1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 283 Resumption of Port Supply
"How much did he quote? Why did he just hang up on it?"

"HKD 2.5 per pound".

"That's still a lot! It's more than 50 cents per pound. If you sell 30,000 pounds a day, that's an extra 15,000 yuan!"

"Hmm~ 2.5 Hong Kong dollars is roughly equivalent to 2.7 RMB."

"That'll cost an extra two cents, which adds up to 21,000 yuan a day. That's quite a lot, Jiazhi!" Yi Dinggan was tempted and wanted to persuade him to agree directly.

Chen Jiazhi pondered for a moment and said, "It's not enough. I asked Hong Zhong, and the wholesale price of Hong Kong green bell peppers is at least HK$6 per catty."

Yi Dinggan exclaimed in surprise, "It's really damn expensive, but without them, it wouldn't be able to be sold in Hong Kong, would it?"

"Fine, I won't sell!"

"Are you really willing to spend such a large sum of money?"

“Of course I’m reluctant, but if we keep backing down, we’ll only be exploited more and more.” Chen Jiazhi pondered, “So we must be determined to be irreconcilable!”
We need to let them know that if we can't trade on an equal footing, we'd rather not do the business.

Believe me, the green peppers we have are in high demand!
Hong Kong businessmen are even more reluctant to give up these profits than we are, especially companies like Tong Hing Tai that have already profited from them!

Moreover, even without Tongxingtai, we'll be able to contact other suppliers sooner or later!

Yi Dinggan roughly understood, "A person should have backbone; constantly giving in will only embolden the other party to take advantage of you!"

“That’s exactly right,” Chen Jiazhi said. “He will definitely attack again.”

Yi Dinggan then asked, "What about the plan for the next batch?"

“Let’s do it your way, start strong!” Chen Jiazhi clenched his fist and pressed it against the table. “Also, try the insect netting on a smaller scale.”

"The cost is too high, and it's also troublesome to manage."

"Actually, the production cost of insect netting isn't that high..."

"Jingle Bell……"

The phone rang again, and Chen Jiazhi said, "We'll talk about the insect netting later. Let's stick to the planting plan we just discussed. I'll have another battle of wits with the Hong Kong businessman."

"Okay~" Yi Dinggan didn't leave either, he sat and watched the show.

Chen Jiazhi answered the phone. It was Xia Youche again. "Director Chen, in business, cooperation is the only way to achieve a win-win situation. If this continues, we will both suffer heavy losses."

"Ha!" Chen Jiazhi sneered, "You're too greedy. Besides, you're not the only vegetable wholesaler in Hong Kong!"

"I have some hot items, do you think I'm worried about not being able to get in touch?"

Xia Youche smiled dismissively, "Director Chen, you don't need to bluff me. The price of green peppers has been rising for several days now. If you could really find them, would you have waited until now?"

Even if you find it, will others be willing to offer you a high price?

Chen Jiazhi said nonchalantly, "If I can't find it, so be it. Anyway, I don't have to worry about selling in Huacheng. My goods move quickly every day, and I don't have to put in so much effort. The profits are still substantial!"

The profit margin on green peppers at two yuan per kilogram was indeed substantial, and Xia Youche knew he was very confident.

He had initially thought that vegetable prices in mainland China were insufficient to support the development of Jiangxin Market, but now he realizes he was completely wrong.

At these prices, it would be easy to sustain a vegetable market.

"I'll raise it by another 3 cents!"

"If you want to talk, then talk sincerely. Otherwise, if I hang up again, I won't answer next time."

"you!"

"That's settled then~"

"Hey, wait, wait!" Xia Youche shouted hurriedly, "Name your price!"

HKD 5 per catty.

"Impossible." Xia Youche raised his voice and said, "No one in Hong Kong can offer this price. We also have costs to cover."

"So we vegetable farmers don't need any costs?" Chen Jiazhi said coldly, "President Xia, you made a lot of money on the snow peas recently, didn't you? Four million or five million? Do you think I don't know?"
When you came to talk last time, what was your attitude like? It was like you were giving charity.

Okay, now we'll go our separate ways. If you want green peppers, go find them somewhere else!

With a snap, Chen Jiazhi hung up the phone.

Yi Dinggan stared in disbelief. "Jiazhi, what kind of negotiation method is this? You're not giving them any chance at all!"

Chen Jiazhi smiled and said, "He'll call again."

What if there isn't one?

"Then I won't do business with him. It's not like I can't live without him... See, here we go again."

The landline on the table rang again, and after listening to it for a while, the voice sounded impatient.

On the contrary, Chen Jiazhi really didn't care.

Yi Dinggan urged, "Hurry up and answer it!"

"No hurries."

Chen Jiazhi waited for a while before slowly picking up the phone, and Xia Youche's quote came through.

"Three yuan and fifty cents!"

"This is the highest price I can offer!"

Chen Jiazhi wasn't intimidated by the other party's imposing manner. He chuckled and said, "President Xia, do you think I don't know the price of green bell peppers in Hong Kong?"

"6 to 7 yuan per jin, that's almost 100% profit for you, you're being quite greedy!"

Xia Youche snorted, "Without sufficient profit, why would I bother to operate your bell pepper business?"

Chen Jiazhi asked, "What trouble did you go through?"

“This time, we’ll bypass Hengyang Trading and go directly through the Shenzhen-Buji channel. I’ll send someone to assist you with customs clearance, and I’ll handle the transportation as well. All of these will incur costs.” Xia Youche pondered for a moment and said, “The price of three yuan and fifty cents is already fair enough!”

Actually, Chen Jiazhi wanted 3.8 yuan.

However, if this opportunity can be used to open up channels in Buji and even lay the foundation for obtaining foreign trade operating rights, then the 3-cent price difference is not so important.

