The Industrial Giant Reborn - Chapter 652

c643 Food and retail developments

There was a joke on the Internet in later generations. At that time, the market value of Yanjing International Airport was almost 56 billion yuan. Netizens roughly calculated that the total housing price of a large community next to it was almost 60 billion yuan, which was more valuable than the airport itself. Not to mention, there are other communities around this airport.

Although industry is the foundation, it is obviously the virtual economy of real estate and financial centers that makes money faster. Europe and the United States began to deindustrialize after becoming developed. The essential reason is this. After people have made enough financial profits, who can still take a fancy to it? What about industry?

Even at the level of European and American countries, they know that this is wrong and are trying their best to save it, but the trend is unstoppable because no one wants to enter the factory. In the end, it is inevitable.

In fact, the mainland will be the same in the future. When the real estate economy becomes commercialized, all local governments will also invest in it. Some of them are also enthusiastic about introducing industry. Is it because they know that developed industry can in turn stimulate the real estate economy? Woolen cloth?

Later, when the mainland entered the 2020s, it was also facing the problem of deindustrialization. Fortunately, there was hope for high-end industries and it avoided falling into a “middle-income trap.”

As an individual, Chen Zhiwen can actually calculate that the wealth contained in the real estate market is probably unmatched by the high-tech field. However, the foundation of the entire group is still various industries and infrastructure, and real estate is only incidental. Although this Incidentally, you may be able to earn higher profits.

We will not take it as the core, but we will not give up the benefits. At the same time, we will not be involved in the most basic housing and focus on various businesses. This is Chen Zhiwen’s requirements and goals for the real estate industry.

Real Estate is the carrier company for him to realize this method. He is committed to real estate. He can do whatever he wants on the mainland. Other companies, unless they are existing industries or need to operate for their own use, are not allowed to personally participate in real estate investment in principle. Especially for companies like Midea and Red Bull, the most important thing is to focus on their own industries.

“Sheng Chen, I don’t know if we can build factories in other cities now?” Factory Director Lin on the side asked.

“Is it because of the transportation needs of the mainland?” Chen Zhiwen understood why.

“Yes, our production capacity is all placed in Shanghai. For export and cargo transportation in coastal cities in the interior, water transportation can be easily used, but it is not convenient inland, especially in the northeast, south, northwest and other provinces and cities. The cost in the past was too high. Although our Master Kong’s instant noodles tasted very good, the price was too high. In addition, these places themselves were not economically prosperous. A few years ago, when there were few competitors, things were better. Now the competition is There are too many competitors, and some even imitate our taste and the prices are much cheaper than ours, which results in the poor sales of our instant noodles in these places.” Factory Director Lin replied.

“Yes, you can negotiate internally on where to build the factory. We do need to take transportation costs into consideration.” Chen Zhiwen nodded.

Because I invested in the Mainland too early, and allowed Master Kong instant noodles to enter the country early, igniting people’s love for instant noodles in advance. This led to the explosion of entrepreneurship in the 1980s, and many people chose to start simple. Instant noodles that are also popular in the market.

It is true that instant noodles are not heavy, but the density is too low, which makes transportation very expensive, because the quantity that a truck can transport is also limited. The lower the density, the greater the loss. In addition, the roads are not good, and the instant noodles themselves are easy to transport. Broken, damaged during transportation, or additional costs required to avoid loss.

At the same time, the construction of domestic highways has only begun in cities with good economies. In most places, traveling far away requires detours in many cities, which costs a lot of time, fuel consumption, and truck losses.

To sum it up, if instant noodles are shipped too far away, the price will inevitably be high. Compared with local or nearby manufacturers, even if they are more delicious, there will be no advantage.

In fact, when Master Kong entered the country, Chen Zhiwen knew that such a situation would definitely occur. He did not expect to monopolize this market. This was impossible, but he still had to make it big. In the early days, it was to compete with the Shanghai Stock Exchange. To maintain a good relationship, we have always placed the factory in Shanghai. Now that it is about to be relocated, we can also move part of the production capacity out. At least there must be a factory in each of the major regions in the country. , which can significantly reduce the terminal price.

“Okay, I will do a market analysis.” Director Lin said: “One more thing, in addition to instant noodles, Master Kong also has many other snacks. This one is also sold through Watsons now, and the sales are pretty good, but our internal analysis , think you can also make some drinks?”

