I Got the Almighty Tongue - Chapter 197



Only Krnovel

197 Feeding Gate (2)

It is the prosecutor’s office date for Fred, the chairman of Commercial Foods.

As Fred, dressed in a black suit, gets out of the Cadillac, reporters rush over.

Click.

Click.

“Mr. Chairman! Don’t you have any intention of apologizing to the people?”

“Is it true that no one in your family ate lunch at school?”

“Please give us your thoughts!”

Fred pauses for a moment and looks up at the sky. It is as cloudy as his mood. He catches his breath and stands before the reporters.

“First of all, I apologize for causing controversy. I will faithfully cooperate with the investigation.”

He did not forget the lawyer’s advice that lying in front of the public could cause trouble later. Just as he was about to make his statement as brief as possible, he heard an unavoidable verbal abuse.

“Hey, you can’t eat your granddaughter!

[Stop junk food!]

One of the protesting citizens holding a picket sign shouts at him in an agitated tone.

Fred’s steps as he walked in stopped. Then he turned around and faced him. The protester who had been swearing flinched.

“Hello. What’s your name?”

Fred asks his name indifferently.

“Ted, two of my kids ate your garbage nuggets.”

He looks at Fred with an evil look on his face.

“So how much do you pay for the kids’ meals?”

Ted glared at him without saying anything.

“At most, we’re going to pay about three dollars a person. I’ll give you three dollars right now, so why don’t you buy some lunch with it?”

The reporters turn their cameras and whisper, “Wow!” to Fred’s provocative remark.

“So what you did just now was justified?”

Ted clenches his fists. The muscles in his face twitch as if in a spasm.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I just wanted to say that three dollars is a lot of money.

You want to give your kids a quality meal? Pay more taxes. Or give us more money.

Because no matter what you do, $3 won’t be enough to provide the kids with the meals you want. Not just us. No one can do that.

What I meant to say was that we were victims of a fucking policy. If school lunches had cost $5, we wouldn’t have done that.”

Fred finished his speech in a detached tone, as if he had foreseen his future, and headed toward the prosecutor’s office.

* * *

“What an unexpected opportunity. I thought I was completely screwed.”

Quinton says while watching TV.

Breaking news reports are coming out that about 20 school principals and several school lunch committee members have been arrested.

“Do you regret jumping in so hastily?”

“Not at all. In fact, we had a plan B and even a plan C prepared.”

Quinton’s bravado made me laugh.

“There was a connection. I was actually thinking about whether I should first go into road shops with the infrastructure I have built. I was also thinking about supplying to government offices and hospitals.”

I too had various plans in place for emergencies, but no matter which one I chose, it would not have been as good as it is now.

“It was just a question of what came first, but it was a business that could not fail. However, it is true that the territoriality was stronger than I thought. But the other side actually flew away in return, so life is really unpredictable.”

[It was revealed that not only Ecofood, which manufactured the trash nuggets, but also many other companies related to commercial food used substandard ingredients. The companies are protesting that they were only following the instructions of commercial food, but it seems that they cannot avoid arrest.]

Special prosecutor Stan is swinging his blade around like crazy, and the public is responding more and more as his sword dance gets more intense.

“That must mean they were aware of us. In fact, they had clear limitations. They would have had no means of responding if we attacked their weaknesses. But that doesn’t mean they could raise the quality like we did.”

Miss Elise Malone, who had been unconscious due to complications from food poisoning, has regained consciousness.

She is the daughter of Kevin Malone, the Ecofood quality manager and the first whistleblower of the so-called ‘foodgate’ scandal. The hospital said that since the broadcast, many people have sent letters wishing her a speedy recovery.

“This is where it gets important. How about we quickly fill the huge void that has now occurred and increase our weight class?

The plan has already been made. It would not be a dream to become an industry leader in New York by now.

“It would be better to first secure funds by receiving investment and then strike all at once. I did the math….”

Quinton was talking excitedly, and I felt the need to calm him down.

“Quinton!”

“yes?”

“I don’t think you’re wrong as a businessman, if your goal was short-term growth.”

“ah….”

“Let’s think about it. Let’s say we supply meals to about 500 schools. How much can we handle right now?”

“When we first started the business, we designed it to accommodate a maximum of 200 schools.”

“First of all, we can’t afford to handle distribution. We’ll have to outsource it, so of course the unit price will go up.

It would be difficult to train the staff, so the recipes would not be followed properly. There would also be insufficient production of bread.

Then we will be at a crossroads. Isn’t this a pattern we’ve seen a lot?”

“I see. It was the first step in a vicious cycle. If the unit price of meals is lowered, the quality will decline accordingly, and naturally, consumer satisfaction will fall, so they will try to gain competitiveness in other areas through lobbying and other means.”

Quinton says with a bitter smile.

“The first thing we must protect is our own value. We must become the company that the school approaches first and asks to sign a contract.

At a time when the entire nation’s attention is focused on healthy school meals, we need to create a more solid image to imprint it in the public’s mind.

When you think of eco-friendly lunch, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘lunch box.’ Our business doesn’t end with school lunches.”

