Chapter 284 The Progress of Watsons
As an ordinary person, even one of the most powerful Chinese in Hong Kong today, there is a limit to what he can do in the face of a full-scale drought.
If you want to do better, you should make full use of more funds. On the one hand, Changxing Charity Foundation has also begun to accept social funds;
On the other hand, water will also become business, but does not have the privilege of selling water, so cooperating with the water company is the best way.
The next day, Yang Wendong came to the Watsons headquarters in North Point, Hong Kong Island:
Zhou Haoran naturally went out to greet him personally.
"Hello, Yang Sheng." Zhou Haoran said with several subordinates.
Although Watsons has been acquired for some time, except for the early stage, Yang Wendong did not come much later.
"Your house is a bit too old." Yang Wendong looked around and said, "Find some time to demolish the old building and build a better new one."
Although I don’t really care about the appearance, some of the houses are too old, which makes Yang Wendong feel that they should be replaced, and it is uncomfortable for people to live in them. Not to mention that this is a beverage factory. If it is too old, it will not give people confidence.
"Okay." Zhou Haoran quickly agreed: "When the company's business improves, I will definitely replace this building."
"Yes" Yang Wendong nodded, and then followed everyone inside the company Visited.
Although the property has not changed, the people inside have changed a lot, especially the original Gui Lao and the people who were close to the Gui Lao, basically all have left.
Zhou Haoran introduced: "Yang Sheng, the current main employees of Watsons are all poached from Taikoo, United Beverage Factory or other beverage companies, filling the shortage of personnel after Gui Lao left."
"Yeah, okay." Yang Wendong didn't pay much attention. For ordinary employees of such a small company, the personnel rights are given to the subsidiary company from below.
Zhou Haoran then introduced Yang Wendong and then came to the laboratory.
Yang Wendong asked: "What tests are being done here?"
Zhou Haoran said: "It is a test of blending various beverages, including soda and the herbal tea drinks you mentioned before, Yang Sheng."< br>
"Herbal tea? Then drink a little and see." Yang Wendong nodded and said.
The cola field cannot be a rival to Coca-Cola, and fruit drinks do not conform to the technology of this era, nor do they conform to the environment of Hong Kong. Tea drinks suitable for Asians are the direction Yang Wendong currently requires for the development of Watsons. .
"Okay, this way." Zhou Haoran then took Yang Wendong into the laboratory.
In the laboratory, there are various glass beakers on many tables, and there are also various drinks in them. There are also sticky notes on each glass with different names written on them.
“This sticky note is quite versatile.” Yang Wendong said with a smile.
Zhou Haoran said: "Yes, it is very convenient, otherwise we would still have to write on the glass, which is easy to erase. In 1959, we started using post-it notes internally."
Yang Wendong asked: "Isn't it easy to fall off? The sticky notes are not very sticky, right?"
In this era, stickers already exist, and Yang Wendong has seen them in the United States.
In Hong Kong, there may be no trading companies to import due to low demand.
This is also the reason why small areas often lack various things.
But now, it’s almost there. The production capacity of sticky notes is close to the sales volume, and the channels have begun to advertise.
Zhou Haoran nodded and said: "It is easy to fall off, but overall it is more convenient. It would be better if there were sticky stickers."
"Well, it's good if it works." Yang Wendong nodded, and then asked: "Where are the herbal tea drinks?"
"This way." A technician quickly brought bottles of glass to test.
Looking at the light cyan liquid in front of him, Yang Wendong asked with some uncertainty: "Can this be drunk?"
A bunch of test cups together made him instinctively think that these should be Chemicals, let alone drinking them, are instinctively reluctant even if they are smelled or come into contact with the skin.
Zhou Haoran said: "Yang Sheng, don't worry, all the liquids here are made of civilian food materials, and are normal water without any chemical reagents."
After speaking, he also picked up a beaker and drank it, as did several others.
"Yeah, okay." Yang Wendong nodded, and he also felt that he might be worrying too much.
In this era, chemical abilities should not be that strong. Even if you want to synthesize some drinks, you can only use things like saccharin, and there will be no "technology and ruthless work".
