"Have you ever considered the mainland market?" Chen Zhiwen asked again.
"Mainland? Can't our products enter?" Qin Zhihao was stunned for a moment.
"It's just that we can't get in now. Maybe there will be a chance in the future." Chen Zhiwen thought for a while and then said: "These are a bit too far-reaching. You should first take down the internal market in Hong Kong before talking about it."
In fact, in the 1980s, there was no shortage of milk in the country, but the problem was that it was difficult to ensure that it would not deteriorate during transportation. This resulted in people living near cattle farms drinking milk until they vomited, which might cost more than drinking boiled water. Low, and far away, even in some cities, even if you have money, you can't buy milk.
For this problem, we need to rely on a company called Tetra Pak in Europe. This company is the world's top provider of beverage packaging equipment. It has the most advanced aseptic sterilization technology, which can sterilize milk and yogurt and seal them. Generally, the shelf life can be maintained for half a year.
It's just that this type of equipment is very expensive. With the domestic foreign exchange situation in the 1980s, it was impossible to buy this kind of equipment. If Yili Dairy develops well, it can go to the mainland to do this business or build a milk factory in the mainland. , self-produced and sold.
The mainland's dairy industry is a super market. In the future, Mengniu + Yili will be very good if they can get one of these industries. Moreover, they have overseas terminal retail advantages. As long as they can do well in China, they may be able to win. It can be made into milk powder for export, or even worse, dairy products can be used as snacks.
These things are too far away, and Chen Zhiwen can only make a long-term goal. At least this direction is feasible.
"Okay, then I will arrange for the previous employees of Dairy Milk International to go overseas to purchase equipment and dairy cows." Qin Zhihao said.
"Okay." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
"One more thing, Mr. Chen, our instant noodles have also begun to be exported to Japan and the United States. Judging from the feedback we have received so far, it is not ideal." Qin Zhihao reported with some shame.
"It's expected. It's not a new food. There are hundreds of instant noodle companies in Japan, and there is no culture of eating instant noodles in the United States. It's expected that our sales are not good." Chen Zhiwen said nonchalantly.
Japan is the ancestor of instant noodles. It has been playing for more than 20 years. It is too difficult for foreign players to get in. As for the United States, instant noodles are not eaten there. Even Japan’s number one instant noodles brand cannot sell much in the United States. In the end, it only Instant noodles can be changed into soup and sold to Americans to drink with it.
The main markets for instant noodles are still the Mainland and Southeast Asia. Now they are sent to Japan, the United States and even Europe, just to stabilize the business. After all, no matter how low the purchasing power of Europe and the United States is, such a large base can still support an instant noodle company in Hong Kong. Survive first, and then slowly find ways to do better. At the same time, you can also try to enter the Southeast Asian market. Especially if PARKnSHOP is launched in Asia, the effect should be good. .
Of course, this is also due to the relationship between Xinghe Trading, otherwise, no-name instant noodles would have no way to enter American supermarkets.
Red Bull's decision to compete with Dairy Milk International for the Hong Kong dairy market was indeed something Chen Zhiwen had not expected before. Since his subordinates are willing, he will naturally support it. If it succeeds and has an industry in Hong Kong, it can rely on this technology With experience, I will invest domestically in the future.
There are many grasslands in the country, and raising dairy cows there should be very effective. If we can do it well in the mainland, we will have an industry no smaller than instant noodles. Perhaps we can also reduce costs and sell them to overseas European and American countries on a large scale, which would be even more profitable.
On July 20, Zhao Defeng officially signed a letter of intent for cooperation with Galaxy Group. The Zhao family exchanged 5 square kilometers of land in Tin Shui Wai for Galaxy Real Estate's two industrial office buildings in Hung Hom and a small hotel property on the Kowloon Peninsula.
Judging from the area, Zhao Defeng naturally suffered a big loss, but the current 5 square kilometers of land, the Zhao family can't make a penny from this wasteland, only the occasional fish in the fish pond, but it has been converted into 2 industrial office buildings and A small hotel is enough for the Zhao family to make a net income of several million Hong Kong dollars a year, and the whole family will be worry-free for several lifetimes.
This may be more meaningful than guarding a large wasteland, at least better for the current Zhao family.
After receiving the land in Tin Shui Wai, Chen Zhiwen also made a special trip, and finally decided with Xu Jinhong, Qin Zhihao and Zhou Jiayang on the location of the factory, cattle farm and port. In fact, it was only a small part of the land, and other places were still Keeping it as it is, abandoned without development, has little commercial value.