This is a common mistake beginners make when their business starts to go well. If you fail to maintain quality and only increase your weight, you will eventually be crushed by your own weight.

“I was too excited. You are right, sir.”

Quinton smiles sheepishly.

“Let’s start with 200 schools as planned. This time, we can select them. Let’s exclude those with poor kitchen facilities. But even if we don’t expand the business, I think this is the perfect time to advertise.”

If you let this opportunity pass you by, your qualifications as a businessman will be questioned.

“Considering the current situation, the effect would be doubled.”

Quinton nods.

“It’s more than that. Parents and students are anxious and the public is on high alert.

“With many food service companies that use frozen food being investigated, we are probably the only one that is free from suspicion.”

“Because we don’t do contract manufacturing.”

“That’s right. You can get the most out of your advertising without spending a lot of money.”

“I’ll meet with the advertising agency.”

“Please. These days, I feel like even three bodies wouldn’t be enough.”

“Chef, father, businessman. Three roles in one? If it were me, it would have spread by now.”

Segreto is full again today. I always guard the restaurant when I don’t have anything special to do. However, as my external schedule increases, I am often away from the restaurant.

At the Hundred Dishes flagship store, chefs recruited from Korea and the United States are receiving training. Now that the launch is underway, each day will feel like 48 hours.

Before I knew it, I was buried in work.

I have to admit it now. I love my work. The rewards of hard work are sweeter than drugs.

But it’s different from my previous life. I promised myself that I would become a man who is not lacking as a husband and father.

* * *

We had several meetings with advertising agencies and told them the advertising concept we wanted, and then filming started quickly.

“Chef! Isn’t there anything fancy like a technique that can captivate viewers right away?”

With great difficulty, we got Catherine’s consent and finished the first filming at Harper High School. And now we are in the studio shooting the scenes requested by the director.

“Are you talking about something like this?”

Tata tata tata.

I started chopping the shallots on the cutting board. The staff cheered for my precise and quick cutting.

Drizzle with olive oil and start stir-frying the vegetables. Pour in the wine, flambé, and toss with fancy hand movements, and the PD gives the okay sign.

“It’s just right!”

After several days of filming, the contract for meal supply is also in the final stages.

The schools sent us over 600 proposals. Quinton filtered out the schools that had environments where our company had difficulty demonstrating its capabilities, and ultimately signed contracts with about 200 schools.

And then the commercials started airing on TV.

Beep beep beep beep beep.

The alarm clock rings.

widely.

A boy roughly presses the alarm clock to turn it off, as if he is annoyed. He then gets out of bed and washes his face and brushes his teeth.

There is cereal, toast, and milk on the table. The boy pours milk into a bowl and eats breakfast with a blank expression on his face.

And the narration that flows out.

[67% of calories consumed in American households come from processed foods.]

The child plays with his friends at school, buys a drink from a vending machine, and eats potato chips at the store.

[American children and adolescents get more than 70 percent of their calories from processed foods.]

A large farm in New Jersey flashes across the screen. A farmer harvests fresh tomatoes, carrots and onions and delivers them to a ‘lunchbox’ truck, which then delivers them straight to the school’s kitchen.

Tata tata tata.

Whoaah.

Cheeeeek.

I cook in the kitchen, showing off my dazzling skills. Then I put the food on a plate and finish plating it.

[We hope that children will have at least one proper meal a day.]

Harper High School students happily eat their lunch. The sandwiches and lasagna on the screen look delicious.

The gorgeous colors of bibimbap are beautifully captured on screen.

[No processed Food, No Chemicals. Nurture with Nature.]

[Dosirak]

[Only for 3.60 dollars]

-You don’t use processed foods? What? Is this possible in school lunches?

-You don’t even use ketchup or mayonnaise? It must taste terrible. Aren’t they just serving raw vegetables?

-That high school student in the commercial is crazy about our school’s cafeteria. The menu on the screen is exactly the same.

-Really?

-(Photo) These days, kids at our school come to school to eat lunch. The taste is amazing.

-Is this the meal made by Chef Shin Je-hee?

-That’s right. I made fun of Hundred Dishes for being a school lunch company, but they ended up starting a real school lunch company.

-I heard that the government is conducting a comprehensive investigation into food service companies these days. What is the arrogance behind these advertisements?

-I’m confident. Since I don’t use processed foods in the first place, I don’t think I’ll get sick.

– It’s amazing that this can be done for $3.60. What kind of charity is this?

The advertisement received an immediate response and became a hot topic both online and offline.

There was an increase in the number of schools that contacted the company late to apply for meal services, but they had to be satisfied with putting their names on a waiting list.

We are expanding our infrastructure. Our goal is to have a system that can service all of New York City and surrounding cities within a year.

“These days, we get more calls asking for investment than inquiries about school meals.”

Quinton laughs incredulously.

“It seems like the advertising was more effective than expected.”

“It was truly a stroke of wisdom. Rather than expanding the business hastily, it was the right answer to focus on building substance and increasing brand awareness through advertising. Thanks to this, we were able to gain a unique image in the food industry.”

This is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see how far I can go.