Twenty years of cold chain

"What's wrong with you! One minute you're a big shot in the equipment industry, the next you're in charge of a certain industrial park, and you're all well-connected with refrigeration associations across the country, and now you're telling me you want a job?"

This isn't just Hu Shutong joking; entrepreneurs envy those with jobs who only need to focus on their immediate tasks and have fixed free time. Similarly,

Office workers envy entrepreneurs, who can decide when to open and close their businesses. And when they get angry, they can really throw a tantrum.

Although both only saw the other's ideal side, this yearning is real. However, there is one ultimate yearning for both of them: freelancing. In Hu Shutong's view,

Qiu Shuanghu is a freelancer in the cold chain industry.

"Old Hu, you know, no matter what he's done all these years..."

Actually, I've been watching. Watching what kind of gimmicks the dealer conferences are going to pull, watching individual warehouses spring up day by day, and watching this industry undergo earth-shattering changes. I'm different from you all; you each have your own goals and know where the biggest prospects lie. I'm pathetic. The equipment industry will still be making money without me, and the refrigeration association will at least be missing a troublesome person without me.

He looked utterly melancholy; if there were a cup of wine nearby, he would surely be drinking with the moon and gazing at the flowers. However, Hu Shutong always felt that something was amiss. This guy had never been so profound in front of him before. There was no emotion, no scenery, and no wine; the more he tried to exaggerate, the more sinister it seemed.

Where are you planning to go?

"I'd like to go to Zhonglong European Cold Store and check it out."

After saying this, Qiu Shuanghu immediately burst out laughing upon seeing Hu Shutong's stern face.

"Old Hu, you have to help me make a decision!"

Hu Shutong rolled his eyes at him. He should have realized that this guy had ulterior motives. The four characters "Zhong Long Ou Leng" directly hit the ceiling of the industry.

Zhonglong Eurocold Chain is a joint venture established last year by a large state-owned group and a European cold chain giant. In the same year, it acquired four major logistics companies, including Zhonglong Cold Chain, bringing its total assets to over one billion yuan. Since its inception, Zhonglong Eurocold Chain has offered a comprehensive suite of cold chain logistics services, including temperature-controlled warehousing, trunk transportation, and urban distribution, while also focusing on global procurement and distribution.

Anyone in the cold chain industry knows the difficulty of international procurement and distribution; the complex procedures for customs declaration and inspection alone are beyond the capabilities of most companies. Therefore, this is far from something that ordinary companies can accomplish, and it has nothing to do with the size of the company.

It requires a strong shareholder background, a large number of domestic partners, and strong oversight from overseas partners. Only companies with the integration capabilities and channel relationships of various enterprises, substantial resources in food production and catering services, and ambitions to expand into global markets can effectively manage global procurement and distribution.

Although Zhonglong European Cold Storage has gathered a large number of industry talents,

But with Qiu Shuanghu's qualifications, finding a job there wouldn't be a problem. However, if that were all, there would be no need to mention it to Hu Shutong.

To interpret his use of the word "work" as simply working a regular 9-to-5 job would be to greatly underestimate this guy.

The deeper meaning lies in the fact that this guy has seen a new prospect. Just look at what happened before to see how sensitive his nose is.

Hu Shutong also understands the prospects of global procurement and distribution, which is another level of cold chain, and can be said to be on a different dimension from domestic cold chain. Becoming a core enterprise in the global supply chain is still in its initial stages, but if this path can be solidified, it will undoubtedly lead to a much larger boom.

Those who can join this chain are basically well-known international companies that come to China to expand their high-end product market. This means that they are relatively less affected by the current domestic e-commerce, such as some foreign ice cream companies and local seafood series.

Sometimes you have to admire this person. Things are far from what he claims; he's just been watching all these years. In fact, he's always been at the forefront of the industry, always on the latest trends. Hu Shutong even suspects that this "Zhonglong Ouleng" site is probably just one of his many websites.

"Erqiu, I have some understanding of this field. There are two main aspects that come to mind. First, the most important thing to deal with in this field is customs. Customs clearance efficiency is the biggest problem for companies like this. So you need to think about the professional and technical applications from the perspective of customs and commodity inspection. Moreover, our country has a quota for preferential tariff imports every year. To obtain more tax benefits, the key is the volume of goods in that specific period, which is a great benefit to both parties."

"Secondly, in addition to distribution platforms, we should also try to build trading platforms domestically. In international trade, many foreign clients cooperate not only through distribution platforms but also through their own established channels. Any goods will accumulate due to downstream bottlenecks, and in order to alleviate this accumulation, we actually have an advantage over our clients. If we can facilitate transactions, it is equivalent to extending cold chain centers from cold chain services to the flow of commerce and capital, which means there is a possibility of earning trade margins."

Qiu Shuanghu stared blankly. They had never had this kind of exchange before, and hearing it now was truly astonishing. It brought back memories of certain university scenes, where people would sit there, meticulously discussing the industry of that era. Some things never change. Over the years, he had met countless people, but if he had to name someone whose words were always spot-on, he would have to admit that it was Old Hu standing before him!

Just as Hu Shutong was about to speak again, he saw Qiu Shuanghu raise an eyebrow.

"Old Hu, I'm not in a rush. Don't just tell me what you've thought of right now; think more about the future. Don't worry about being number one or number two; this is going to be my next career step. Can you come up with a plan or something for me to look at?"

Seeing Hu Shutong's sharp eyes, Qiu Shuanghu chuckled and poured tea. "This cake is so big, how can we not cut it? I'll figure it out first, and you'll figure it out in a few years. Besides, my memory has never been very good. Old Hu, you should write it down on paper. That's much more reliable."

Upon hearing that another proposal needed to be prepared, only four words came to Hu Shutong's mind at that moment—

Have you no shame?!

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.