Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 387 Chocolate Should Also Be Colorful

"President, do you have any promising targets in mind?"

Jia Benlong hopes that his insurance company can be established as soon as possible so that the company can have more cash flow and he can do more things.

This is also a key reason why he repeatedly persuaded the group to establish an insurance company.

He wanted to expand his authority, increase his influence within the company, and maintain the subsidiary's third-place position.

Yes, that's all the ambition he has for now.

Unfortunately, Xinghai Investment is indeed very profitable, but the number of people involved is extremely small.

Not to mention comparing it to Xinghai Technology and Xinghai Life, it can't even compare to companies like Xinghai Software and Xinghai Communications.

If we don't find a way to increase our workforce, we'll probably be overtaken by rapidly growing new companies like Xinghai Software and Xinghai Communications very soon.

"Hmm, you should check the information first. Recently, more than one insurance company has gone bankrupt."

"Find a suitable acquisition target, and then select a suitable president."

After the bursting of Japan's bubble economy, various industries suffered several major shocks.

The first was naturally the stock market crash in early 1990 and the housing market collapse in 1991.

This is also the most profound impression people have of the bursting of Japan's bubble economy, which led to countless people going bankrupt and committing suicide.

But these are merely quick, decisive acts of violence. The subsequent prolonged economic stagnation, however, is a more insidious and damaging form of violence, a slow and insidious one.

For example, the ice age of employment for Japanese university graduates that began in 1993, or the great decline in the medical industry that began in the same year.

During this period, all industries have been working to save themselves.

The automotive industry performed particularly well, supporting Japan's economic growth.

The electronics industry is barely holding on, still maintaining its dominant position.

The semiconductor industry is in a worse position, as it is being overtaken by Taiwan and South Korea due to a lack of investment.

Without the rise of the Xinghai Group, it is estimated that it would have been overtaken by the interest groups supported by the United States.

The worst hit was the financial industry, which was already severely damaged when the bubble began to burst, resulting in a lot of bad debts.

Subsequently, when Japan launched its economic self-rescue efforts, it was forced to take out loans from insolvent and substandard companies under government pressure to increase employment.

It's important to understand that these substandard companies are basically beyond saving; even with loans, they won't be able to develop and will become a black hole for Japanese assets.

As a result, bad debts in Japan's financial sector have accumulated to an excessive extent, exceeding the industry's manageable risk level.

The current situation is that a large number of financial companies could go bankrupt with just a slight push from a powerful force.

Because the Japanese government still holds considerable power, and the Japanese conglomerates still possess substantial wealth, no external force has yet dared to take the risk of making a move.

However, without external forces, it does not mean that Japan's financial industry can return to normal.

On the contrary, many Japanese financial companies have become complacent and are gradually being drained of their wealth by the sluggish Japanese economy.

This year marks the beginning of the collapse of Japan's financial industry, with many financial professionals losing their jobs.

Generally speaking, developing a company from scratch is a very slow process.

Before the collapse of the Japanese economy, this was probably the only option for the Xinghai Group. But things are different now; many groups are eager to abandon their insurance businesses.

Given such a favorable external environment, Xinghai Group naturally chose the acquisition route. Acquiring a company is always the fastest way to establish a foothold in an industry.

If that doesn't work, we can simply break it up and reorganize it. It's a bankrupt company anyway, so taking it over won't cost much.

In this way, Xinghai Investment can save a lot of time, and Xinghai Insurance Company can get on track sooner.

What Masato Takeshita promised went smoothly within the Xinghai Group.

In less than three days, the company unanimously approved the plan for Jiabenlongzheng to acquire an insurance company and enter the insurance industry at a senior management meeting.

"From now on, everything is in your hands."

"Yes, don't worry, Chairman, I'll handle it."

The Xinghai Insurance matter had just ended when good news came from China.

Zhang Rujing has resolved his family issues and is now able to assume the position of president of Second Wafer Company.

After politely exchanging pleasantries, Masato Takeshita, who personally picked him up at the airport, spoke sincerely.

"Why are you in such a hurry? You should rest at home for a while longer."

He really hoped that Zhang Rujing could rest well before coming, so as to avoid any bad situations arising from family problems.

"Sigh, it's my old problem; I just can't stay still at home."