“Beverages? Isn’t this Red Bull’s main business?” Chen Zhiwen asked.

“We have discussed with Qin Sheng, but it may not be suitable for the Red Bull brand.” Director Lin said: “What we mainly make are beverages with domestic demand, such as some herbal teas and juice drinks. We focus on the domestic market rather than foreign countries. , and Red Bull itself is not well-known in China, so it is better to use Master Kong.

The second is that considering the high-end positioning of Red Bull, it is not suitable to use this brand to make mid-to-low-end mass drinks, otherwise it may affect the business of Red Bull beverages.

The third is that Red Bull has invested in many domestic beverage companies in the early years. If Red Bull goes out personally, it may cause some trouble. It would be better to let Master Kong come forward. Although it also belongs to Red Bull, it will be much better. ”

“Well, you are right. In that business, we will use Master Kong’s brand as our brand. Red Bull will specialize in functional drinks.” Chen Zhiwen also agreed.

Not to mention Red Bull, even Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, and other drinks launched do not use their own main names, but replace them with Sprite, Fanta, Mirinda, etc. Red Bull’s main product is high-end functional drinks, which are indeed not suitable for use anymore. Other brands.

As for the drinks made by Master Kong, it doesn’t matter, because the Master Kong brand itself is made for instant noodles, and it is not a problem to use it to make multiple drinks. It will not adversely affect the main business of the Master Kong brand, and it can even promote the brand’s popularity. However, This also has disadvantages. It is difficult to be unique and have the opportunity to reach the top. But if it is tea drinks, everyone is similar, and it is difficult to form a monopoly like cola and functional drinks, especially in the transportation of beverages. High cost.

The two Coca-Cola giants were able to become almost the only two companies because they entered the international market too early. The first-mover advantage and scale advantage were formed, and others had little chance. However, domestically, Very Happy also deployed in the same period and had a large amount of funds. If it is bigger, Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola will not be able to achieve the monopoly position they did in later generations. The three companies basically share the cola market equally.

“As for other foods, you can decide for yourself. I won’t care too much. Just write down the details clearly in the annual information.” Chen Zhiwen added.

The total scale of the food and snack industry is large, but there are too many varieties. Except for instant noodles, it is difficult for other products to have a huge influence, even potato chips. It is not very popular in China to eat this kind of food. Therefore, Master Kong’s influence on Chen Zhiwen wouldn’t ask how snacks were run, and it wouldn’t be of any help if he did. He just needed to know. It was obviously more suitable for professionals to do professional things they were familiar with.

“Okay, Chen Sheng.” Director Lin said.

“In terms of food, the Group is responsible for Master Kong. I hope you will work hard to make some snacks that domestic people like to eat. The current domestic economy is not very good. Food with high calories, salt and oil is not good for everyone. It is still good for your body. You can do some reverse research. Although everyone’s tastes are different in the food markets in Europe, America or Japan a few decades ago, there is always some reference.” Chen Zhiwen said again.

Snacks were not good for health in an era when supplies were abundant, but they were a good thing in a relatively poor era. This is the case with instant noodles. In later generations, it was said that they were not nutritious and made people gain weight, but now they are used to supplement calories. The best method is very suitable for people who travel or occasionally improve their meals. When they were young, many people just wanted to have a bowl of instant noodles, which is better than normal meals. This is true even for drinks such as Coke. In this era, drinks can also add sugar, which is definitely a good thing. However, despite the poor economy, not many people can afford it.

Every era has its own particularities. Only by understanding all these can we better seize opportunities to do business.

“Understood, Chen Sheng.” Director Lin and the person behind him said.

“Okay, let’s go first.” Chen Zhiwen paused and said. He would not do such a thing for a company review. Even if it was really necessary, he could just arrange for someone to do it. Today, he just wanted to come and see it. It’s just a look, let’s see what kind of level Master Kong is that he spent so much effort to build.

In the evening, Chen Zhiwen came to RT-Mart in Puxi, Shanghai, which is also the largest of the 22 RT-Mart supermarkets in Shanghai.

“Good guy, this area feels like it is comparable to Costco in the United States.” Chen Zhiwen said with a smile after walking into the supermarket.

