Omniscient Investment Point - Chapter 287



Only Krnovel

287 The Future of Smart Farms – 3

(1)

Is this an important day for JTS to invest more in Dream Farm?

Jeong Seung-ho was looking at me with eyes like these.

I said to him.

“CEO Jeong’s business direction is correct. However, the speed and depth are the problems.”

“Speed ​​and depth? Not economy?”

“It’s the same thing.”

Jeong Seung-ho’s eyes showed a slight incomprehension.

Sometimes, people from science and engineering fields have difficulty understanding the synonyms claimed by people from humanities fields.

Because this was the situation right now, I explained it slowly.

“What is the essence of economic efficiency? Whether the price is high or low, there must be a demand for it, so that it remains. Isn’t that it?”

“Yes.”

“So, which comes first: price? Which comes first: demand?”

“If we really have to be specific, the demand side comes first.”

“great.”

I laughed at the thought that Jeong Seung-ho wasn’t a fool.

Of course, a place like Dream Farm wasn’t a place where just anyone could sit as a representative.

‘This guy smells like Bae Jong-hyun.’

Jong-Hyeon Bae, former CEO of Doctor Carty, is now more deeply involved in new drug development than management.

I think the same goes for Jeong Seung-ho.

The focus was on developing better smart farms rather than management.

There may be several reasons, but my guess is simple.

Compared to other smart farm companies, Dream Farm has a short history.

That’s why, in an instant, we tried to narrow the gap, catch up, or overtake through technological development, but then we could end up in the abyss.

In other words, the combination of smart farms and AI that I saw last time is not something that other peer groups are not implementing because they cannot.

Just like Dream Farm, it was judged to be uneconomical and thus could not be put on the market.

Since I studied this material up until now, I focused more on the market rather than the technology.

“Then, we need to find a market for it, or at least create one.”

“Yes, that’s why I mentioned the Middle East last time.”

“Yes, the Middle East is a realistic breakthrough. But expensive smart farm facilities and solutions are excessive. They are not stupid.”

“hmm…….”

In fact, the core crops of smart farms were mostly leafy vegetables.

Grains and fruits that require a lot of space or are vulnerable to climate change are not being tried because they cannot be grown, but because of economic reasons.

But in the Middle East, food security was the number one priority for most.

So are leafy greens essential?

No, will it be possible to get first place?

Absolutely not. It would be far behind grains, and probably even behind fruits.

“They don’t eat leafy vegetables as much as Koreans. It’s not that they don’t eat them, but it’s just the greed of the seller that makes them buy expensive leafy vegetables to eat.”

“hmm…….”

I took the continuous silence to mean that he was helpless against my stabbing attacks.

However, this did not slow down the offensive.

“Therefore, if you are targeting the Middle Eastern market, I think you should compete on price.”

“Yes, I agree. But comparing the Middle East to Korea is hard to accept.”

“Because Korea ranks first in per capita consumption of leafy vegetables?”

“… … .”

Since you can’t answer, I guess I was right.

Then we could launch another attack.

That too, according to this person’s logic.

“So, we should first attack Korea. The consumption of leafy vegetables is so high, so why give up on competing here?”

“Giving up the competition? I’ve never thought about that.”

“The very idea of ​​developing a product targeting the Middle East sounds like that to me.”

“hmm…….”

There was another snoring.

Actually, my logic is not that great.

This guy’s logic is just flawed.

However, it is not always good to just attack.

Sometimes you just have to give them a boost.

“Personally, I think it’s really amazing that Dream Farm has caught up with technology in a relatively short period of time. That’s thanks to you, CEO.”

“No way. I didn’t do anything big.”

“No. I heard that you achieved results in smart farms as soon as you joined the company, and that the speed was amazing. That’s why the board of directors of Dream Farm elected you as the CEO.”

When I looked into Jeong Seung-ho’s past, it was very simple.

Dream Farm was my first job, and I researched and developed smart farm technology there.

So, the first generation quickly caught up with the second generation’s technological prowess, and Dream Farm, which had no owner, selected Seungho Jeong as a young executive to take on the challenge of the third generation.

At that time, I was thirty-three years old, two years ago.

The development speed of Jeong Seung-ho, who sat in the executive position, was incredible.

In a short period of time, the technological capabilities of existing smart farm companies were caught up.

However, the technological prowess and brand awareness were different.

The existing companies were already established in the market and were very good at sales.

Even if a place has the same technology, there is a significant gap between a brand you have heard of and a brand you haven’t.

Moreover, smart farms do not require an investment of just a few pennies.

In the end, Dream Farm’s market share in the ambitiously challenged 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generation smart farms did not grow as much as expected.

They managed to rise to second place in market share by using the money they had saved from selling farmland in Brazil for promotion, but of course they ran a deficit because they spent more than they earned.

Accordingly, Seungho Jeong boldly stepped forward to take over the market with the 4th generation smart farm, but the reality of economic feasibility was holding him back.

So I thought I should let this person know.

Dream Farm says that market penetration comes first before technology development.

