Franchise God - Chapter 29



Only Krnovel

Franchise God Episode 029

Chapter 6 How much is it? How much is enough? (4)

“Mom is right. From now on, if I’m going to make soup, I’d be better off just buying Dad’s ramen and using only the mushrooms.”

“Ha, but this is dried, right?”

“What does it matter? You can use dried shiitake mushrooms as well. They taste even better.”

“If you soak the dried ones in broth and boil them, the texture will probably change too, right?”

“I think it tastes better when you soak it in dried form rather than raw. The flavor is the same, and the texture is the same.”

As he listened to his wife and two daughters discussing things, Jeon Seong-ryeol suffered a mental breakdown.

‘Hey, there’s no way consumers would do something that stupid?’

You take the mushrooms out of ramen and use them in other dishes?

What kind of ridiculous idea is this?

Jeon Seong-ryeol wanted to deny reality, but the more he listened to the conversation between his wife and two daughters, the harsher the truth became.

“Just take out the mushrooms and add them to stew, kimchi stew, budaejjigae, doenjang jjigae, and ramen, and you’re done. Later, eat the ramen too, and buy some yellow oyster mushrooms for a few hundred won and add them. Killing two birds with one stone, right?”

“Dad, how are we going to solve this problem? Why can’t we just get paid properly for the mushrooms?”

“Honestly, if it tastes like this, don’t you think it’s worth charging a few thousand won for one ramen?”

“That’s not true. No matter how delicious it is, if one bag of ramen costs more than a thousand won, who would buy it?”

“Sister, I think I’ll buy it.”

“You guys just assumed that everyone else would do the same thing that you did. If instant ramen costs a few thousand won, it’s not ramen anymore. It’s just another food that looks like ramen.”

“Daughter, that’s right. If you’re going to push it as a high-end ramen brand, then that’s fine, but if you’re going to sell it as regular ramen, the price level should be roughly the same as other ramen.”

Jeon Seong-ryeol’s worries only grew more severe.

* * *

Lee Won-jae has been feeling increasingly anxious lately.

He believed only the words of his friend Park Ki-soo, who worked at Seongryeol Distribution, and devised a plan to cause discord between Ha Su-yeong and Jeon Seongryeol.

Now, if Ha Su-yeong just contacts me and says, “I can’t trust President Jeon Seong-ryeol. From now on, I will handle the distribution of Songi directly with you, Seohae Foods. Whether domestically or internationally,” that’s all I need to do.

But Ha Soo-young doesn’t say anything, and Jeon Seong-ryeol doesn’t contact her either.

It was frustrating because I couldn’t figure out what was going on between the two of them.

“Ki-su, how are you doing? I’m dying from having to keep an eye on the boss these days.”

-Well, I think we’ll have to wait a little longer.

“Is there really no problem?”

-That’s not it. Our CEO is already in a bad mood these days. I think he’s having some kind of conflict with CEO Ha Soo-young.

“Then that’s good.”

Park Ki-soo hung up the phone, looked down at his phone, and sighed.

“This guy’s answer is also a bit disappointing.”

As the days went by, the uneasy feeling became more and more concrete.

Through his long career in the company, Wonjae Lee knew that the current situation was not at all positive.

‘This guy, the rider, could it be that he came now?’

You won’t hit me in the back of the head, will you?

‘If a problem arises, it’s shameful to cover it up instead of telling the truth.’

Feeling frustrated, I left the office to smoke a cigarette.

While I was calming myself down by smoking a cigarette in the smoking room, I suddenly overheard people from other departments talking.

“100 tons of golden silk umbrella mushrooms?”

“That’s what they said.”

“What are you going to do with all those expensive mushrooms you bought?”

“These days, Hwangbi Mushroom is all the rage. It’s being used in various ways in mukbangs and cooking shows, on terrestrial TV and YouTube.”

“Then it’s a transaction targeting general consumers?”

“That too, and it seems that Hwangbi mushrooms are all the rage in the food service industry.”

“If it’s 100 tons, the purchase price would be around 3 billion won. It’s not a lot of money compared to our company, but it’s a bit high for a single item to be purchased at this time. But we managed to secure the quantity at this time.”

“Is that Seongryeol Distribution? I heard they have stock there. They say they have 280 tons in stock.”

“I’ve never heard of such a company before. Was there such a company?”

“It’s a small distributor with annual sales of less than 10 billion won. It’s only natural that you haven’t heard of it.”

Lee Won-jae almost dropped the cigarette he was holding.

‘How did this happen?’

* * *

We have succeeded in drastically reducing the unit cost of cultivating golden silk umbrella mushrooms.

If you distribute ramen noodles with plenty of golden umbrella mushrooms, the best in soup dishes, they will sell like hotcakes.

If they dominate the ramen market, they will be able to use that as a springboard to gradually take over other food markets.

“The problem is that consumers aren’t stupid. If we price the yellow oyster mushrooms in two, consumers will act accordingly. They will take the mushrooms out of ramen and use them in regular cooking. They won’t buy the yellow oyster mushrooms sold separately on the market.”

The price of fresh mushrooms sold in the market is maintained at its original price, while the price of mushrooms used in ramen is significantly reduced.

A sales strategy that captures the ramen market while also making a profit in the general market.

There was a big hitch in that.

‘Your facial expression hasn’t changed at all.’

But Ha Soo-young remained calm even after hearing the story.

Was it because they had already expected that much, or was it because they thought this wasn’t a big deal?

“So what are you going to do?”

Rather, he asks back as if urging a solution.

Jeon Seong-ryeol suddenly felt a little unfamiliar with him. The feeling he often got from him these days came flooding back to him.

“What can I do? I have to just push through.”

