Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 357 Opening the Market
Although the business deal fell through, Manager Zhao still tried his best to persuade them to stay and treated them to a meal at the company cafeteria.

Ye Shubao was in a bad mood and wanted to find another restaurant as soon as possible, not wanting to eat this meal.

However, Manager Zhao was so enthusiastic, and Chen Fan was giving him a meaningful look from the side, so he stayed and had lunch.

Even though Chen Fan knew that Manager Zhao's refusal to purchase chickens, ducks, and geese from Lujiawan was mostly out of spite, otherwise, given the size of the shipping company, the canteen could easily consume more than a dozen ducks every day, so why would he need to use rules as an excuse?

But he couldn't bring himself to say it.

We didn't give them face back then, so now they're not giving Lujiawan face. As for the favor of inviting Zhang Wenliang and Zhang Juemin to give lectures, we've already repaid it with gifts, so there's no question of owing them a favor.

An eye for an eye, that's the true meaning of "reciprocity".

However, it must be admitted that this Manager Zhao is a master of public relations. He does a flawless job in appearances and is extremely attentive in his receptions. No one can find fault with him.

The meal included meat, fish, vegetables, and wine; the food was quite good, leaving Ye Shubao speechless. He really thought Ye Shubao couldn't do it.

So much so that when he left the water transport company, he was still lamenting, "Life is only a little better now, with every household allowed to raise chickens and ducks. If it were two or three years ago, when each household could not raise more than three chickens, every unit was begging for meat. With my tens of thousands of chickens, ducks and geese, I don't need to go out to find a market. I can just sit at home and collect the money!"

"Ha, back then you'd need tens of thousands of chickens, ducks, and geese! Others couldn't raise them, but you could?"

Anquan laughed from the side, "You said it yourself, that was a few years ago. The year before last, you didn't need meat coupons to buy pork. You could just buy whatever you wanted with your money, and the food station couldn't even sell all the pigs."

Zhang Wenliang seemed somewhat dejected at this moment. "Sigh, you said that if you can't sell all the pork, you won't be able to buy it the following year. Even the chickens and ducks in every household were snapped up. At that time, many people went to buy chicks and ducklings to raise."

In the last two years, pork was rationed again, but chicken and duck didn't even require ration coupons; you could just buy them with money. The shortages came and went, and it was impossible to tell which years had a meat shortage and which didn't.

Chen Fan walked beside him and chuckled softly, "It's easy to find out which years there's a meat shortage and which years there isn't."

Zhang Wenliang immediately turned to look at him, "You can calculate?"

Chen Fan laughed and said, "It's not a calculation, but a simple guess. When the higher-ups tighten the policies, there will be a shortage of meat when they cut off the tails. When the higher-ups loosen the policies, allow production teams and families to engage in sideline businesses, and even give breeding incentives, there will be no shortage of meat."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wenliang realized, "So this year, with the allowance for side businesses, there will be more people raising chickens and ducks, and various organizations won't have to worry about not being able to buy meat?!"

Chen Fan nodded slightly, "That's right, that's exactly it."

Ye Shubao stood to the side with a worried look on his face. "I don't care whether they can buy meat or not. I only care about how to sell these ducks and geese as quickly as possible, because in a little over a month, the chickens will also be ready for market. One batch after another, if we keep them in our hands, we will lose a lot of money."

Zhang Juemin nodded in agreement, "The most crucial point is that as the number of poultry raised increases, the risk of poultry contracting epidemics will also increase significantly, and this aspect cannot be ignored."

Ye Shubao and Zhang Wenliang nodded in agreement, "That's right."

Anquan looked at Chen Fan and asked thoughtfully, "Little Chen, do you have any ideas?"

He had just noticed that Chen Fan seemed completely calm and unconcerned, and he wondered if Chen Fan had any other ideas.

Upon hearing this, Ye Shubao and the other two looked at Chen Fan expectantly.

Chen Fan smiled dismissively, "There's definitely a way, but let's not rush it. There are over twenty units in the county, and we've only visited one so far. Let's finish visiting the rest first."

Hearing this, Ye Shubao naturally refused to leave, and said irritably, "I'm so anxious I'm about to jump up and down, and you're still keeping me in suspense. Hurry up and tell me."

Anquan pointed at him, both amused and exasperated, "What time is it? Why don't you explain yourself clearly? Are you trying to drive us crazy?"

Seeing how anxious they were, Chen Fan could only helplessly shrug and say, "Fine, fine, I'll go first."

He then pointed to a large tree by the roadside not far away, "It's cool there, let's talk there."

