1994: Vegetable farmers strike back

Chapter 486 The plan cannot keep up with the changes

Under the cover of night, the Buji Farmers Market was bustling with people, a scene of utter chaos.

Even when Li Cai is on the phone, he can see the customers coming to buy vegetables at his stall through the window.
"Boss, we didn't get many late-season cabbages at the stall today, only about 3 tons, but they're selling quite well so far."

"Okay, okay, I'll keep an eye on Yiyuan and Guangjia, and I'll report to you if anything happens."

hang up the phone.

Li Cai also walked out of the small room and came to the stall. Buji's stall was very spacious, with two trucks parked there.

This is all the goods the stall has today. We'll complete our task once we sell these two truckloads of goods, which is less than 10 tons.

When it was still a stall, Kaopu Fresh could only sell four or five thousand catties of goods a day in Buji.

It has now increased fivefold.

However, compared to the entire market, it is still a small player.

Li Cai didn't care at all. With his neat buzz cut, he went to the stall to greet a regular customer who had just walked in.

"Sis, what kind of food do you want to get today?"

The woman who came was in her thirties, not very tall, and she smiled when she looked at Li Cai.

"Hey handsome, can you give me a discount today? I'll support your business and take more stock."

Li Cai said, "Sister, everyone knows the current market situation. It's already a good thing if prices don't go up; how could they possibly be cheaper?"

"So young, yet so knowledgeable." The woman stopped teasing and said, "Give me six pieces of mustard greens and ten pieces of lettuce."

"Sister, do you want anything else? We have a new product today, Zengcheng late-season cabbage, which was quite popular in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shenzhen last year."

As Li Cai spoke, he brought over a box of late-season cabbage samples to show the woman. He then picked up a stalk, peeled off the outer skin, took a bite, and said:
"Sister, if you have catering clients who usually use choy sum, they've probably heard of the name 'late-season choy sum'."

The woman had already inspected the goods.

“I’ve heard that too. Last year, many people wanted to get goods but didn’t know where to get them.”

Li Cai pointed to the sign above his head.

"We were the ones who promoted Zengcheng late-season cabbage last year, but this year we moved to a larger stall and started selling it in the market."

At this moment, two more customers who were looking at goods at the stall gathered around Li Cai and also heard Li Cai's story.

Seeing him eat and taste the food raw, the two men followed suit to verify the authenticity of the goods.

The taste of the late-ripening cabbage hearts, having withstood the frost, immediately caught the attention of the two.

"Hey handsome, give me five boxes of late-season bok choy to try first."

"I'll take five too."

"Handsome, I was here first, give me my order first." The woman insisted, quickly looked at the purchase order and said, "Give me 10 packs of late-season bok choy, and also 5 packs of kale and 2 packs of mustard greens."

When Li Cai saw her writing and drawing on the purchase order, he knew that the woman had temporarily changed the pick-up location, and he immediately felt relieved.

"Old Liu, write up this lady's order!"

"Okay, Mr. Cai."

Liu Minghua responded, added a few more strokes to the notebook, and quickly calculated the accounts using the calculator.

"Sister, it's all settled. 6 pieces of mustard greens cost 210 yuan, 10 pieces of lettuce cost 350 yuan, 10 pieces of late-season bok choy cost 350 yuan, and 2 pieces of kale cost 50 yuan. The total is 960 yuan. Please sign here."

The woman was a regular customer. After signing the contract, she said casually, "You don't need to call me 'sister' anymore. I'm probably not as old as you."

Liu Minghua was stunned for a moment; he wasn't much older than Li Cai.

Watching the customer say goodbye to Li Cai, Liu Minghua realized that the reason why business was not as good as it is now was not only because of the vegetables, but also because of the people. Just as Boss Chen often said, good-looking people produce good vegetables. Some people have a natural advantage in selling vegetables.

"Old Liu, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and write down the order and collect the money!"

"Oh, good."

Liu Minghua suddenly realized what was happening.

Watching Li Cai sell vegetables, he felt a bit like watching Boss Chen sell vegetables back in the day.

Skilled, patient, and articulate, she can naturally recommend her signature dishes whenever a customer comes to pick up vegetables.

Even if others don't take it, I won't feel annoyed. That makes me seem very reliable!
Some customers will even proactively learn about the stories behind mustard greens and late-blooming mustard greens.

These people will go back to verify, and someone will come to pick up the vegetables the next day.

Some people, when a customer has a need, will immediately think of where they can get the goods.

Unbeknownst to many, information about Kaopu Fresh's specialty and high-quality vegetables, such as late-season bok choy and chicken heart mustard, has spread widely.

Liu Minghua witnessed the stall's business improve day by day, with daily sales easily reaching 10 tons.

Factors such as a reversal in vegetable prices and stable supply have played a role, but selling skills are also very important.

Liu Minghua thought to himself, "Cai will go back sooner or later, so I need to find a way to get another handsome and eloquent guy to represent the stall."

the other side,
Shenzhen Distribution Center.

On the desk was a map of Shenzhen, with each street clearly marked.