“You’ve done well, but I don’t think the change in thinking should be limited to technology. There’s a line in a comic book that I like. You might know it because you’re from the same generation as me.”

“… … .”

“Become the best at home, then look abroad.”

“ah…….”

I thought I knew what kind of cartoon it was.

If so, you would have also read the context in which I brought that up.

In fact, Jeong Seung-ho was silent for a few seconds, then nodded and spoke to me.

“I think I know what you mean. No, I definitely understand.”

I smiled and nodded. Then I said.

“As we talk, I feel hungry. Should we eat something?”

“Are we talking together?”

“Okay, I’ll buy you a hamburger for lunch.”

And a little while later, we were ordering a set menu while looking at the smart farm at the wellness burger.

(2)

Jeong Seung-ho, who was slightly younger than me, volunteered to run the errand.

As soon as our order number was called, they brought our hamburger set and sat us down.

“I think I know why you brought me here.”

“Let’s have a bite and talk. What could it be?”

I looked at Jeong Seung-ho’s mouth with anticipation, like a teacher waiting to hear his student’s answer.

Then, as I said, he took a bite and raised his thumb.

“It’s delicious.”

“Yes, especially, the vegetables in here are fresh, right?”

I also smiled and took a bite.

Using your ears instead of your mouth, listen to his story.

“It’s very fresh. But I don’t think the vegetables are fresh enough to make it tasty.”

“sure?”

“The vegetables are fresh, so they must be delicious. I feel like I’m being gaslighted like this, so I think they’re delicious.”

“Hahaha. Of all the people I brought here, you gave me the most refreshing review.”

“But what I said isn’t wrong.”

“Yes, I agree to some extent.”

The Wellness Burger was growing leafy vegetables using hydroponics inside the store.

Because of this, people feel the freshness of vegetables when eating hamburgers.

But if there were no smart farms in this place, how many people would actually eat vegetables while feeling good about them?

A significant number were more likely to taste and evaluate things other than vegetables, such as the patty, onions, and hamburger buns.

That doesn’t mean I don’t taste vegetables.

This means that people with different tastes each focus on different parts of the food.

“It’s definitely possible that the leafy greens are more visible, which may make you focus more on the freshness of the burger every time you eat it.”

“Then, just installing a smart farm in the store has had a big effect.”

“Of course. Even the price is expensive.”

“Yes. I was a bit surprised when I saw the price of the hamburger earlier. Is it a luxury burger? It’s a bit of an illusion.”

“But people still don’t spare money. Why? Because even though it’s a hamburger, which is supposed to be fast food, it emphasizes health.”

It was a kind of trick.

Honestly, how healthy can a hamburger be?

Wellness foods are becoming more and more widespread.

Yet people who love the taste of hamburgers eat them when they want to and hypnotize themselves.

Oh, I had a healthy hamburger today.

Instead, you pay that much more.

Believing that you have made a reasonable investment in your health.

“But I don’t think just anyone can come here.”

“Yes. Basically, people who have the means to spend a lot of money on eating out. Or, people who are brave enough to cut down on two or three burgers and choose healthy burgers. Those are the customers.”

Jeong Seung-ho’s eyes, which had been changing since a while ago, are now slowly wavering.

Now, it seemed like I had reached a point where I was getting inspiration beyond understanding what I was saying.

So I wanted to hear it.

“Should we start incorporating this into our business?”

“Yes, I have an idea.”

“What is that?”

“People spend on what they feel firsthand. Naturally, they don’t consider cost-effectiveness. In other words, they buy it even if it’s expensive. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if it falls into the realm of overconsumption.”

“Good, very good.”

I smiled and glanced to the side.

Kwak Hyun-woo was laughing as he listened to our conversation from another table.

‘The child… … .’

I know why you’re laughing.

When I was developing the guy’s abilities in the past, I trained him in this question-and-answer format.

Under my tutelage, he has now grown into a multi-talented person.

I hoped that would happen to Jeong Seung-ho.

“Then, we need to sell smart farms to people so that they invest in their health.”

“of course.”

“If possible, not just to farmers, but to the general public.”

“Of course.”

“But didn’t something similar come out? Something called a plant-based home appliance from LZ.”

“It came out. So Dream Farm isn’t going to release something similar?”

If someone has pioneered a market for you, you should feel grateful and step forward.

You don’t always have to be the first mover.

Sometimes fast seconds can be better.

“Should we have better technical skills instead?”

Here the tide changes.

In other words, the student asking the question wants to get the answer from the teacher who is teaching it.

It is inefficient to just wait for someone who is stuck solving a math problem.

Sometimes it’s not a bad idea to just give the answer.

“If it were me, I would probably grow plants for fun rather than for food.”

“uh?”

“Is this a hint?”

“The concept of a toy that kidults can play with.”

“Representative Jeong, even if I just throw you one thing, you have the ability to go far.”

A proper compliment can make even a whale dance.

“It feels like the advertising slogan was decided all at once. A new concept kidult toy, Dream Farm’s plant-based home appliances.”

“I hope it goes viral. It’s like a Gangnam farmer who dreams of farming can do it at home. Something like that.”