Then he also picked up a glass and drank it.
A refreshing feeling goes down the throat when swallowed, and there is also a sweet taste.
Zhou Haoran asked: "What do you think of Yang Sheng?"
Yang Wendong said: "It's not bad, it tastes like tea and sweet. What kind of tea did you use?"
Zhou Haoran replied Said: "This is made from 6 kinds of tea leaves bought from China Resources, mixed according to a certain ratio, cooked to taste, and added with appropriate sugar."
"It feels pretty good. What's the cost?" Yang Wendong asked again.
Zhou Haoran replied: "The cost of the laboratory, the pure cost of 500 ml of beverage is about 3 cents. The most expensive thing is tea. Although tea in the mainland is not expensive, we can't make tea. Use too little, otherwise the tea will be too weak.
The cost of sugar occupies the second place. A serving is about 5 cents. This is normal. The price is the same in the beverage industry, except for Swire, which has its own sugar factory. "
"This is not a problem. We sell drinks. If we use cans, it is impossible to sell a 500ml bottle. Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "200 or 250, that's about it." "
After listening, Zhou Haoran said: "Yang Sheng, regarding the cans, we will talk alone later. "
"Okay. "Yang Wendong nodded.
Then he tasted dozens of other flavors of herbal tea, each with different ingredients or different proportions.
Finally, Yang Wendong said: "This thing is really difficult to choose. I feel the same when hiding it." "Actually, the beverage industry is like this, especially sweet ones. There is no absolute good or bad taste." Zhou Haoran explained. : "These drinks are actually similar. They will be sent to the streets or shopping malls for random population testing later.
Which beverage formula we use in the end still needs to be chosen based on the taste of a specific group of people."
Yang Wendong asked: "Shouldn't this be tested on thousands of people?"< br>
Zhou Haoran replied: "Yes, the final test is very time-consuming and expensive, because it requires long-term testing."
Yang Wendong thought for a while and said: "In this case, you go to Liu Huayu, the person in charge of Carrefour, and he can arrange for people to conduct tests in several Carrefour supermarkets;
Not only does this save labor, but Carrefour itself is also There are enough people, and they are also a group with good spending power, which is suitable for your positioning."
Zhou Haoran's eyes lit up and he said, "Yang Sheng's method is really good."
"Well, it's just the use of internal resources. If anything happens in the future, you can try to consider internal resources first." Yang Wendong smiled and said: "Including the launch of new drinks in the future, you can also borrow newspapers and radio stations from Changxing Media in Hong Kong. , will still have very good effects.”
Although Hong Kong is a small market, it is enough for a drink to form a certain scale;
Several local brands in Hong Kong rely on the local market to survive, and at most they export to a few nearby places such as Macau or Bay Area.
The main reason is that the beverage packaging in this era is all made of glass, which is not only heavy but also easy to break, which forms a strong regional competition barrier.
Even if it is as strong as Coca-Cola, it can only rely on the Swire Group for production.
"Okay." Zhou Haoran nodded and said.
Later, after visiting the production line, Yang Wendong came to a conference room on the third floor of the administration building.
Zhou Haoran said: "Yang Sheng, please give in, the conditions here are a bit worse."
"It's okay, it's much better than where I lived before." Yang Wendong didn't pay attention and asked casually: " Have you seen the internal structure of the squatter house?"
Zhou Haoran shook his head and said: "I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but I have seen it in the newspaper. The environment is very bad."
Yang Wendong said: "Yes, the environment is very bad. I lived like that when I was a child. I am used to it and I can live with it;
But you should also be aware of the recent situation. There is a serious water shortage in various places. , For people with ordinary conditions, life will be a little difficult at most, but for people living in squatters, it will be a devastating blow.”
"I know too." Zhou Haoran nodded and said: "Yang Sheng, your recent investment in the Kowloon Peninsula is to solve the problem of drought in the squatter area.
Only in this matter, we Watsons seem to have nothing to do "
Yang Wendong said: "I don't need your help. What you should do is to do a good job in your business, preferably to export on a large scale and drive business. Industry.