With a pen in his hand, Chen Zhengxu said to the delivery team led by Zhou Xiaoxiong, "We need to complete the street sweeping as soon as possible, even if it's just a rough one. First, deliver to the big restaurants, factories, schools, etc., and leave the small restaurants for later."

One deliveryman asked, "Mr. Xu, some government agencies and schools are hard to get into; there's usually no hope of getting any orders there."

Chen Zhengxu nodded. "I know that, but let's take a shot first, even if we don't succeed. If we manage to get one, we'll be lucky. If not, we'll just make a note of it. But the food has to be delivered. If it's free, why worry about not being able to deliver it?"

After a pause, Chen Zhengxu continued, "In short, after each street sweep, the company needs to compile statistics on the potential customers of that street to facilitate future classification and analysis. This is an experience we gained in Huacheng."

"it is good."

Because of the establishment of Yuewang Group, Huacheng's reliable fresh delivery business, which had just started to take off in government agencies and schools, was brought back to square one.

The former mayor's influence was too great.

In Shenzhen, there is also Shenzhen Agricultural Group, of which Buji Agricultural Wholesale Market is an enterprise. It also has a distribution center, occupying the distribution market within the system.

However, Chen Zhengxu also discovered that while Yuewang and Shennong had strong influence, they also had many weaknesses.

First, it is not stable enough.
Second, operating costs are high.

Both currently have few self-owned bases, and Yuewang's base is still under construction.

Even after it's built, Chen Zhengxu is very confident in its production capabilities; in this respect, no one in the Pearl River Delta can compare to Kaopu Fresh.

Therefore, for customers outside the system, Kaopu Fresh is clearly more reliable than Yuewang and Shennong Group.

The purpose of street canvassing is to identify the target customer group, focus on key areas, and offer free samples first. Eventually, some customers who find the products suitable will continue to order.

Even if government agencies and restaurants don't source their produce from Kaopu Fresh, once the vegetables are delivered, as long as they arouse the interest of relevant personnel, their delivery companies are very likely to go to the market to find goods.

They will most likely become customers of the stall in the end.

Therefore, street canvassing is a very important job; even if you don't make a sale, your reputation will still spread.

It's even better if the order is closed, as the profit will be higher.

Chen Zhengxu has been in charge of this work for several days. Every morning after the delivery orders are completed, he organizes deliverymen to sweep the streets and deliver vegetables for free.

After being assigned to streets, the deliverymen, wearing yellow vests, disappeared into the streets, either on bicycles or in cars.

Chen Zhengxu began organizing the order data. A little while later, Li Cai returned to his office and sat down, handing over a form.

"Mr. Xu, how much goods do you need for delivery today? I've got it all sorted out, please send it to the company together."

"OK." Chen Zhengxu took it. "Wow, that's impressive. The stall needs 12 tons of vegetables today?"

Li Cai smiled and said, "It's alright. Some customers have come looking for us these past two days after hearing about our reputation. It must be because of your street canvassing that things have been going well."

"As long as it works."

"Of course it's useful. The vegetables we give away for free are all specialty and high-quality vegetables. Although we're not the only ones offering them now, we've always had the largest quantity and the best quality. To maintain this growth rate, we estimate that the daily sales volume of our stalls will soon reach 20 tons, or even 30 tons."

"Stay calm, don't rush." ​​"I can't help it either. We agreed to grow slowly, but we couldn't resist the enthusiasm of our customers. You can only blame your street canvassing for being too effective."

Li Cai shrugged.

Chen Zhengxu also didn't want to stop sweeping the streets.

"Then we need to keep an eye on Yiyuan and Guangjia, observe their movements, and avoid going out alone."

"OK." Li Cai then asked, "When can we get more lettuce?"

"I can't come right now; I have to wait for the lettuce from Dongsheng Farm to come out."

"What?" Li Cai stood up abruptly: "Wasn't it said that the lettuce sold to Japan was going to be transferred to the mainland and Hong Kong?"

I'm waiting for the food to arrive so I can lower the price a bit and boost sales!

Italian lettuce has an appealing appearance and is generally popular, but the price at the stalls is not low.

The average wholesale price of regular lettuce is about 0.8 to 1 yuan per jin (500g), while the price of Dali lettuce at the stall is 1.2 yuan per jin.

This actually affected sales.

However, Italian lettuce has a short growing season and high yield, so its unit cost is actually much lower than that of ordinary lettuce.

In other words, there is a lot of room for price reduction.

Even if the price is only reduced to a normal level, the sales of Italian lettuce can still increase rapidly due to its attractive appearance.

Li Cai stared straight at Chen Zhengxu.

"I asked around, and the only thing that's changed about the export price of lettuce to Japan is the quantity; it's almost the same. But even with the price reduction, it's still much higher than the domestic price."

"..."

Li Cai was dumbfounded.

"What the boss said was that lettuce exported to Japan would be shifted to the domestic market."

He told us to keep waiting.

Chen Zhengxu smiled and said, "He didn't expect the Japanese to like lettuce so much, and he was also annoyed."

"It's rare that there are things he didn't expect."

If he doesn't sell lettuce at a premium, Li is confident that he can increase daily sales to over 30 tons within a few days.