Zhang Rujing was a typical workaholic, sometimes sleeping only four or five hours a day and working the rest of the time.

Sometimes he gets so engrossed in work that he even talks about work while eating.

At the same time, he has a habit of personally overseeing every aspect of his work. When building the wafer fab, he frequently went to the construction site. He would even eat lunch casually on the construction site.

He and his rival Zhang Zhongmou were two extremes.

He was an approachable person who didn't care much about food or lodging, nor did he care much about wealth, but he had a strong sense of national pride.

He was a serious and assertive man who enjoyed Red Bull and French food, exuding the air of the upper class cultivated in Europe and America.

They have an extreme thirst for power and are driven solely by business acumen. The well-known land tycoons of Hong Kong Island are a prime example of this type of person.

Li Ka-shing is the most famous, so he became their representative.

"That makes sense. People who are used to working really find it hard to relax."

Some elderly people do retain the habit of working; some are forced to, while others simply can't stand being idle.

When they have something to do, they are in good spirits. When they can't do anything, they become listless.

Zhang Rujing should be the latter type of person.

Without this spirit, after failing in Taiwan in my previous life, I would not have entered the mainland to establish SMIC, a semiconductor foundry, nor would I have switched to other semiconductor tracks to continue my efforts after leaving SMIC in desperation.

It embodies a spirit of relentless striving and fighting.

"Yes, life is about constantly trying new things."

After chatting comfortably for a while, Zhang Rujing asked a question rather impatiently.

When can we go to the second wafer foundry?

"Don't worry, the company will arrange accommodation for you first. Then, we'll introduce you to everyone at the senior management meeting next Friday."

When a company undergoes major personnel changes, it is essential to introduce the relevant personnel to senior management.

Of course, it was only briefly introduced near the end of the meeting.

If it is to be highlighted, it needs to reach the level of subsidiary president or the position of vice president of the group headquarters.

"Okay, I understand."

"Okay, that's good. You can spend the next few days traveling around Japan with your family, or exploring the Xinghai Group."

"Yes, thank you, thank you, Chairman."

After the group arrived at the villa that Xinghai Group had prepared for Zhang Rujing's family, Takeshita Masato asked with a smile.

“If you are not satisfied, you can tell the company at any time. The group has many vacant villas.” After the collapse of the Japanese real estate market, Xinghai Group helped many companies solve their land problems in order to respond to the government and improve its relationship with banks.

The villa given to Zhang Rujing was one of them.

Of course, Xinghai Group isn't doing charity work. The land they acquire is always at a significant discount from the market price.

For many companies, this can be considered a charitable act.

After selling the land, they finally had working capital and could start working again to make money.

It's better than having a cash flow crisis and ending up with nothing.

"What's there to be dissatisfied about? I'm very grateful to the company for valuing me."

He also researched Japanese housing at home and learned that the villa in front of him looked no different from his home in the United States, but the price was more than ten times higher.

One costs only a few hundred thousand dollars, but this one costs millions.

The fact that the group gifted me such a large house shows how much they value me.

He was very satisfied, and even had the urge to stay at Xinghai Group.

"That's good. If you need anything, you can just tell Uchida-san."

Zhang Rujing does not have a secretary yet; he will have to choose one after he officially takes office.

It's a bit like using a cannon to kill a mosquito to bother Uchida Miho with such a small matter, but she's the only person the young man can think of right now.

"Okay, thank you, Chairman."

Zhang Rujing had just moved and had a lot of things to do. Therefore, Takeshita Masato didn't stay long and soon tactfully left.

"President, are we going to headquarters?"

"No, go to Xinghai Foods."

While talking to Zhang Rujing, Masato Takeshita suddenly thought of something and decided to discuss it with Hiroaki Kobayashi.

"Yes, President!"

Upon arriving at Kobayashi Hiroaki's office, his personal secretary quickly served the young man his favorite black tea and snacks.

"Hmm, I'm a little hungry, I'll fill my stomach first."

"President, please feel free to do as you please. How about we go to the cafeteria to get something to eat?"

"No need, it'll be lunchtime in a little over an hour."

After eating a few pastries, the young man wiped his mouth with satisfaction and then began to explain the purpose of his trip.

"How are the company's chocolate sales going?"

"It's just average. Even with the advantages of supermarkets and convenience stores, it's difficult to compete with brands like Ferrero and Dove."