“Hmm.”

“First of all, isn’t the most important thing dominating the ramen market?”

“That’s right. What’s important is monopolizing the yellow mushroom market? Monopolizing the ramen market is important.”

“I’ve thought about it a lot, but given the significant price difference, there’s no way to stop people from taking out the mushrooms in ramen and using them in other dishes. That is, unless they sue consumers for violating the ramen consumption terms and conditions.”

“If you do that, you’ll be able to instantly raise your profile in mom cafes across the country. Of course, in a bad way.”

“There is no harm in using our ramen mushrooms for cooking in regular households. In fact, it will sell more of our ramen products, which will help increase our market share.”

“Do you buy it from a restaurant and use it?”

“Then thank you even more. If the food service industry were to use it with determination, wouldn’t they use several boxes a day? It’s only a matter of time before they reclaim the top spot in the ramen market share.”

Jeon Seong-ryeol also thought about adding only a small amount of mushrooms.

However, it was abandoned as it went against the initial strategy of competing with a special ramen filled with expensive yellow oyster mushrooms.

“You have to throw away what you have to throw away. You can’t take everything. You have to think that there will be no market for fresh mushrooms for the time being.”

“Surprisingly, the fresh mushroom market may be less affected. Buying a box of ramen and taking out the mushrooms to cook with is more troublesome than you might think.”

“Don’t underestimate the diligence of consumers.”

“Please don’t ignore the caution of consumers. How can you be sure whether or not dried mushrooms have been added to ramen soup in advance?”

At those words, Jeon Seong-ryeol also let out a low voice.

“I added mushrooms to bring out some of the flavor of the soybean paste stew, but if the flavor of the ramen powder soup mixes in, it’s like throwing away the dish.”

“Wait, I didn’t think of that. The idea of ​​mixing the mushrooms and powdered soup together in advance!”

Jeon Seong-ryeol continued speaking, slightly excited.

“If we mix the powdered soup into the mushrooms in advance, wouldn’t we be able to prevent the mushrooms from being taken out and used in other dishes?”

“Don’t do it.”

Even though he said it was a good idea, Jeon Seong-ryeol became puzzled when Ha Su-yeong immediately denied it.

“But why?”

“We are the latecomers among the latecomers. Even though we have the special ability called Hwangbi Mushroom Ramen, we are still far behind. Our recognition is not at rock bottom, it’s deep, deep.”

“I’d be willing to make a deal with the devil if I could just raise my profile. There’s a ramen that has yellow mushrooms in it for really cheap, so let’s buy this ramen, take out the mushrooms, and use it in cooking. Wouldn’t that at least get some momentum going in the beginning?”

“Even without that, I think Hwangbi Mushroom Ramen would be enough to reclaim the number one spot in the market.”

“You have to use all the numbers you can. You can’t be satisfied with this much and think it’s enough.

“You haven’t even been in business for a year or two…”

Jeon Seong-ryeol suddenly felt embarrassed at the feeling of being lightly ridiculed.

I feel like I’ve been taught the most basic of basics. And that too by a business partner who’s as young as my son.

“Okay. Then let’s proceed as originally planned. I’ll ignore the mushroom market for the time being.”

“Yes, let’s not even think about diverting supplies there and just take over the ramen market first. The price of the fresh mushroom market is going to fall in the end anyway.

As long as I grow at this price.”

“Let’s do that. Oh, by the way, Seohae Foods has decided to sell 100 tons of Golden Umbrella Mushrooms. The price will be the same as the standard market price.”

“Well done. What is the productivity level of the old factory you decided to take over?”

“It’s too much for a start-up, and too little for established mid-sized companies? I think I understand why JM Foods considered it a headache. It’s lacking something for them to handle, and if they put it up for sale, no company would want to buy it.”

“You don’t have to lower the price any further, but please make sure you provide support for factory operation know-how.”

“Don’t worry.”

“Even if we step on the future sprouts in advance, we won’t tell you 100% everything. We have to guess and steal what we can. If we take over the factory, I will have to go in and out of the factory for a while.”

“You?”

Jeon Seong-ryeol asked back as if it was unexpected.

I didn’t know that Ha Su-yeong, who was busy growing mushrooms, would personally step forward to supervise the factory.

“Wouldn’t it be hard? It must be quite a distance from the farm to the factory.”

“Even if it’s hard, you have to do what you have to do. If the owner doesn’t know how the factory is run, the company will fail.”

“That’s amazing.”

Jeon Seong-ryeol felt a little embarrassed in front of Ha Su-yeong’s passion.

Ha Soo-young shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

“Well, originally I was planning to try running a ramen shop as a hobby after I retired. I guess it’s a good thing since I finally got one of my wishes come true.”

“Hey, you’re already talking about retirement. You’ve just gotten on track, so there’s nothing you can’t say.”

“Haha, you retired during your teens. That’s not wrong.”

“If you’re going to retire, what was your dream? To become the owner of a building in Cheongdam-dong?”

“yes.”

“You’re not the owner of the building in Cheongdam-dong, you’re the owner of the complex. No, don’t even think about retiring until you make the entire Cheongdam-dong your land.”

“No, when did you come into my head and come out?”

“If a young person wants to have a dream, he or she has to go that far.”

The two finished discussing the schedule while giggling lightly.

We decided to give up on the fresh mushroom market for the time being and focus solely on capturing market share in the ramen market. We decided not to mix the mushrooms in the soup in advance at all.

Everything is done to drastically increase ramen sales.

“But boss, is the person who said he wanted to buy the yellow truffles by any chance Lee Won-jae, deputy manager of the export department at Seohae Food?”

“No, it was a proposal from another department. I think it was being carried out without any relation to the export department.”