The group walked quickly over and stood under the shade of a tree. A cool breeze blew by, and their mood improved slightly.

Chen Fan looked at the pedestrians coming and going on the street, let out a long breath, and then said, "It's not that I'm trying to keep you in suspense, but Lujiawan is currently dirt poor and can't even scrape together a few dozen yuan. There's no point in telling you the later methods. We must first sell some of the ducks and geese to raise enough capital before we can proceed to the next step."

Ye Shubao was taken aback, then looked at him and asked, "Do I need to invest more money?"

Lujiawan now owes several thousand yuan in seedling debt, and has also bought several hundred yuan worth of medicine from the veterinary station to prevent diseases in poultry and livestock, as well as to keep it for future treatment. With other investments, the production team's account has long been reduced to just a little bit of change.

If we want to continue investing money, then we really don't have the means.

But what's the point of investing money?

Chen Fan nodded and gestured, saying, "It's like this, I checked in Nanhu Town, chickens are 1.1 yuan per jin, ducks are 0.5 yuan, and geese are 1 yuan. These are the prices for live poultry. These prices are fixed by the market, we can't just lower the prices and sell them, right?"

Ye Shubao nodded, "Yes."

The prices of meat and vegetables in the market were determined by the "Price Committee." The Ministry of Commerce established the Price Bureau as early as 52. Then, in 57, local "Price Committees" were established at the provincial, prefectural, municipal, and county levels to be responsible for the unified management of prices.

It wasn't until 62 that the National Price Commission was established, marking the beginning of a "unified" phase for prices across the country.

However, a unified system does not mean that prices are the same across the country. Prices will still vary slightly depending on the actual resources available in each region.

For example, rice is cheaper in the south than in the north, and rice in the northeast is cheaper than rice in North China, because both the northeast and the south are rice-producing areas.

Furthermore, even in the same location, prices are not always constant, but rather fluctuate to a limited extent according to market conditions.

If there is a shortage of vegetables or meat during a certain period, the purchasing department of the vegetable market will increase the purchase price within a certain range. The retail price is based on the purchase price plus a fixed percentage. For example, the price of vegetables in winter is higher than usual.

This markup percentage is also strictly regulated.

In the earliest days, in the 50s, with grain as the key, it was once stipulated that the retail price could not exceed 3% of the purchase price. After deducting the costs of labor, transportation, and storage, this price might not even yield a 1% profit, and often resulted in losses.

Because in addition to cost, there is also wear and tear, and the losses in this regard are completely unpredictable.

It wasn't until later, after some events (this part is missing), that the Price Commission gradually increased the profit margin ratio for almost all products.

However, in general, the price difference ratio is higher for industrial products, exceeding 20% ​​for some in-demand products, while the price difference for agricultural products is generally controlled within 10%, and in most cases, it does not exceed 5%.

Take pork as an example. In just three years, the price of pork has dropped from as low as 70 or 80 cents per pound to as high as over 1.5 yuan. Moreover, the higher the price, the less supply there is and the harder it is to buy. The lower the price, the more supply there is and the more likely it is to be oversupplied and the more livestock are kept in production teams in various regions.

However, regardless of whether the price is high or low, it must be in accordance with the regulations of the local price committee.

Chen Fan continued, "But at this fixed price, even farmers in the market sometimes can't sell out their chickens, ducks, and geese. How long will it take us to sell them all?"

If you can't lower your prices on your own, it means you can't engage in price wars. Otherwise, if you sell your goods cheaper than the market, everyone will buy from you, and who will buy from the market? Therefore, in this situation, we will deal with each case as soon as we discover it, without any leniency.

At this moment, Anquan asked curiously, "Then why did you say you wanted to apply for a stall in the county town's vegetable market? Do you think it's easier to sell there?"

Chen Fan shook his head, turned to look at him and smiled, "If we sell live poultry directly, let alone in the county town, even if we take it to the prefectural committee or the provincial capital, we may not be able to sell it."

Ultimately, it comes down to this: the farmers' market has a stable source of goods, and daily sales remain at a relatively stable level. Sales might surge on holidays, but otherwise they're about the same. Residents are used to buying things from public places; why should they buy from us for no reason?

Ye Shubao became more and more confused. "This isn't selling, that isn't selling, so what's your solution? You even said you need to invest money."

Chen Fan smiled and held up two fingers, saying, "There are two ways. One is to find corporate clients, which is what we're doing right now. Corporate clients have a lot of employees and a large demand. Even if each corporate client only needs 20 pieces a day, ten companies would need 200 pieces, and we could sell 6000 pieces a month." Ye Shubao clapped his hands, looking distressed, and said, "But Manager Zhao just said that almost all the large companies in the county have signed agreements with the vegetable market. With the vegetable market supplying them, who would buy from us?"

