Barley ears a hit with business owners looking to bring auspiciousness, boost sales

Barley ears, or “Damai” in Chinese, which is also a homonym for “strong sales”, are being widely used at opening ceremonies of stores to bring in hot sales of the stores’ products. At the same time, they are also a good material for making bouquets to decorate rooms.

Barley ears (Photo/pixabay.com)

A flower store in Chengdu, capital of southwest China’s Sichuan province, has seen increasing sales of baskets of barley ears since it began to sell them two years ago. This April alone, the store sold about 300 baskets of barley ears.

A basket of barley ears can sell for as much as 368 yuan due to its high popularity. One customer spent nearly 15,000 yuan ($2,339) purchasing 88 baskets of barley ears from the store, the largest order the store had received since its opening.

Barley ears can also keep for a long time. “Fresh flowers can easily droop in the summer heat, but barley ears will retain their shape for a long time,” said the shop owner.

Liu Zhiyu, who supplies barley ears to the flower store, said his shop sold over 7,000 baskets on May 1, and the products even went out of stock ahead of the May Day holiday.

The golden barley ears sold in the market are different from those grown in the fields, according to Liu, who explained that in order to make golden barley ears, they would first harvest long-eared wheat crops that are approaching maturity, and then have them cleaned, dried and dyed.

In 2019, Liu signed contracts with wheat growers, entrusting the farmers to plant a barley variety that is suitable for making bouquets. Much to Liu’s surprise, the products sold out quickly after they hit the market in 2020.

Last year, Liu expanded the planting area of the barley to about 6.67 hectares in order to meet market demand. “Many people like me have contracted land to plant barley this year, as the demand for barley remains high,” Liu revealed.

When asked if the barley ears are overpriced, Ma Liwei, deputy secretary general of China Flower Arrangement Association, said 368 yuan is a reasonable price for a basket of barley ears when labor, material, and logistical costs are taken into consideration.