"Okay, I agree to HK$3.50 per catty!"

Xia Youche secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "How many green bell peppers can you produce in a day?"

"Sixteen or seventeen tons."

"every day?"

"Otherwise what?" Chen Jiazhi asked, "You can't eat that much?"

"..." "Well, people from Hong Kong don't like bell peppers~"

"Just tell me how many you need per day?"

"Six or seven tons."

"When does it begin?"

"Will it be okay today?"

"If not today, then tomorrow is fine."

"Then let's get 5 tons tomorrow."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Jiazhi looked at Yi Dinggan, who was still standing to the side, and said, "It's all settled. Prepare 5 tons of goods for Hong Kong tomorrow, at HK$3.50 per kilogram."

Yi Dinggan had already understood what was going on: "How much is 3.5 Hong Kong dollars in RMB?"

Chen Jiazhi thought for a moment and said, "Probably 3.7 to 3.8, this price is already quite...unbelievable."

Yi Dinggan was completely bewildered. "What the heck?"

Chen Jiazhi said, "You don't understand, do you? This is English; it means 'the price is very beautiful'~"

Yi Dinggan smiled speechlessly and shook his head. "All things considered, Xia Youche's profit margin is quite high. He can earn more than two yuan per jin!"

Chen Jiazhi said, "You can't earn that much. Normally, the gross profit of a primary agricultural wholesale market is 38-40%."

But this is a booming market, so we can't calculate it according to normal standards. Besides, he also handled the transportation and assisted us with customs clearance.

This also provides an opportunity to develop our own talent, which may be the biggest gain from this deal!

"I don't understand," Yi Dinggan said. "But as long as we didn't suffer any losses, it's a good thing."

In his view, if he can sell each kilogram for an extra 1.7 or 1.8 yuan, and he produces five or six tons a day, he can earn an extra 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a day.

This is a huge profit!
Yi Dinggan went off to work again.

Chen Jiazhi first contacted Xu Yao and asked her to follow up and coordinate, and then asked Huang Chuan to handle the customs declaration.

Finally, they approached Tong Gang again to continue recruiting, preferably highly educated individuals in finance and foreign trade.

Chen Jiazhi is indeed relatively weak in this area, having not had much contact with it in his previous life.

Every time it involves supplying Hong Kong, even though it's clearly a more profitable business, it always makes him inexplicably a little unhappy.

It would be better to do it all at once and hire a few people.

In addition to supplying Hong Kong, we can also reach out to Southeast Asia and Japan.

However, the focus should still be on the domestic market.

After dealing with a bunch of miscellaneous matters, Chen Jiazhi sorted out the funds and the things that needed to be done next.

Jiangxin Vegetable Market currently has 221 million yuan in its accounts. Even after deducting last month's labor wages and the material input for the next batch of vegetables, there is still over one million yuan available.

A cold storage facility definitely needs to be built; we need to calculate its required size.

There are two packaging options: inexpensive disposable plastic baskets and foam boxes.

He prefers to build his own foam box factory, as foam boxes are likely to become the mainstream in the Greater Bay Area in the future. The factory is not difficult to manufacture and can be completed with just a few machines. The only thing that needs to be done is to calculate the costs.

But he felt he could handle it.

Finally, there's sourcing goods, which requires personal funds. Last month, sales at the Dongxiang vegetable market were very stable, and he currently has over 19 yuan in his personal account, which is enough to cover the cost of purchasing goods for his stall and operating the distribution center.

Cold storage, packaging, sourcing goods~
We have plenty of funds now, so we can get all these things done.

Oh, and buying a house.

I've been wanting to buy one for so long, but I still haven't bought it.

Dusk was falling.

Chen Jiazhi went to the corridor, stretched, and thought that it would be time to light the fire again as soon as it got dark.

The market was indeed bustling with activity, filled with shouts, laughter, and the occasional clatter of a traditional three-wheeled vehicle.
Incessantly.

That sounds wonderful.

After having dinner at the market canteen, Chen Jiazhi also arrived at the loading site.

Today, there were also two 8-ton trucks, but they were Isuzus, which are among the most common trucks in Huacheng.

However, Japanese cars have a problem: they only carry 8 tons if they say they can carry 8 tons, and they break down easily if they are overloaded even slightly.

Finally, the light trucks at the market also helped transport 2.5 tons of green peppers.

A total of 18.5 tons of goods.

Chen Jiazhi was quite surprised when he learned about today's harvest.

"Deputy Director Yi, you've picked so much today, will there be enough to pick tomorrow? There's still some to supply Hong Kong tomorrow!"

The passing worker was the first to respond enthusiastically.

"Manager, Deputy Manager Yi has reserved the best green peppers to sell to Hong Kong!"

"This yield is fantastic! I estimate we'll get even more green peppers tomorrow than today!"

"There are so many green peppers growing here. I've never seen such a high yield of green peppers before."

"Manager, could you sell me some seeds?"

"Yeah, I heard the seeds used this time are good. I'd like to buy some and take them back to my hometown to plant!"

The workers were full of energy, and Chen Jiazhi reciprocated with enthusiasm.

"Yes, remember Zhongjiao No. 5. If you're worried about buying counterfeit products, you can also go to the Youyi Agricultural Supplies store next door. If the owner dares to sell counterfeit products, I'll make him pay 10 times the price in compensation!"

"Haha~"

"it is good!"

With high production and brisk sales, and now that supplies to Hong Kong have resumed, the vegetable workers seem even more motivated.

The market's income has indeed increased significantly again.

The following day, after supplies to Hong Kong resumed, the daily revenue of Jiangxin Vegetable Market rose to 9 yuan!

(End of this chapter)