There will be no planting here. All feed grass can be imported from Southeast Asia, or from the mainland next door. This may not be possible now, but after the reopening, Chen Zhiwen remembers that the first person to invest in the Shekou Industrial Zone was a Thai company specializing in feed. Large groups can just meet their needs.
At the same time, some engineers who jumped over from Milk International are developing equipment, quotations, etc. for various companies.
After everything was settled, Chen Zhiwen let his subordinates operate on their own. He only guided the direction of these potential businesses in the future. In fact, even without his guidance, when Red Bull reaches a certain scale, it will gradually diversify. After all, Red Bull’s own hot sales allow it to have channels to talk to large supermarkets around the world, and there is no shortage of funds and talents. It will definitely find ways to make more common foods or drinks. As long as there is an opportunity, it will try it. It doesn’t matter if you fail, but you will make a lot of money if you succeed.
Red Bull in history actually did diversify its business, but it was not food, but investment in various sports events, buying racing teams, teams, etc. The direction was different from today's Red Bull. When Red Bull has enough money, At that time, we could also develop in this direction. Not to mention other things, if we win the American NBA team and train a few Chinese players, the domestic beverage and food markets will be more stable.
Connaught Building.
Niubijian was sitting next to the sunny floor-to-ceiling window, looking melancholy at the huge building complex opposite Victoria Harbor in the distance, which was once an attempt by the Jardine Matheson Group to develop a new shopping model for Hong Kong in the future.
As early as the era of the previous chief executive, Henry Keswick, Jardine Matheson's senior management discovered a serious problem, that is, the shopping model before the 1960s could no longer meet the shopping needs of many local Hong Kong and foreign tourists.
The reason is very simple. The shopping malls in Central are all located in various office buildings, usually on the lower floors. However, the area of the office buildings is limited. Customers will be gone after shopping for a while and need to go to another shopping mall. But the problem is If it is too hot in summer, rainy or windy, it will not be conducive to the exchange of customer traffic between shopping malls. In addition, due to serious homogeneity, many people will feel bored and stop coming.
It wouldn't matter if each shopping mall belonged to a different owner. However, the major commercial buildings in Central are all owned by Land, and there is too little foot traffic, which is not conducive to Land's increased rent.
Therefore, the entire Jardine Matheson Group launched two plans, one is the Central District Redevelopment Plan, which will renovate more than a dozen buildings in the Central District, redesign many plans, and connect all shopping malls with overpasses, so that no matter what the environment outside, It does not affect the flow of customers in different shopping malls. The second one is to build Hong Kong's largest shopping mall, Harbor City, in Tsim Sha Tsui opposite Central, using the port left behind after the Wharf was relocated.
Harbor City's capital consumption is more than Land's Central District redevelopment. Unfortunately, after nearly 10 years of hard work, I didn't expect that someone would snatch it away when the fruit was about to be harvested. And if Wharf succeeds, it may still be Affect Land's business.
"Dong dong dong" There was a knock on the door behind him. Niubijian turned around and saw it was Bao Fuda, so he said, "What's wrong?"
"It's not a big deal, but I think I need to talk to you." Bao Fuda walked in and said: "Recently, many people in the dairy department of the milk company have asked to leave, which has affected normal operations, so the people below have reported. It’s just a small thing, but the place these people went to was a newly opened subsidiary of Red Bull called Yili Dairy.”
"Red Bull? Chen Zhiwen also wants to enter the milk supply market?" Niubijian became excited after hearing this.
"Yes, and I also found out that Galaxy Real Estate has bought a large piece of land in Tin Shui Wai, North District, and plans to build a large dairy farm there." Bao Fuda said.
"The milk distribution industry is not very small, but the market is only in Hong Kong. With Chen Zhiwen's style, it doesn't seem like he will pay attention to this industry. It is probably his Red Bull company that wants to do this." Newbi Jian thought for a moment and said.
Hong Kong's consortia like diversification the most, and so does Jardine Matheson. There are probably hundreds of subsidiaries under it, and these subsidiaries may also have different businesses. In general, professional managers like them may not be able to say out of all the business.
But they can control the company by focusing on two points. The first is the company's key businesses, and the second is the financial status of each subsidiary. If the financial status is not good, find out which business is causing it, and cut it if it should be cut. If the financial status is average, , then keep going, and the leaders will not interfere too much. Such excellent financial performance means that it is very likely to become one of the main businesses, so it will naturally be taken seriously.
They are already familiar with these routines, and Newbijian has also done some research on Chen Zhiwen's family history and daily business behavior, so they can come up with this answer.
