The firm was the first company in Shanghai to obtain the Organic Food Certificate.

It offers more than 140 kinds of products every year, grown on around 15 hectares of land in Shanghai's Songjiang District.

Farmers at SEAT work from 6-10 am and from 2-6 pm each day.

All the harvested vegetables are stored in a cold storage room for three hours.

After being packaged, they are again kept in a cold room with a temperature of 20 C and are finally delivered by refrigerated trucks to supermarkets in Shanghai and other cities in East China.

Roughly speaking, the process of harvesting vegetables to selling them on the market takes 20 hours.

Besides SEAT, another supplier from Beijing called Ouge Organic Farm provides products for big supermarkets across Shanghai.

According to an employee surnamed Li, based in a Shanghai Carrefour, nearly 10 branches have been selling organic products since 2001.

The sales volume is more than 4 times as much as that at the beginning, especially in Gubei and Jinqiao districts where many expatriates live.

For instance, the daily sale of organic products at the Gubei store can reach 20,000 yuan (US$2,500), compared with 4,000 yuan (US$500) in 2001.

Guy Wiener, general manager of SEAT, is confident about his business.

"Although the market share for organic vegetables is rather small right now, it shows that there is room to develop in the future," he said.

The German businessman pointed out that the market for organic products could become "a mess" if many people plunge into the business as "not everyone will keep to the standards."

He added: "Strict regulations and strong support from the government are really needed."

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