Shared specialty

The wider availability of Ottelia acuminata outside Yunnan is providing new culinary experiences across the nation.

Long cherished by locals, the plant's tender buds have remained a "hidden delicacy", rarely seen outside Yunnan. "They're incredibly tender and clean-tasting — even a simple stirfry carries the sweetness of Erhai (Lake)," one consumer in Shanghai wrote after tasting them for the first time.

Native to Dali, the aquatic plant has earned the poetic nickname "waterborne poplar blossom". But its beauty belies an exacting nature: it can survive only in exceptionally pure water, making it one of the most environmentally sensitive edible plants.

"We tried to bring it to market three years ago," said Jiang of Dingdong Maicai. "But the obstacles were overwhelming — high costs, limited measurement precision, and stringent storage requirements led to heavy losses in transit, and early customer feedback was disappointing."

Getting the highly perishable plant — so dependent on cold-chain integrity and precise timing — out of Yunnan became a three-year technical campaign.

The turning point came this spring. Dingdong Maicai secured an exclusive direct-sourcing agreement with producers around Erhai, dedicating more than 23 hectares of pristine waters to cultivating premium first-harvest buds.

"We shifted from road to air transportation and moved processing to the source," Jiang said. "The buds are processed on-site immediately after harvest, then flown nationwide."

A decisive breakthrough also came in preservation. A research team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University upgraded its patented modified-atmosphere technology, extending the product's shelf life. Transportation loss rates dropped sharply from a daunting 35 percent to just 8 percent.

On the demand side, data analytics plays an equally critical role. By factoring in weather, pricing dynamics, and market competition, platform operators can generate highly accurate forecasts.

"Our algorithms can predict next-day order volumes with around 90 percent accuracy," Jiang noted. The result is a leaner system with significantly reduced inventory pressure and waste.

Zhong Lan, a Dali-based supplier, has spent seven years refining cultivation and preservation techniques of the plant. Through sustained collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, he helped extend its "freshness window" from three days to as long as 12.

Zhong introduced a model combining standardized production with cooperative planting through centralized land management. Today, tens of hectares operate under his system, ensuring both stable output and improved food safety.

Faced with volatile market prices, Zhong has taken a long-term view. Last year, he fixed the purchase price for partner farmers at 10 yuan ($1.45) per kilogram.

"No matter how high the market price goes, I keep it at that level," he said. This price-floor mechanism ensures a stable income for farmers while reinforcing supply reliability.