"The question is, what should we do if Yili competes with milk companies?" Bao Fuda said: "In the past few years, our terminal milk prices have increased a lot. If Yili lowers its price or even costs it, we will That’s troublesome, this is a method Chen Zhiwen often tries.”
"Let's see first. Cows don't produce milk that quickly. In half a year, Yihe's overseas situation will be better. Then we will look at the situation based on the situation." Newbijian said.
"Okay." Bao Fuda nodded. In fact, the milk business is just one of the marginal businesses of the entire Land. If it weren't for Chen Zhiwen, he wouldn't pay much attention to it. Anyone who dares to provoke can just suppress it directly. But then again, that's it. Chen Zhiwen, inexplicably, has to spend money to buy land and build a breeding farm to enter this market when the Hong Kong dairy market is already controlled by others. Theoretically speaking, the probability of success for ordinary people is extremely low.
Wednesday, July 26th.
Chen Zhiwen, who was relatively leisurely during this period, personally came to Kai Tak Airport to pick up someone, who was Costco's current general manager Pierce.
"Eric, long time no see." When Pierce saw Chen Zhiwen, he immediately gave him a big hug.
"Pierce, I suspect you are only 50 years old." Chen Zhiwen said with a smile.
"Haha, I hope so, but unfortunately, this is just the surface. My body is still not as good as before. I just took a plane, but it was a bit uncomfortable." Pierce said with a smile.
"Did you hit the airflow?" Chen Zhiwen asked. Pierce is currently the core figure of Costco. Every time he travels, he always travels in first class. The reason why he does not choose private jets is because private jets are currently too small and can turn upside down when encountering any turbulence. That’s him. This young man couldn't stand it, especially for long-distance flights. He might as well choose first class on a Boeing 747.
If you feel that a seat is still crowded, you can book the entire first class cabin.
"A small draft, but they are all fine, I feel uncomfortable, haha, after all, I am old, I can't compare." Pierce smiled, and then said: "Eric, this is Bernie Marcus. When I came to Hong Kong for the first time, I thought Bernie had a good idea that needed investment."
"Hello, Mr. Marcus." Chen Zhiwen nodded and shook hands. During the previous phone call, Chen Zhiwen knew Pierce's purpose of coming to Hong Kong, but what he said on the phone was not very clear. He only knew that Bernie in front of him had a very good character. ideas, but lack of funds.
After racking his brains before, he didn't know who this person was, at least not very famous in later generations, but since he was favored by Pierce, he had some ability and connections. If he wanted to invest, it didn't matter if he invested it himself. If he failed, he wouldn't have much money. , maybe you can make a small fortune if you succeed.
"Hello, Mr. Chen, just call me Bernie." Bernie Marcus said back.
"Okay." Chen Zhiwen nodded.
Pierce said: "Let's go to a quiet place and talk. Bernie has a plan ready."
"Okay, let's go." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said. When it comes to investment, it is always bad to talk on the road.
After a while, the group arrived at a conference room on the highest floor of the Galaxy Building.
After Bernie took out a stack of documents from his briefcase, he said: "Mr. Chen, this is a business model that I have been conceiving in the past two years. It is similar to Costco in many aspects, but the main business direction is It’s all kinds of furniture, building materials, tools, etc.”
"Furniture? Building materials?" Chen Zhiwen's eyes lit up and he immediately took the documents.
It has to be said that Bernie in front of him is very well prepared. This business document is actually written in both Cantonese and English. This makes Chen Zhiwen a lot more convenient. Although he understands English and his spoken English is good, it does not mean that he can It is easy for him to read such professional business documents, but he will get a headache if he reads too much.
The translator on the side also got a backup copy. She was not responsible for reading the commercial content, but was only responsible for checking whether there were any problems with the document translation to avoid misunderstandings.
"Yes, this is a business model that Bernie conceived based on the special national conditions of the United States." Pierce said with a smile: "In the United States, if a small thing breaks in a family, the cost of repair is extremely high, mainly because professional labor is expensive. In fact, ordinary people can make many things by themselves, but if they can't buy the corresponding items, such as a piece of wood, they end up having to find someone to make it, which is too costly.
Therefore, the logic of this new business model is to provide various furniture components, materials, and various tools. The advantage of this is that the transportation cost is low, because only wood needs to be transported instead of hollow cabinets. For this reason alone, I Agreed, Eric, what do you think? "
"It's a very good idea." Chen Zhiwen nodded and said.
Isn't this more than good? Is this another retail giant that will intensify its material monopoly? Home Depot? Unexpectedly, it was delivered to my door.
PS: Ask for monthly tickets at the beginning of the month
(End of chapter)