Even if there is another drought in Hong Kong, as long as the economy is strong, the people at the bottom will not live in such misery. "
The essence of all problems is the economy. Otherwise, if Hong Kong encounters a drought in the 21st century, even if there is no Dongjiang water, countless businessmen will find ways to transport water to Hong Kong, because Hong Kong people are rich and can afford expensive water.
"Yang Sheng is right." Zhou Haoran nodded, and then said: "In this beverage industry, if you want to export, the best model currently is to use cans;
Many beverages in Europe and the United States have begun to use cans , and then export, the same goes for Swire. They have recently signed a can production line with the German beverage packaging company Krones, including the front-end sheet stamping and forming, the subsequent mid-term filling, and the later sealing and sterilization.”
"What is the production capacity of this production line? How much does it cost?" Yang Wendong asked.
Zhou Haoran replied: "This production line can produce 1,000 drinks an hour, and the price is about 400,000 US dollars."
"One thousand an hour, the total price is 400,000 US dollars." ?” Yang Wendong calculated in his mind and said: “If we use 5-year depreciation, the depreciation cost of the equipment for a can of beverage will be 5 cents?”
Zhou Haoran added: "Yes, and a can requires almost 100 grams of tinplate, which costs about 20 cents."
"This is probably much more expensive than the cost of drinks." Yang Wendong smiled and said.
Zhou Haoran said: "Yes, but in the beverage industry, it is normal for packaging to be more expensive than the beverage itself, and transportation costs are more expensive than packaging + beverage;
The advantage of using cans is Shipping costs are much lower and one is not easy Secondly, it is much lighter than glass, so the cost is lower in places like Europe, America and Japan."
Yang Wendong asked: "The cost in Europe, America and Japan is relatively low, so what about yours? Does it mean it’s higher in Hong Kong?”
Zhou Haoran nodded and said: "Yes, the beverage industry actually has the practice of recycling packaging. The same is true for glass bottles, and the same is true for cans.
The heavy weight and fragility of glass bottles are problematic in recycling. It also affects the transportation cost, but cans are much better. They are still flattened for transportation and save space.
But the problem is that the recycling of cans needs to be sent directly to the steel furnace. Hong Kong does not have this condition. Although there are small steel mills, they can't make thin tinplate. That's the problem."
"So the raw materials need to be imported, which is a disadvantage." Yang Wendong also understood: "But I. I think it is more convenient than glass bottles. If the cost is high, then the price can be raised appropriately, and our brand positioning can also be higher.”
From the perspective of the future development of the beverage industry, glass bottles will be more cost-effective. It will definitely be eliminated. The cans of this era have great advantages, especially in terms of transportation costs.
If you want to make drinks by yourself, you will definitely not be able to rely on glass bottles. The best you can do is hang around in Hong Kong. The cost of transporting it out will be beyond the reach of the container even if it comes.
Zhou Haoran said: ‘In this case, the problem will not be big. Our herbal tea itself has no competitors. '
"Well, okay, then you can contact beverage equipment companies in Germany or other countries." Yang Wendong paused and said, "I want to buy a can beverage production line as soon as possible.
Then in Hong Kong, you also need to find a suitable location to build this new The factory, but it’s best to be on the beach. If the water source is tight, I will arrange for a boat to deliver water directly, and just build a large reservoir inside the factory.”
Although the drought is coming, the economy has to do it. Development, if you can make money from drinks, you can buy a hundred times the water you consume.
Besides, drinks don’t consume much water. A million cans filled is actually just a few hundred tons of water. Before the drought ends, if his herbal tea drinks can sell a few million, it will be considered a success.
Zhou Haoran quickly agreed: "Okay, Yang Sheng."
Yang Wendong asked again: "Are the cosmetics stores and pharmacies separated?"
"They are separated. , Now we are all operating independently." Zhou Haoran replied: "I have also contacted Zheng Zhijie and Zheng Sheng, and he will find a suitable location for us to open a new store."
"Okay. Didn't ask any more questions.
Right now is not the time to focus on developing cosmetics chain stores and pharmacies, just maintain normal operations.
PS: Please give me monthly tickets
(End of this chapter)