As the living standard improves, Chinese people's "vegetable basket" is also upgraded---from focusing on "well-fed" to "eating healthily", and some entrepreneurs have shifted their attention to the rice that people eat every day.
In Tongji Xincun, Tongji Xinyuan and some other residential quarters in Yangpu, many people have seen such a type of fresh rice milling machine: Chongming rice 4.9 yuan/half kilo, northeastern Wuchang rice 7.9 yuan/half kilo, for sale starting from half kilo. Consumers can buy currently milled fresh germ rice by selecting rice, ordering and paying on touch screen, and the whole process from husk grinding to rice generation is visible. Despite "a little expensive" price, not a few people are still buying it.
This is actually an entrepreneurial project of Tongji alumni. In recent 2020 "Maker in China" Shanghai SME Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, programs such as smart fresh rice machine, automatic degradation of kitchen wastes and welding technology breakthrough were highly acclaimed by experts.
Gengmi Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd is an entrepreneurial enterprise based in Tongji Science and Technology Park. The founder Tian Bujuan has penetrated in the new retail industry for many years, and started up her own brand "Natural Rice Natural Life" two years ago.
"In paddy rice, the nutritional value of germ accounts for about 66% of a rice grain. Compared with the polished rice we usually eat, the freshly ground rice that is roughly processed retains most of germ and endosperm in rice, especially rich in vitamin B, with inorganic salt and dietary fiber both superior than polished rice." As introduced by Tian Bujuan, because the shelf life of germ rice is only 10-15 days, this fresh rice machine leverages constant temperature storage technology, as well as mature rice milling technology for onsite hulling, to achieve paddy rice germ retention rate of more than 90%, while ensuring freshness of rice.
At present, more than 20 such fresh rice machines are settled in Yangpu, with average annual sales volume of about 12 tons per machine.
