BEIJING (Caixin Online) \u2014 How much does a cucumber cost in Beijing?<\/p>\n
The answer varies from 2 yuan (32 U.S. cents) per kilogram to as much as 30 yuan, depending on the variety. At the high end of fruits and vegetables are those identified as organic.<\/p>\n
Affluent Chinese, alarmed by a slew of food-safety problems in recent years, are increasingly willing to spend a premium on what is served for dinner. This demand has fueled the growth of the organic-food market.<\/p>\n
International practice defines organic food as that which is grown and processed without pesticides or additives. In China, produce can be identified as \u201corganic,\u201d \u201cgreen\u201d or \u201cnon-pollution\u201d depending on its exposure to chemicals.<\/p>\n
Investors in the country betting big on the organic concept have poured money into food producers and distributors. Some are wrestling with a conflict between scale and quality, but this has not dampened their enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time a food-safety scandal surfaced, our sales went up,\u201d said Yu Chongzheng, chairman of LohaoCity, a specialty shop that sells organic and other health food in Beijing and Tianjin.<\/p>\n
Profits grew fastest in late 2008 and 2009, he said, after domestic dairy producers were found to be using melamine, a chemical that causes kidney problems, in order to fake protein counts in their products.<\/p>\n
LohaoCity was still losing money seven years into its operation, but deficits shrank each year, Yu said. He expected the company to break even in 2013.<\/p>\n
That would be good news for SAIF Partners, a homegrown private-equity (PE) fund manager that owns 30% of LohaoCity.<\/p>\n