Chen Fan shrugged. "Let's give it a try, just in case."

Anquan frowned slightly and asked, "What if we've tried it and it still doesn't work?"

Chen Fan snapped his fingers and laughed, "If the county town doesn't have it, we'll go to the prefectural committee. I can't speak for others, but I still have some influence in the prefectural committee's health system, especially in the hospitals in Yunhu. Each hospital has hundreds of medical staff, plus thousands of patients and their accompanying family members. Patients need nutritional supplements the most, and they're willing to spend money. Even if the supply at the prefectural committee's vegetable market is plentiful, as long as the demand is high enough, we should be able to sell some!"

Although he accepted the gift from the health department to settle the favor, there was still a "relationship" involved, and he felt he could still earn back that bit of face.

Upon hearing his words, Ye Shubao's expression immediately brightened, and he grinned broadly, laughing, "That's right, how could I forget about the Prefectural Committee Hospital?"

Zhang Wenliang, standing to the side, was also beaming with excitement, "Seriously, with Xiao Chen's relationship with the leaders of several hospitals under the prefectural committee, selling them a few ducks would definitely not be a problem."

Zhang Juemin also laughed and said, "Oh dear, why didn't you say so sooner? You made me so anxious."

He paused for a moment, then said, "Why don't we go directly to the prefectural committee? Why run into a wall in the county?"

Chen Fan pursed his lips and shook his head. "This is where I said we still need to invest money. There are two buses a day from Lujiawan, but to get to the prefectural committee, we have to transfer in the county. We're not familiar with the drivers in the county and the prefectural committee. Do you think they'll allow us to load chickens, ducks, and geese onto the bus or put them on the roof and get them dirty?"

He looked at the group and said seriously, "My idea is that it would be best to find a few big clients in the county town, make some money first, and then use that money to build a cooked food workshop. Then we can supply cooked food directly to the prefectural committee by waterway."

Ye Shubao's eyes widened immediately. "A cooked food workshop?"

Safety seemed to ponder, "By water?"

Chen Fan looked at the two of them and said, "There are no cooked food stalls in the Nanhu Commune's vegetable market, only in the state-run restaurants. I also asked Manager Zhao when we were eating earlier, and there are no cooked food stalls in the county's vegetable market either. You have to go to the state-run restaurants to buy them. This means that this is a blank market."

As I mentioned earlier, selling live poultry directly might not be successful. However, if we sell cooked food at the market at reasonable prices, we can not only earn more money, but more importantly, we can avoid competing with the market company's live poultry stalls and thus avoid causing them resistance. At the same time, we can also open up a portion of the market.

Anquan suddenly realized, "So you need to sell a batch of live poultry first before you have the money to set up a cooked food workshop."

"Ah."

Chen Fan nodded and smiled, "The best outcome is to walk on two legs: delivering goods to corporate clients on one hand, and making and selling cooked food on the other. This way, we can steadily and surely open up the market step by step."

But if the county really can't sell them, that's okay.

I've already thought about it. We can first go to the Nanhu Water Transport Company and get an old small outboard motor on credit. We can use the diesel engine from the pumping unit, modify the production team's wooden boat into a speedboat, and then use the waterway to sell live poultry directly to the prefectural committee.

The waterway from the prefectural committee wharf is about 50 kilometers long. If you row, it would take a whole night, but if you take a speedboat, it would probably only take one or two hours, and you can also load more cargo.

However, buying a outboard motor costs money, running on diesel fuel requires even more investment, the wooden boat also needs modification, and live poultry is not as easy to transport as cooked food, so it was only the second choice.

Upon hearing this, all four of them understood what Chen Fan meant.

First, find a way to sell live poultry. After making money, on the one hand, modify the wooden boat, and on the other hand, build a cooked food workshop. This way, you can avoid the live poultry market and open up a sales channel.

As for whether cooked food will sell well, that depends on how well it tastes. With Chen Fan's culinary skills, is there any need to worry about that?
Ye Shubao's worries vanished at this moment. He clenched his hands and laughed heartily, "Take one step at a time. If this road is blocked, there will be another one. You truly are Teacher Chen."

Anquan chuckled a few times, and after the laughter subsided, he said, "One last question."

Chen Fan turned to look at him, "What kind of cooked food are you making?"

Anquan nodded and smiled, "I definitely believe in your skills, I'm just curious."

