Chapter 1202 Home Appliances and Kitchenware
However, the growth rate in East Africa is considered very fast. After entering the 20th century, East Africa’s urbanization progress has exceeded that of other major powers every year. Except for Japan, the other major powers are all post-industrial. After nearly a hundred years of accumulation.
Take Germany as an example. Germany started industrializing around the middle of the 19th century, but this does not mean that Germany did not have an industrial foundation before, and Germany was industrialized relatively late among the great powers. , the industrialization movement in East Africa did not officially begin until the First Five-Year Plan.
Of course, this so-called "industrialization" definitely does not refer to a small-scale industrialization process, but a large-scale industrialization process at the entire social level. After all, buy two pieces of equipment, hire a few workers, and register a factory. Obviously it also falls under the category of industrial development. If standards are lowered, East Africa's industrialization can even be traced back to the sisal mills of the colonial period.
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The first town.
The Sweet Palace has now become the central exhibition hall of the World Expo. Most of the entire Sweet Palace area has been opened to house exhibits from companies from various countries.
The second prince of East Africa, Karls, attended the opening ceremony and made a speech, announcing the official opening of the East Africa World Expo. Karls did not make a long speech to disturb everyone's interest.
It is not a big problem to keep the program simple. After all, the theme and highlights of the World Expo are still the new things at the World Expo and the products of various countries.
Except for the host country of East Africa, almost all the other members at this East Africa World Expo come from industrially backward countries and regions, or from some colonies.
After all, the Panama International Exposition in the United States is also taking place at this time. The East African World Expo should avoid some homogeneous content to highlight the country's industrial characteristics, and at the same time, it should also conform to the strategic development of East African countries.
“Kitchen of the future!”
Paraguayan businessman Morgan came to a booth and looked at the display area that was completely built in the form of a kitchen with a curious face.
"Hello, sir! I am an employee of East Africa Best Kitchen Company. How can I help you?" A salesman asked politely.
“What is this?” Morgan said, pointing to an object in front of him that might be a pot.
"This is a rice cooker produced by our company. Its main uses are to steam rice, make porridge, or make soup. Of course, it can also heat some other foods."
"Of course, in most households in East Africa, Generally, it is used as a tool for steaming cooked rice. After plugging in the power, just add an appropriate amount of water and rice, press the button on it, and wait for a while. It will automatically trip. If it is other food, it is relatively troublesome. For example, when cooking porridge or soup, you have to watch the time and steam just like traditional pots to prevent spillage..."
This salesman is very good Experience, as one of the most common household appliances in East Africa, rice cookers have not sold very well in non-rice-dominated countries for a long time.
After all, at this time, the competitive pressure on rice as the world's staple food is still very high. For example, many European countries now regard potatoes as the most important food crop, and the high-yielding crop corn is also aggressively expanding its territory. , others such as cassava and sweet potato also occupy an important position.
There is no doubt that wheat and rice taste better, but the productivity level of this era is far less than that of the previous generation in the 21st century. More people still choose to fill their belly as the primary goal when choosing food crops.
Therefore, in the early days, the sales of East African rice cookers were at best in the Far East, South Asia, and the Middle East, and the scope was ultimately relatively limited.
Then the East African company thought about it. Although the rice cooker is best for cooking rice, it doesn’t mean it can’t cook other foods! As a result, the sales of rice cookers have increased significantly after broadening their uses.
Morgan, a Paraguayan businessman, has become very interested in electric rice cookers. Rice cultivation in Paraguay also has a certain scale. Especially in recent years, influenced by East Africa, the rice cultivation area in Paraguay has also expanded a lot. , of course, if the rice cooker is only used for steaming rice.
Morgan will not be tempted. After all, although Paraguay’s rice area has expanded in recent years, Paraguayans’ eating habits are still dominated by wheat, and they have an absolute advantage.
But the difference is that a rice cooker can steam and cook, and can also be used to make other foods. This means that its sales market is no longer limited to people who like to eat rice and can be used to make soup. Or cooking pasta would be great. After experiencing the wars in the 1960s and 1970s, Paraguay's demographic structure has undergone considerable changes. There are a lot of descendants of Italian immigrants, so many Italian food habits will inevitably affect Paraguay.
"How much does it cost?" Morgan asked.
“Only thirty Rhine Guilder.” The salesman replied.
“Can it be cheaper?”
“Of course there are cheaper alternatives, but look at the one next to it. It only costs 23 Rhine Guilder, but the materials used There is a big difference.”
Morgan calculated it in his mind and realized that the price was not low, but as a "home appliance", that was another story.
In Morgan's view, this kind of rice cooker is undoubtedly a "high-end product". After all, the world's mainstream kitchenware is still in the stage of burning wood, coal and other open flames, which is also a selling point.
However, although Morgan was optimistic about the sales of the rice cooker, he did not make an immediate decision. After all, this was only a product of an East African company, and other East African companies would surely have cheaper competing products.
On the exhibition stand, there are a wide range of kitchen appliances, including rice cookers, electric rice stoves, coffee stoves, electric tea kettles, range hoods, electric mixers, electronic igniters, etc. These household appliances Kitchen appliances were an eye-opener for Morgan.
At the same time, Morgan is also very interested in conventional kitchen utensils produced in East Africa. Although household appliances are very high-end, the mainstream of kitchen utensils is naturally still dominated by traditional kitchen utensils.
However, these home appliances are also relatively expensive. After all, Paraguay does not have many home appliance maintenance personnel to solve after-sales problems. If there is a problem, it is almost equivalent to being scrapped directly. This is a huge flaw.
Furthermore, Paraguay's power supply is also a big problem. Paraguay does not have a developed power supply system like East Africa, so it is impossible for Morgan to order these kitchen appliances in large quantities.
The ordinary kitchen utensils produced in East Africa are quite different. The reliable quality is natural, and the price is a huge attraction for Morgan.
As a powerful industrial country in East Africa, the industrial production capacity is naturally not comparable to that of Paraguay. Large-scale production has greatly reduced costs, making ordinary kitchen utensils in East Africa appear to be of high quality and low price.
Of course, Morgan still asked a key question: "Does your company have a sales office on the West Coast? After all, judging from the location of Paraguay and East Africa, trade between the two countries mainly passes through the South Atlantic route. We don't Maybe go all the way to the east coast to purchase.”
The East African salesman said: "This is natural. We have branches and factories in Cabinda and Lobito. If there is demand, you can place orders directly in Cabinda. This is our company's business card. By phone You can get the company’s business information.”
As he spoke, he delivered a card to Morgan. In addition to the company’s headquarters address, there were two phone numbers on it.
"No. 24, Canal Street, New Frankfurt." Morgan read the information above and said: "Your company is headquartered in an inland city?"
"That's right, New Frankfurt. Not far from the capital Rhine City, it is an important transportation hub in East Africa, and Dar es Salaam is just one of the locations of our branches. Regardless of the east or west coast, we The business is doing very well, and there are many foreign partners.”
East Africa Kitchenware Company is a kitchenware manufacturer that has emerged in New Frankfurt City, relying on the strong transportation advantages of New Frankfurt City. In particular, it has a great influence on the domestic kitchenware market in East Africa. Its predecessor was the New Frankfurt City Kitchenware Factory No. 2, which was a local state-owned enterprise in East Africa.
(End of this chapter)