“Sheng Chen, the population near this supermarket is very large, and the economic consumption level can be said to be among the highest in the country. We also estimated the demand based on our experience in Shenhai City, and then opened this store , covering an area of ​​24,000 square meters, you see, the business is very good now, many people are queuing up there to shop, the temperature is not bad now, if it is summer and winter, more people will come.” Watson’s general manager in the mainland The person in charge, Qu Xiangdong, explained.

“Winter or summer? Are you here to use the air conditioner?” Chen Zhiwen paused and asked, “This happens a lot, right? Does it have any impact on the business?”

“Yes, there are. At the beginning, too many people came in and refused to shop, so we had no choice but to call the police. Later, the police came to mediate the situation. Later, things got better. Even if the purpose was to use the air conditioner, it was generally I will buy something.” Qu Xiangdong said.

“This will indeed be a problem. In the future, RT-Mart will open stores in other cities. You should communicate this issue with each other. If it doesn’t go well, there will be a little trouble.” Chen Zhiwen said that in later generations, economic conditions are good, everyone has air conditioners in their homes, and most people I wouldn’t go to the supermarket and waste time just to get some air conditioning, but it’s hard to tell now.

“Okay.” Qu Xiangdong said.

“How is RT-Mart’s staff training going? In the future, we will also start opening stores from the coast to the inland.” Chen Zhiwen asked.

“Sheng Chen, as early as 1985, we already had a plan in this regard. From then on, when we were recruiting, we would deliberately recruit more people. We would rather have too many employees and management in the entire mall than We will maintain this status for a long time, and among the people we recruit, we also specially choose people from some big cities in the interior. If we meet someone with some academic qualifications, we will specially train them and inform them of our plan. When the time comes When you can enter the inland market and open a supermarket, you can send them there. These people have worked in coastal supermarkets for several years and have enough experience. They know their hometown and speak the language. In this way, they can immediately open a supermarket. It can exert its greatest effect.” Qu Xiangdong explained:

“Also, in the past few years, there have been many local private or state-owned supermarkets in the mainland. These supermarkets are not as good as ours on the coast, but we couldn’t get involved in the inland before, but they have opened a lot. After we enter the local area, , you can also poach people from them. The state-owned ones may have a little difficulty poaching people because of the public support, but the private ones are much easier.”

“That’s a good method, but what about logistics and transportation?” Chen Zhiwen asked as he walked. At this moment, there were many people around him choosing what they liked in the supermarket, and Chen Zhiwen was just observing.

“Logistics and transportation rely on road infrastructure. Compared with other supermarkets, we have no advantage in this regard. Even because of our large scale, we will enter many big cities, which will cause higher logistics and transportation costs. At present, we can only try to develop places with convenient transportation first. City, but fortunately we can be selected as the first batch of cities to enter, and the economy is also good. Even if the transportation is not good enough now, it should change soon.” Qu Xiangdong said.

“Which are the first cities you will be stationed in?” Chen Zhiwen asked.

“Hefei, Suzhou, Jinling, Xuzhou, Nanchang.” Qu Xiangdong named more than 30 cities in one breath.

“Well, it is indeed scattered enough, but these cities will indeed be important economic cities in the future. Let’s build supermarkets first, and purchase locally if we can. Later, when the national transportation level improves, we will talk about it. In addition, we can also appropriately It’s time to build a logistics center.” Chen Zhiwen said.

Small supermarkets can just choose to develop in a few nearby cities, but RT-Mart cannot do that. RT-Mart’s goal is to open stores in many cities across the country at the same time. In the future, it will use these cities as the core and spread to the surrounding areas. This has its own shortcomings and advantages.

The disadvantages are that the current costs are extremely high, management difficulties, logistics and transportation costs are high, etc. The advantage is that as long as the initial difficulties are overcome, it is equivalent to putting roots in that place. When the scale becomes large in the future, the country will be connected. At the same time, with the traffic being much better, the cost control can be much better than that of small supermarkets.

This is actually the reason why Wal-Mart finally defeated other supermarkets in the United States. When the scale is large enough and connected together, it will be a crushing blow to any other local supermarkets.

“Yes, Chen Sheng.” Qu Xiangdong said with a smile: “We are already choosing a suitable place for the construction of the logistics center.” (End of Chapter)