Li Kui Meets Li Gui

January 9th was an exceptionally hot day, and some distressing things happened at our bayberry farm.

As usual, we started picking bayberries early, then sorting, packing, and delivering to the supermarket. One round finished by 1 PM. The supermarket manager anxiously showed us a WeChat group message, with identical text and pictures, but the price was not our retail price. Clearly, this was not our product. The supermarket manager was also under immense pressure, on one hand from customers asking: "Why is the same product so expensive here?" and on the other hand from the boss scolding: "How did you choose the goods?"

Actually, the products are different. Currently, our 200g packs only contain Heitan bayberries. We haven't started selling 200g packs of the sweet small bayberries yet; we are about to launch them.

We patiently explained that this was not our product, but we couldn't blame the customers or the manager, because indeed, all bayberry farms use the same packaging box. This brings us to the origin of Australian bayberries (I will write another article introducing the story of Australian bayberries).

So, even though we have the right to sell independently, we still have to use the bayberry logo, and therefore this labelled box. We just never expected that, even though our bayberry varieties and growing methods are different (we visit the other bayberry farms and deal with the sole Western distributor, and as far as we know their growing methods differ from ours), a large number of WeChat group listings would appear using our descriptions and photos.

I also quickly contacted several group leaders who were running these messages and informed them that these were our product images. If they plagiarized our images, it would be illegal in Australia. They all stated that these images were provided by their distributors. I hope they can replace the product images.

Actually, many of our customers move me deeply: when picking, they saw many fallen fruits and offered us suggestions; some customers even picked up fruits from the ground, feeling it was such a waste; some customers insisted that I count the money again in front of them, afraid they had paid me too little, saying: "This is your hard-earned money."

I once chatted with a beekeeper friend about how we both rely on nature for our livelihoods. Honestly, being a farmer is not easy. But in today's society, who has it easy? Everyone faces difficulties.

Actually, the bayberry farms here have a good relationship, and we also have a good relationship with their sole Western distributor. We are currently at the forefront, experimenting with new bayberry tree management and sales methods to help them solve the current bayberry bottleneck issues. If we succeed, perhaps more bayberry farms will open in the future, producing more and better bayberries.

I know there are many misunderstandings, and we also know that many supermarkets are unaware of this story. However, if you are reading this article, and your supply channel is not Pude Bayberry Farm, and your distributor is not one of our authorized distributors:

Authorized distributors are as follows:

• JY Food
  
• Fulin Supermarket
  
• Vermont Fresh

Then please do not use the text and pictures from our website. Screenshots are easy, downloads are easy, but the effort and dedication we put into our products are not. If the product you receive does not have our website QR code and farm address, then it is not a bayberry from our farm. We hope that we can collectively maintain an orderly environment and that the bayberry industry in Victoria will continue to develop successfully.

We start hand-picking early in the morning, and you can see us working regardless of rain or shine.