1) Preparation

(1) Motives

Our school hosts a school fair every spring to celebrate the school anniversary. There are food and game booths, as well as charity bazaar of second-hand articles. This year, the school offers several booths to the non-profit organizations, so that they have the opportunity to sell their products in our school and promote their organization. It is a meaningful undertaking for the school celebration.

One of the non-profit organizations was Kids’ Book House of Taitung, which intended to sell locally produced passion fruit jam and concentrated juice for the fundraising and promotion of food safety. We planned to sell the Red on Tree jam and seasonal fruits to promote the local agricultural products. As our plan fits the theme of food safety, we applied to adopt the booth for our charity activity.

(2) Stock preparation

At the same time, the preparation of fresh fruits was a big challenge for us. We hoped to find a supplier from the orchards we visited, while putting into consideration the harvest season, storage period, transportation, students’ preference, and product popularity. After long discussion, we decided to choose guava as our main selling goods. However, we knew very little about running a business and had to ask for help from our parents. During this process, we learnt the basic business process.

1. Determine the purchase quantity, type and delivery time.
2. Contact the supplier to quote the price based on the purchase quantity and type.
3. Confirm the quotation, and negotiate the price based on the market price, and determine the unit price of purchase.
4. Confirm the delivery time and choose the method of payment upon delivery in order to minimize the risk of delayed shipment.
5. Confirm the delivery place and complete the transaction.

(3) Promotion preparation

After determining our merchandises, we decided to make a banner for the theme of food safety, so as to attract the customers. We also made posters and advertising boards to introduce guava and Red on Tree. Those promotional materials were made by our team efforts and everything was ready in no time, and we were just waiting for the big day.

Prepare the banner of food safety		Prepare the banner of Kids’ Book House		Prepare the guava poster

Making small posters		Making small posters and promotional materials		Making small posters

2) Event day

(1) Booth preparation

We arrived at the school in the early morning for the booth preparation. Due to limited time, we met at the school entrance, and carried the guava, jam, juice, and cookies into the school. Then we started to decorate the booth. We were assigned an L-shaped booth. On one side of the booth it was used to promote Kids’ Book House, and on the other side it was to promote Red on Tree and guava. All team members worked together to set up the posters, advertising boards, and sorted the paper bags. After the main decoration was done, we began to arrange the merchandises. The processed products were easy to arrange due to the packaging, but stacking the guava nicely took us a long time. After all our efforts, we did set up an attractive booth. Then we started to pack the guava into six fruits per bag. As we opened the boxes, we could smell the aroma of the guava, and many parents who were passing by were ready to buy.

(2) Successful sales

Our team members were divided into several groups, including the counter group, promotion group, and guide group. We also arranged for our different shifts. When the school announced the beginning of the fair, the guests and the students crowded the playground. We were worried that the students had no interest in the fruits and fruit product, but unexpectedly, it was the parents who were eager to buy, and guava was the first product to be sold out. The team members at the counter were so busy, they had to ask other members to help out. Together, we successfully completed the sales.

The aroma of the guavas attracted many customers. We kept some guava as sample to introduce the Red on Tree jam. We discovered we were all natural salespersons and it was easy for us to explain the making of natural jam. Within just two hours, all goods were sold out. We thought probably food safety is a major concern of many parents. The locally produced fruits and safe food manufactures are really important for the consumers. Our success indeed reflects the strong demand for local grown and safe food products.

(3) Charity income

After a long time of planning, we sold all our merchandises within two hours. Later we cleaned up the booth, and sent two members of our team to settle the proceeds we had generated. Our income was divided into two parts. The income for Kids’ Book House was donated for the study subsidy of the school children in the remote townships of Taitung. The incomes from the sales of the guava and Red on Tree jam were contributed to an emergency fund for the school along with other charity income. After deducting the cost, the profit was over NTD3,000. Although it was not a big amount, our purpose of promoting local fruits and food safety was fully achieved.