Twenty years of cold chain

Dou Shaojie slammed the door and left Chu Lihe's office. After several previous arguments, this time both sides exploded. Chu Lihe threatened Dou Shaojie that if Huanshi Fresh cooperated with Tongxing Delivery, Chunrong would withdraw its investment, and Mofu Capital would bear all the consequences.

Dou Shaojie was not intimidated by the "all consequences." The cooperation terms stipulated that Chunrong was required to be used for the selection of fresh raw materials, but there were no specific restrictions on which company was responsible for delivery. Even if the relationship fell apart, Mofu would still have something to say.

Dou Shaojie knew the truth of the matter perfectly well. If it were someone else, there wouldn't have been such great resistance. But who was Chu Lihe? He was someone who left Tongxing halfway through his career and was always trying to prove himself to Tongxing.

Dou Shaojie felt caught in the middle between Tongxing and Chunrong. During this period, Tongxing Delivery treated Huanshi Fresh differently, all due to unresolved grievances. In fact, even if Yang Chenghai hadn't interfered or joined forces with Tongxing Delivery, Huanshi Fresh wouldn't have been able to establish sufficient competitiveness in the market; the situation in China was completely different from that in North America.

"Of course." Hu Shutong could tell that Dou Shaojie was gloomy and dejected, as if everything was still uncertain.

"If, and I mean if, Global Times wanted to cooperate with Tongxing Delivery, what would Mr. Hu's thoughts be?"

"If we're doing business with our doors wide open, what could I possibly think? Tongxing is only responsible for the distribution channels, not the market." Hu Shutong answered readily. "As far as I know, there are nearly thirty fresh food brands in Qingning. Since each company has more than twenty direct competitors, there's no concern for us delivery companies about competing with each other."

Dou Shaojie nodded slowly, then gave a wry smile. "To be honest, I've had this idea for a long time, but using Tongxing's legs to transport Chunrong's goods has almost exhausted me."

Hu Shutong smiled and said, "I understand Mr. Dou's predicament, but since we're just having a casual chat, I'll say a few more words. Just listen and don't take it to heart. Actually, the solution is quite simple: Mr. Dou can use Tongxing's legs to transport Tongxing's goods. This one move will save you countless troubles."

Dou Shaojie was stunned. He never expected that Hu Shutong would say out his fleeting thoughts, getting to the heart of the matter in just a few words of casual conversation.

Some might say, "The goods come from Tongxing, the routes are all from Tongxing, so what's the point of cooperation? Tongxing can just roll up its sleeves and do it itself."

In reality, things are far more complicated than that. First, Tongxing lacks the funds to develop the market, and it has no plan to transform itself into a producer. If Tongxing were to invest heavily in this area, it would even change the nature of its business operations. This is also a long-standing consensus between Hu Shutong and Liu Zhiying: Tongxing needs to expand its distribution network and build a cold chain infrastructure. If it focuses on developing its own high-end fresh food brand, it would be a disastrous move, at least not given its current capabilities.

Secondly, the issue of high-end fresh food brands goes far beyond just sourcing and distribution channels. There are many intricacies involved in successfully developing this sector and increasing the premium on agricultural products.

Currently, 90% of comprehensive fresh food brands do not have their own breeding and planting bases; their raw material suppliers are all contractual. They have given agricultural products a new look through health concepts, exquisite packaging, and testing technology, such as "breakfast boxes," "weight loss packages," and "hot pot gift sets." Fresh food brands start from nutrition and maximize convenience, allowing customers to make one-stop shopping and purchasing.

Coupled with phrases like "one [product name] a day," these products gradually form a memorable image in consumers' minds, making them seem expensive when discussed and prestigious when served. Essentially, all of this stems from rising consumption levels and more refined segmentation of demand.

Dou Shaojie had to admit that Tongxing had an advantage over Chunrong in terms of raw material suppliers.

Chunrong's agricultural products are still mainly vegetables and fruits from Qingnan, while Tongxing has built an extremely rich product channel over the years, with fish from the east and fruits from the south, and soon there will be specialty fruits and vegetables from beyond the Great Wall. It can be said that a fresh food company can rely on this one place for all its material sources.

From this perspective, this is also a major competitive advantage for Global Times.

Such cooperation also results in a premium for Tongxing agricultural products. The same vegetables can have vastly different prices depending on whether they end up in farmers' markets, community supermarkets, city supermarkets, or high-end restaurants.

Dou Shaojie fell into a long silence. Hu Shutong said only one more sentence, but it made people's thoughts even clearer. If cooperation could be more pure, there would probably be no more hesitation here.

The crux of all this lies in the fact that Huan Shi must first leave Chun Rong. However, eliminating him is not easy, but Hu Shutong's demeanor reveals that if Huan Shi is willing to act, Tongxing's cooperation will be absolutely seamless. This subtly instilled strong confidence in Dou Shaojie, reducing many of his previous doubts.

Dou Shaojie is no longer the Dou Shaojie who first returned to Qingning. In the past two years, he has been surrounded by the ebb and flow of events. Chunrong, this stagnant pool, clings to its old and fierce personal will. On the other hand, Tongxing's booming path seems to have no limits.

Soon, news of Dou Shaojie's meeting with Hu Shutong reached Chu Lihe's ears. In the quiet corner, Chu Lihe's eyes flashed with a piercing light.

He watched as those who had made solemn vows turned into disloyalties. In the beginning, it was someone who looked down on others with disdain; in the beginning, it was someone who spoke sternly but was utterly incompetent. Now, he was left alone, sitting in his office, facing this ironic reality. His heart swelled like a pufferfish, wishing he could ignite this turbulent situation with a skewer.

"Mr. Chu, the invoice issue is all settled." Just then, the secretary walked in.

"Let it go."

But a short while later, Chu Lihe suddenly sat up straight, staring intently at the table.

There are ordinary methods in this world, and there are also extraordinary methods.

He's very familiar with invoices.

……

I've loved cold chain logistics for twenty years.