By Li Kehong

Making Money from Cleaning Ducks

By Li Kehong

Zhou Guanbin, a forty-year-old fish farmer, lives in a local riverside area in Sichuan Province. He has a habit of frequenting the community market. One day, he overheard a buyer from a hotel restaurant talking to several duck sellers. He said, “Your ducks smell stale and unpleasant. It is difficult for our chefs to cook and our customers often complain about the stale smell of the ducks. Why not keep the ducks in the clean river for a few days to remove their smell? It’s not much extra work.”

One of the duck dealers said, “It is easier said than done. Our ducks are all kept in coops on land. It is too difficult to scatter this many ducks into the river. We’ll lose ducks if we scatter them around.” The buyer sighed, “Maybe you are right, but you need find a solution out of the dilemma.”

Hearing this, Zhou Guanbin was struck with inspiration. The riverside land he works is a closed water system. He surmised that he could buy the ducks from vendors and feed them in the clean river for a few days to remove the smell. He could then raise the selling price and make a profit. He wondered if the idea was workable.

With that in mind, Zhou Guanbin waited and waited. When the buyer from the hotel left the market, he caught up with him to tell him about his idea. The buyer asked for his phone number and said he would have to report to his boss. The same night, the hotel owner phoned and said, “I don’t care about the price. If things work out, I will be your longterm client. My hotels can buy 1,000 ducks from you.”

The phone call fueled his excitement. He purchased several thousand ducks from local farmers. They ended up costing him less than the wholesale market price because he bought so many. Zhou Guanbin scattered the ducks near the river with no cages, feeding them corn or grain. Several days later, the ducks were free of the bad smell. He immediately brought samples to the hotel where the hotel owner arranged a chef to cook a duck dish. Upon tasting it, the hotel owner was so satisfied that he signed a long-term contract with Zhou.

Inspired by his success, Zhou Guanbin started to promote and sell his ducks in neighboring cities, attracting more customers. In 2015 alone, he sold 100,000 ducks. Given the three yuan price difference for each duck and the cost of his operation, Zhou Guanbin earned a net profit of at least 200,000 yuan.

(FromAgricultural New Technology, January 2016. Translation: Trans)