Giving Shanghai organics a good name

China’s food quality is a constant concern. In countries around the world, conscientious eaters are turning to organics, but Shanghai organics so far have faced an uphill battle -- to say the least. Rising above a sea of dubious organic produce and a lack of enforcement of food laws and regulations, FIELDS is giving high quality and organic food back its good name one delivery at a time.

Defining Shanghai organic

But as we grew older our priorities changed. We are now more environmentally conscious. China right now is like an eighteen year-old spoiled party girl that needs to grow up.

— Steve Liang, FIELDS co-founder

FIELDS is a new organic company that just started operating seven months ago in Shanghai. Its co-founder Steve Liang states, “Our produce is safe and clean. We know where it comes from and the farming practices involved.”

However, the produce from the company is not organic-certified. With the ‘organic’ term being so loosely thrown around these days, the official term means little to nothing in China today. But even without an organic certificate, FIELDS has a lot of good things going for them and follows many of the standard industry practices.

For one, their produce is far superior to vegetables and meats from certified organic companies and local fresh markets. Also, Liang is extremely knowledgeable about food, a rare trait when it comes to Shanghai food suppliers, and honest about how long the process of sourcing good food is.

Displaying a variety of vegetables, Liang says, “We are honest with our customers. Sourcing quality produce in China takes time. It cannot be done in a day or even a year.”

Educating farmers about the importance of proper practices is “a slow and difficult process,” Liang laments. “You have to squeeze them or even threaten not to pay them to get them to go step by step in the correct direction.”

His candid manner, respect for customers and forcefulness with the farmers have seen him successfully pull in the new PuLi and Peninsula hotels as clients.

Hopeful for the future

FIELD’s customers are all currently foreigners. Ideally, Liang would prefer it to be “80 percent locals and 20 percent foreigners.”

That is a challenging goal when the younger local generation hardly cooks at home and the older generation don’t appreciate Shanghai organic produce.

Nevertheless, he predicts (rather optimistically), “It’s not a losing battle. When I was growing up in the eighties in the States, people were only concerned about money, the internet and the fastest gadgets. That’s what China is like now.”

He adds, “But as we grew older our priorities changed. We are now more environmentally conscious. China right now is like an eighteen year-old spoiled party girl that needs to grow up.”

“And when it does,” Liang smiles, “you’ll see it transform into a beautiful woman.” And we hope many more deliveries of FIELDS Shanghai organic produce.

getting there

FIELDS
tel +86 21 6217 4505
www.fieldschina.com