Tree to Bottle in 36 Hours | Generated by AI
Question: How does Zhong Shanshan of Nongfu Spring describe how he picks oranges, how to keep fresh juice, etc., including squeezing juice after picking them on the tree and keeping it fresh instead of transporting them to the factory to do that etc.
Answer:
Zhong Shanshan (钟睒睒), the founder of Nongfu Spring (农夫山泉), has emphasized a strong focus on freshness and quality in orange selection and processing, particularly for their orange juice products like the 17.5° series and NFC (Not From Concentrate) juices. He is deeply involved in agriculture, especially with navel oranges (脐橙) from Ganzhou (赣南), Jiangxi, where Nongfu Spring has invested heavily for over 17 years.
Key points from his descriptions and company practices:
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Orange Picking/Selection Criteria: Oranges are picked only when they reach “natural ripeness” on the tree (树上“自然熟”). They must meet specific standards for sweetness and acidity (酸甜度达标). Only qualified oranges are allowed to be harvested. This ensures high quality and optimal flavor (e.g., aiming for around 17.5° Brix level in sweetness for the flagship product). Zhong has highlighted that good juice starts from properly grown and selected fruit, treating agriculture with the same rigor as their water sourcing.
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Fresh Squeezing Process (现摘现榨): For their premium “17.5°” freshly squeezed orange juice, the process emphasizes extreme freshness. Oranges are picked from the tree, squeezed into juice at the local factory (e.g., in Xinfeng County, Ganzhou), and bottled quickly. The entire “pick-squeeze-fill” (采榨灌) cycle is completed in as little as 36 hours. This is done on-site or very close to the orchards to minimize time from tree to bottle, rather than long-distance transport of fruit before processing.
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Keeping Juice Fresh: They use cold-pressing (冷压榨) technology to extract juice, followed by instant sterilization and aseptic cold-filling (无菌冷灌装). The product is transported and sold via full cold chain (全程冷链) to preserve freshness without preservatives. This approach aims to deliver a taste “infinitely close to nature” and retain the fruit’s natural nutrition and flavor. Unlike traditional methods where fruit might be transported long distances to factories (potentially losing freshness), Nongfu Spring’s factories are built near the orchards (e.g., Asia’s largest orange juice processing plant in Xinfeng) to enable rapid on-site processing.
Zhong Shanshan has described his approach to agriculture as persistent and hands-on, solving technical challenges (like bitterness in navel orange juice) through years of research. He views it as a commitment to quality over shortcuts, stating that he treats farming with the same high standards as water sourcing—personally involved and unwilling to compromise on freshness or natural quality. For standard NFC products, it’s also fresh-squeezed and not-from-concentrate, but the “17.5°” line particularly highlights seasonal, ultra-fresh “pick-and-squeeze” to mimic drinking freshly squeezed juice at the source.
This model helps farmers by providing stable sales while delivering fresher juice to consumers compared to transporting whole oranges over long distances before juicing.
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