“Should I call you Manager Niu or Director Niu?”
“Hahaha, I am here to talk business with you as the General Manager of Beidacang Group. You can just call me Manager Niu or Old Niu.” Niu Kun replied.
Feng Yu felt this Niu Kun was only pretending to be friendly. He just wanted to be closer to Feng Yu. He must be up to something.
“Talk about business? What business?”
“Beidacang Group’s cooperation with Tai Hua Processed Food Company!”
“Manager Niu, I think you got the wrong person. Tai Hua Processed Food Company is not my company.” Feng Yu calmly replied.
“We have contacted your father, but your father does not seem to be interested in dealing with all these. Manager Zhang is in Tianjin for work and will not be back soon. That’s why I can only look for you.” Niu Kun was also feeling frustrated. Dealing with Feng Xingtai was easier than dealing with Feng Yu.
But Feng Xingtai told Niu Kun that he was recuperating in the hospital and does not have time for all these. He asked Niu Kun to look for Feng Yu or Zhang Ming. Damn. You are staying at your daughter-in-law’s hospital. The best hospital in the Northeast region, and you still have 2 nurses taking care of you 24 hours. You are telling me that you do not have time?!
The Provincial Government contacted Zhang Ming, but Zhang Ming was in Tianjin and will not be back until 2 weeks later. This was why they had to look for Feng Yu.
“What cooperation do you all want?” Feng Yu asked.
It was usual for them to cooperate since both companies were dealing with agriculture products. Feng Yu also wanted cooperation with Beidacang, but he was rejected by Zhang Ruiqiang. Zhang Ruiqiang was worried that Feng Yu would take over Beidacang Group.
“Manager Feng, Beidacang Group would like to have brand cooperation with Tai Hua Processed Food Company.”
Brand cooperation? Co-branding? Damn! These government officials also know about co-branding?
Brand cooperation was common in future years. For example, FAW-Volvo, Panasonic-Wuxi Little Swan, etc. The benefits of such collaboration were making use of each other brand advantage to increase their own brand awareness.
But the criterial of such cooperation was that both brands had to be equal and stand to gain from each other. Feng Yu does not think that Tai Hua Processed Food Company and Tian Peng Pigs can gain anything from Beidacang Group. This cooperation will only benefit Beidacang Group!
If Beidacang Group had been in the market for a few years and were known throughout the whole nation, then there will not be any problem for this cooperation. Feng Yu only need to make sure that Tai Hua brand must be before Beidacang Group in their collaboration.
But now? Are you kidding me?!
“Manager Niu, are you joking with me? How can our Tai Hua brand be compared with Beidacang Group?” Feng Yu purposely asked.
Niu Kun knew Feng Yu was sarcastic and he was trying to say that Beidacang was not qualified to cooperate with Tai Hua Brand!
“Manager Feng, our Beidacang Group initial capital is 5 billion. We are a large-scale agriculture production company. We will further increase our capital in the future.”
Feng Yu immediately raised his hand to stop Niu Kun from boasting. “I know more about Beidacang Group than you. Baidacang Group can be set up is because of my suggestions. I will be honest with you. Beidacang Group’s initial capital might be a lot, but in reality, this company is an empty shell. The Central and Provincial Government might invest a lot in this company. But the problem with the company’s fund is that it is not enough! You dare to tell me how much money do Beidacang Group have?”
Want to boast in front of me? It’s because you have the government as your backing. If this is a private company, I don’t even need 3 months to make you all shut down! The biggest shortcoming of this company is the fund!
The money given by the higher-ups had to be used to get machinery and then acquire those smaller factories. They will be spending their money happily. Feng Yu heard that there was a small cooking oil factory which was worth not more than 100,000 RMB, and the people at Beidacang Group spent more than 1 million to acquire them!
No wonder in Feng Yu’s previous life there was a saying. Government and state-owned companies do not know how to spend money. Even 10 billion RMB will not be enough for them!
In Feng Yu’s previous life, he heard that people love to do businesses with the government. Something worth a tens of thousand can be sold to them for a few hundred thousand. Also, the businessmen could buy a few million worths of goods from the government with only a few hundred thousand!
Something was wrong with this company! If it was not corruptions, then it means those people were useless. They did not check whether if they had been conned. But no matter what reasons it was, Beidacang Group was the losing party.
If Beidacang Group was managed by competent officials, or someone capable, then Beidacang Group will be able to grow fast.
But now, Feng Yu felt Beidacang Group had appeared too early. This was not a good thing as most of the government officials still had the old mindset. They had yet to experience the 1997 mass lay-offs, and Beidacang Group would have to face many difficulties before it could grow into a world-renowned company.
Niu Kun was embarrassed by Feng Yu’s retort. But it was important for Beidacang Group to cooperate with Tai Hua Processed Food Company if they want a stable growth in the initial stage. Their brand awareness would increase at a rapid rate from this cooperation, and this was the cheapest method.
Feng Yu was right. Beidacang Group does not have money. If they had money, they would advertise all over China and build up their brand within a few months.
Brand cooperation will eliminate one strong competitor and also promote their brand in the most efficient way. This was the best solution Beidacang Group had at the moment.
But Feng Yu does not seem to be interested, and Niu Kun can’t stand Feng Yu’s attitude. But he had to bear with Feng Yu as he must make this cooperation a success!
“Manager Feng, our Beidacang Group, have an abundant source of agriculture resources. Also, don’t you want Tai Hua Processed Food Company to develop? We will not only be cooperating in branding. We can still cooperate in many areas.” Niu Kun tried to persuade Feng Yu again.
Feng Yu was interested in cooperation of other areas. Tai Hua Processed Food Company flagship products were Tian Peng Pigs, Tai Hua Animal Feeds and lastly, Tai Hua Premium Soybean oil. Their other products like Tian Peng Ham etc. were only by-products from Tai Peng Pigs.
It was still a significant difference from the meat empire Feng Yu wanted to build in the past. Also, Tian Peng brand could only make pork-related products. Tian Peng Ham had introduced Chicken meat products, but the sales were not good. Zhang Ming even asked Feng Yu if they should register a brand like Bull Demon King for beef products!
Feng Yu also does not know if this would work. Tian Peng Pigs could become widespread throughout China was because there was a shortage of pork in the past. The pork was also the most common meat eaten by Chinese. It was because pork had more fats and taste better.
But recently, there were more people in the cities buying lean meat. This means the demand for beef and lamb will increase. If Beidacang group were to supply Tai Hua Processed Food Company beef and lamb to be sold at Tai Hua Supermarkets, there would be high profits.
“How do you want to cooperate? I’m listening.”