But there weren't enough lettuce available for the stalls.

"I guess I'll just have to stick to making late-season bok choy and mustard greens."

A moment later, Chen Zhengxu also sorted out the order volume for Shenzhen for the new day.

"The stall will hold 12 tons, and the delivery will be 13 tons, for a total of 25 tons of vegetables. We also need to purchase 18 tons of vegetables for delivery."

"It has to be you, you're awesome!"

Li Cai stood up. Despite the foundation laid last year and the free vegetable delivery, the delivery volume was still higher than the wholesale volume, which inevitably surprised him.

"I'm leaving. I'm going home to sleep after get off work. Aren't you going home too?"

Chen Zhengxu waved his hand, "You go back first, the boss wants me to go back to Huacheng to keep an eye on things for two days."

Li Cai chuckled and said, "That sounds so high and mighty. What's wrong with saying it when you go back to see your girlfriend? I won't say anything to you."

"I'm not lying to you, I really did go back for work." Chen Zhengxu also spread his hands, mimicking Li Cai's gesture: "My girlfriend has already come to Shenzhen to find me..."

"Damn it, stop talking!"

Li Cai broke down and left, suddenly missing his fishing girl.

"You asked me that yourself."

Chen Zhengxu murmured to himself, then asked his girlfriend to drive him back to Huacheng.

With expansion, the company is now producing 200-260 tons of vegetables a day in the Pearl River Delta region, including leafy greens from the company and eggplant, melons, and beans from cooperative bases.

At the same time, the distribution center also purchases dozens of tons of other types of vegetables every day.

In addition, 1500 mu of lettuce have been transplanted at Dongsheng Farm, and the Lianzhou base is under construction. The total area of ​​bases in the Pearl River Delta has reached 10400 mu.

With such a large scale, it's hard for Boss Chen, who's out in Shanghai, to feel at ease without anyone overseeing the operations at the Huacheng headquarters.

Mr. Chen had just finished a call with Xia Youche and was drinking tea, contemplating life.

Faced with Xia Youche's question, Chen Jiazhi exclaimed that he had miscalculated.

Xia Youche: Where's the lettuce you promised?

Chen: The Japanese reduced the amount of other vegetables they ordered, but they didn't reduce the amount of lettuce at all.

Xia: What should I do?
Chen: Wait.

Xia: Do we still have to wait?
Chen: This is actually a good thing. It shows that lettuce has a good market in Japan and it can't be bad in Hong Kong either.

Xia: Okay, but don't break your promise next time.

Chen: I have 2400 mu of land specifically for growing lettuce. Shanghai is also adjusting its planting structure, which is a good thing.

Xia: Okay, I believe you!

Reflecting on the whole process again, Chen Jiazhi laughed for a while and shook his head for a while.

"The Japanese have completely disrupted my plans."

"Shenzhen did not go as expected."

Thinking about the sales growth momentum of the stall in Buji, Chen Jiazhi shook his head and took another sip of tea.

"We told you to play it safe, but you've already set your sights on 20 or 30 tons so quickly. Are you being so high-profile because you're afraid Yiyuan and Guangjia won't notice?"

He anticipated the influence of Chi Caixin and Ji Xin Jie, and also overestimated the abilities of Chen Zhengxu and Li Cai as much as possible.

However, the actual growth rate of the stall in Buji was still faster than he had imagined.

December isn't even over yet, and the stall's daily sales have already reached 10 tons. At the current rate of growth, it should be 20 tons or 30 tons in just a few days.

Late-season cabbage is gradually hitting the market, and it's hard to slow down now.

"It seems that sooner or later we will have to compete head-on with Yiyuan and Guangjia."

Chen Jiazhi considered his options: mustard greens, late-season lettuce, and other leafy greens that could be supplied stably.

This configuration is more than enough to make a living.

Then let's have a good fight.

After finishing the last sip of tea, Chen Jiazhi continued to refine next year's planting plan.

He has already visited all three venues in Shanghai.

I also conducted market research and analysis with Fang Shaohua and Wang Xiaodong, who had just joined the company.

The three markets of Fanrong, Xuanqiao, and Pujiang will still mainly export to the Japanese market, but the main products have been adjusted to lettuce and broccoli.

By rotating the operations of the three vegetable markets, we strive to achieve year-round supply.

Secondly, we will continue to expand into the local market with Cantonese dishes such as bok choy and Chinese kale.

Chen Jiazhi appointed Wang Xiaodong as the president's assistant, tasking him with coordinating production collaboration among the three vegetable markets in Shanghai, local market development, and personnel training.

After completing their work in Shanghai, Chen Jiazhi and his group of four returned to Guangzhou.

Following Chen Jiazhi's subsequent inspections of Pengcun and Lianzhou, when he returned to Huacheng, news reports indicated that Chen Xunmin and another fugitive had been sentenced to be forced to eat peanuts.

In addition, Chen Jiazhi also saw Jiang Yongqiang's figure in the news, with Chen Xunmin being detained in the footage.

When he returned to Dongsheng Farm, Jiang Yongqiang called to express his gratitude, saying that he had been promoted.

(End of this chapter)