337: Chapter 331 Qiu Dazhi’s Proposal 337: Chapter 331 Qiu Dazhi’s Proposal Sun Jinzhong hadn’t lied in his words.
The Tong Daqiang from before was plump and fair-skinned, but now, he had darkened and slimmed down.
Barring any accidents, this must have all been from exhaustion!
On the document in front of Chen Hai, Sun Jinzhong and Tong Daqiang, one was a factory manager, the other a deputy factory manager.
As for their salary standards, both were the same, two hundred yuan a month.
To put things into perspective, in a small city like Liuyuan County in the present era, an average worker’s salary was also around a hundred yuan or so.
The salary standards offered by Peach Blossom Wine Industry were of the same order.
The original workers of the distillery had all bought out their work years, and now when they worked in the distillery, they could only be considered contract workers.
Of course, there were a few workers who, after buying out their work years, were unwilling to return to the distillery as contract workers, but ultimately these were in the minority.
Apart from the original workers, the distillery now also had some employees who were recruited from the general public.
Despite the low wages offered by the factory, there were still many people knocking their heads together, eager to work there.
On the day of recruitment, for the twenty available positions, at least more than two hundred people applied, hoping to enter the distillery.
The deputy factory manager Tong Daqiang, for the sake of that monthly wage of two hundred yuan, had worn himself down to such a ghostly state.
It seemed he truly took this job as his career, fighting with his life to make the distillery succeed!
Unfortunately, managing a business often isn’t something that can be accomplished just by hard work alone.
Both Sun Jinzhong and Tong Daqiang were fundamentally grass-roots individuals with limited exposure.
Their perspectives and overall views on matters were somewhat lacking, and they needed more practice.
“Let’s hear it, you two, how did you come up with the idea of selling bulk liquor?
And why set the price so low?” Chen Hai took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over Sun Jinzhong and Tong Daqiang as he spoke again.
“At first, when we started trial production, we indeed made a batch of bottled liquor, hoping to penetrate the market!”
“But, when I took this liquor out to sell, people dismissed it as soon as they saw our brand was completely unknown, outright rejecting it without a second word.”
“Seeing that the liquor we produced couldn’t be sold and only stored in the warehouse, Brother Zhong and I thought about it and decided to skip the bottling and just sell bulk liquor!”
“The retail price for bulk liquor on the market is generally around two yuan or so.
We didn’t want to undercut, but if we priced it higher, we couldn’t sell it…”
Tong Daqiang, head hung low, spoke again to explain.
It wasn’t that they were neglectful in running the distillery; it was more because their thinking was somewhat rigid.
Unable to sell the bottled liquor due to lack of fame, they turned to bulk!
No buyers for bulk liquor if the price was high?
As long as there was a little profit, they would immediately cut the price…
Tong Daqiang and Sun Jinzhong, in their problem-solving, were utterly unable to break free from traditional constraints.
Both of them had only finished junior high school, had read too few books, and certainly hadn’t received higher education.
Previously, they’d been nothing more than street hooligans, with no experience in corporate companies; asking them to manage a business was like forcing ducks onto a perch.
Maybe in the future, once their horizons broadened and they encountered more people and events, they would naturally understand some things!
But now, asking them to manage the distillery was truly difficult for the two of them!
Thinking of this, Chen Hai began to feel a headache coming on.
After a moment of silence, he turned his gaze to Qiu Dazhi, who had been silent the whole time, and said, “Dazhi, as a high-level talent from Xiangjiang, do you have any opinions on the operation of the distillery?”
“Boss, the few old masters in our distillery are quite skilled!”
“The white liquor they blend has a mellow taste and a first-rate mouthfeel, strong and satisfying without being nauseating.”
“In my opinion, selling such high-quality white liquor as bulk instead of pursuing a high-end market is simply a waste of resources.”
Saying this, Qiu Dazhi deliberately paused and cast a sidelong glance at Sun Jinzhong and Tong Daqiang.
It appeared that he might have had some disagreements with the two due to this matter.
Here, he represented the Sea King Group from Xiangjiang that had acquired the distillery.
In reality, however, his role was somewhat superficial.
Having a person from Xiangjiang made dealing with government entities easier for Peach Blossom Wine Industry, bringing numerous facilitations and preferential policies.
It couldn’t be helped; that was the nature of the times—the outsider monk had an easier time chanting sutras.
When it came to the distillery’s affairs, Qiu Dazhi, the man from Xiangjiang, felt somewhat powerless.
Even if Sun Jinzhong and Tong Daqiang made decisions he disagreed with, and he voiced his opinions, they were largely ignored.
Regarding this, Qiu Dazhi was also at a loss.
After all, he was well aware that in the eyes of his boss, his status was far less significant than that of Sun Jinzhong and Tong Daqiang.
