for 18,888 yuan, considering the high reputation of Hongshan vegetable shoots as a regional public brand nationwide.
The person in charge of the Hongshan vegetable shoots cultivation base, Mr. Xia, declined an interview with Fengmian News, stating that the 18,888 yuan gift box was just a marketing tactic: “It has been taken off the shelves, please do not mention it again.”