Chen Fan shrugged. "Roast duck, braised duck, duck neck, duck offal, roast goose, braised goose, goose liver, soy sauce chicken, roast chicken, lotus leaf chicken, chicken offal, there are so many cooked dishes that chicken, duck and goose can make."

Moreover, this isn't an industrial product. If we make it ourselves and sell it, it aligns with the production team's policy of developing sideline businesses, so there's absolutely no problem doing this.

Regarding pricing, we can refer to the pricing of state-run restaurants. However, cooked food certainly won't be as 'refined' as dishes made by master chefs, so a slightly lower price should be acceptable to the relevant authorities.

Anquan nodded repeatedly, "Agreed, absolutely agreed. As long as it's a little more expensive than live poultry, it's fine. After all, it's cooked food, so it can't be sold at the same price as live poultry. As for being cheaper than in restaurants, as long as the reasons are sufficient and reasonable, the price control department will make appropriate concessions. There's definitely no problem with that."

Zhang Wenliang rubbed his hands together and smiled at Chen Fan, "Oh my, hearing you say you can make so many kinds of cooked food makes my mouth water."

Then, looking at the others, he said, "Let's get started! Let's hurry up and make some capital, sell a batch first, and get the transport ship and cooked food workshop up and running as soon as possible!"

Ye Shubao, now in high spirits, waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"

When you have confidence in your abilities, you act with a completely different attitude.

For the next two or three days, Ye Shubao seemed to have returned to the time three years ago when various units in the commune begged him to buy chickens, ducks and geese. His straw hat looked like a top hat, his undershirt was comparable to a shirt, and his cloth shoes looked like leather shoes. He seemed to walk with a swagger.

From morning till night, I shuttle between various units in the county, engaging in lively discussions with their leaders about the promising future of cooperating with chickens, ducks, and geese.

We have meat, you have money. We supply meat, you eat more meat, isn't that great!

Although it was just a few sentences back and forth, after a lot of hard work and visiting 27 companies of all sizes, we finally managed to reach agreements with 15 major clients.

Among them are seven units within the health system, including the County Health Bureau, the County Health School, the County People's Hospital, and the County Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital.

Therefore, Teacher Chen has a lot of influence in the health system. Even though we've never met in person before, on our first meeting, he called on all units to add two more dishes to their canteens.

From now on, the entire health system will order 200 ducks and 30 geese from the Lujiawan production team every day, which will solve more than half of the sales problem.

Of the remaining eight units, the county construction company and the agriculture and animal husbandry bureau together accounted for half of the remaining orders.

Needless to say, the county construction company already had Master Qiu and Master Ma as inside agents. After Chen Fan presented the first draft of his novel, "The Steel 'Dam'," the general manager of the construction company personally accompanied him. First, he placed a large order for 200 ducks and 50 geese. Then, he signed a supply contract with Lujiawan for 30 ducks and 10 geese per day. He also made a generous payment, paying half a month's worth of goods in advance, which directly solved Lujiawan's urgent need for money.

On average, a duck costs 1.2 yuan and a goose costs 7.5 yuan. In this single transaction, the ducks sold for 780 yuan and the geese for 1500 yuan.

Ye Shubao, whose wallet had suddenly become bulging, laughed for three whole days straight, unable to stop smiling.

The fact that another animal husbandry bureau was so generous was also related to Chen Fan.

Don't forget that Chen Fan's only legitimate certificate is the "Rural Veterinarian Qualification Certificate." Moreover, when he was studying at the commune veterinary station, he raised many constructive questions. The animal husbandry bureau summarized these questions and reported them to the prefectural committee's animal husbandry department, which received public praise from higher authorities.

Moreover, the livestock industry is already under the jurisdiction of the Animal Husbandry Bureau, so when the production teams from below come to them, they naturally have to show their appreciation.

So, without any other "competitors," the Livestock Bureau reached a long-term supply agreement with Lujiawan. However, the Livestock Bureau had few people, and they were mostly scattered in various communes below, so the number of orders was not large, about 10 ducks and two geese per day, which was just a token of their goodwill.

The remaining six units are the truly good customers who "don't hold grudges and give face." However, they said that in the initial stage of cooperation, it is not advisable to buy too much at once. Like the Livestock Bureau, each unit only ordered 10 ducks and two geese per day to see how things go. If the employees' feedback is satisfactory, they will increase the quantity.

Of course, if the reaction is negative, then it's best to cancel it.

During this trip to the county, which lasted a total of 3 days, we completed one large order for 200 ducks and 50 geese, as well as other daily supply orders totaling 300 ducks and 54 geese per day.

Although the figures were much lower than expected, the aquaculture industry in Lujiawan has finally taken a solid first step into the market.

(End of this chapter)