Hiroaki Kobayashi didn't previously place much importance on chocolate because the industry was highly competitive.

The same resources can create an industry leader in energy drinks, produce a first-class enterprise in tea drinks, but hardly make a difference in the chocolate industry.

This ancient industry is very unfriendly to emerging companies.

"I see. Don't you think there aren't enough chocolate flavors in Japan?"

"Not enough chocolate flavors?"

Hiroaki Kobayashi was a little confused and couldn't figure out what the chairman was trying to say.

"Yes, there are too few flavors."

Takeshita Masato nodded, then suddenly asked very seriously.

Are you familiar with our company's candy brands?

"Yes, I know. Ever since Xinghai Foods accepted the chairman's suggestion and started producing candies of various flavors, the company's candy sales worldwide have increased significantly."

As they talked, Hiroaki Kobayashi fully understood his chairman's thoughts.

"You mean, we should also develop chocolates in various flavors?"

Since Xinghai Foods started producing various flavors of milk gummies and hard candies based on Masato Takeshita's ideas, Xinghai Candy's various brands have experienced a super boom.

Taking Xinghai Foods China as an example, the sales of the White Rabbit brand alone increased by more than 1000% in just six months.

Of course, this is also related to the increased brand awareness of White Rabbit, changes in marketing style, and the increase in production lines.

White Rabbit is a truly national brand in China. Xinghai Group doesn't need to put in much effort to promote it in China.

If you simply distribute White Rabbit milk gummies and hard candies in various flavors to supermarkets and small shops, people will choose to buy them first.

As for the new marketing style, it simply involves adding packaging attributes related to holidays and gifts.

For example, launching gift packs of milk candies containing various flavors before holidays, as well as more exquisite boxed milk candies.

In this respect, Xinghai Group learned from Hsu Fu Chi and quickly surpassed Hsu Fu Chi.

This is the advantage of high brand awareness; you don't need to do more than your competitors, and you can easily surpass them even if you do the same.

Besides the Chinese domestic market, White Rabbit milk candy has also experienced explosive growth in brand awareness in overseas markets. This growth is even stronger than in the domestic market.

Thanks to Xinghai Group's powerful sales system, White Rabbit candy was finally able to be sold in prominent positions in large supermarkets such as Walmart in the United States and Carrefour in Western Europe.

With increased exposure, sales naturally surged as well.

This greatly pleased the leaders in Shanghai and at higher levels, leading to a continuous increase in their positive perception of Xinghai Group.

Thanks to the efforts of Xinghai Group, the White Rabbit brand has not only created more jobs and increased sales revenue, but has also provided Shanghai with substantial tax revenue and profit sharing.

In addition, the global brand awareness of White Rabbit has increased significantly, and it may really have the opportunity to become a world-class brand.

With the precedent of the milk candy incident, Hiroaki Kobayashi naturally understood the chairman's meaning very quickly.

"Yes, we need to increase the variety of chocolate flavors. Strawberry, apple, and cherry blossom flavors can all be produced in appropriate quantities."

“We can even launch chocolates with flavors exclusive to a particular region, based on the different regional customs.”

In Masato Takeshita's previous life, there were very few chocolate flavors available in Japan during the 1990s.

When the 21st century arrived, a very ordinary chocolate company suddenly started producing chocolates of all flavors.

Then, this chocolate company became the number one chocolate brand in Japan.

It turns out that the Japanese really enjoy trying out all sorts of different kinds of chocolate.

Masato Takeshita only remembered this incident after seeing a piece of chocolate in Zhang Rujing's luggage.

If Xinghai Group focuses on chocolate flavors, it can not only capture the Japanese chocolate market, but also has the opportunity to win over more non-European and American markets, including China.

As for Europe and America, there are too many chocolate brands there, and their strength is too great. Even if Xinghai Foods suddenly comes up with a surprising move, it can only occupy a portion of the low-to-mid-end market at most.

"Understood, Chairman. I'll have Nagashima Shigeo come over right away."

Shigeo Nagashima, former head of Xinghai Lifestyle's China operations, recently took over as president of Xinghai Foods from Sculley.

This is almost an explicit hint from Masato Takeshita: if you want a promotion within the group, then go and explore overseas markets.

(End of this chapter)