“Dazhi, don’t hesitate, if you have any good suggestions, just speak up!” Chen Hai nodded and spoke up.
As for selling bulk wine, he was very dissatisfied himself.
If their Peach Blossom Wine Industry’s wine could take the high-end route, he would naturally be very happy to see it.
“Boss, our wine is of good quality; since there’s no problem there, the only thing missing if we want to enter the high-end market is fame.”
“Fame can be hyped up, as long as we’re willing to invest and make our wine a household name, it is not an impossibility.”
“This is what I’m thinking, to enhance the fame of our wine, we could start by getting some honorary certificates from some international organizations related to liquor!”
“For example, something like the Asian Wine Industry Association or the Southeast Asian Liquor Association, they’re just big names meant to impress people; in reality, they’re just fly-by-night organizations with no real influence.”
“Get a gold award from them, those few honorary certificates can be obtained with just a little money.”
“With the medals and certificates in hand, we can then make up stories.”
“Like saying something about our Peach Blossom Wine Industry’s wine being brought to an international exhibition, where it was neglected.”
“You, as the boss, couldn’t bear the humiliation and, in a fit of anger, smashed the exhibit wines on the floor, immediately filling the entire exhibition hall with the fragrance of wine, attracting the attention of all the judges!”
“In the end, all the judges were won over by our wine, awarding it as the only gold medal of the exhibition.”
…
Qiu Dazhi went on and on for half an hour.
It seemed that these suggestions he brought up must have been well considered for quite some time.
It’s just that without Chen Hai around, he had no opportunity to truly voice his thoughts.
“Making up such preposterous stories is just deceiving people!”
Sun Jinzhong, apparently a bit upset about Qiu Dazhi stealing the spotlight, grumbled discontentedly.
“What do you mean ‘deceiving people’?
The marketplace is a battlefield, and in war, deception is the norm.”
“The gold medals our wine has won are real, and as for the credibility of the international organizations awarding them, our countrymen are not aware, are they?”
“Given the current environment, as long as it’s from abroad, most people here think it’s good.”
“A wine that has won a few gold medals overseas is synonymous with high-quality and upscale; the prestige immediately rises!”
“How many drinkers are going to have enough free time and boredom to go overseas to investigate the influence of those bogus associations?”
Qiu Dazhi completely scoffed at Sun Jinzhong’s words, mercilessly countering him on the spot.
After his remarks, Sun Jinzhong and Tong Daqiang were left without a response.
After all, once they thought about it, they had to admit that what Qiu Dazhi was saying was indeed the raw truth.
Yanhuang Country was just beginning to open its eyes to the world.
In the minds of most people, the moon seemed rounder overseas than at home.
The trend of going abroad was so popular that anyone with a bit of capability and background wanted to send their children overseas.
Some even left comfortable lives in their homeland to wash dishes abroad.
If their wine could, as Qiu Dazhi suggested, bring back a few gold medals from overseas?
No matter the actual value of those gold medals, many would believe that winning awards overseas was a matter of national pride, and that their Peach Blossom Wine Industry’s products were excellent wines, a synonym for high-quality and upscale…
“Clap clap clap…” Chen Hai applauded, and even he had to agree with Qiu Dazhi’s words, finding his proposal to be very feasible.
“Well said.
If our wine is to go high-end, for the wine bottle, we should get some fine arts students to design it well; it has to be as exquisite as possible!”
“Ordinary glass bottles look too cheap, we can go to Jingdezhen and custom-make a batch of fine porcelain to use as wine bottles.”
“The ordinary wine, which is the Peach Blossom Brew series, should start at least at ninety-nine yuan in price.
The wine bottle and wine box should be as elaborate as possible, don’t worry about spending money.”
“A two hundred yuan box, containing wine worth nine yuan, selling for ninety-nine, no matter what, we are making a profit!”
“The high-end brand, the Peach Blossom Immortal Brew, needs to be at least ten times the price, selling for nine hundred and ninety-nine yuan.”
“Some people, huh, they don’t buy what’s right, they buy what’s expensive.
Just drinking wine, if you set the price too low, they feel it’s not prestigious enough, not fitting their status, and won’t even glance at it!”
Chen Hai chuckled and added, “Once the product is ready, and we have the gold awards, we need to keep up with the publicity.”
“Place an ad in the newspaper, boast about our Peach Blossom Immortal Brew, it shouldn’t be too expensive.”
“When I return to the Capital City, I’ll see if I can use some connections to get our wine advertised on television!”
In those days, there were very few television stations, and without a doubt, CCTV-1 had the greatest influence.
In this regard, although Chen Hai didn’t have direct access, if he asked Uncle Ban for help, solving this issue shouldn’t be too difficult.