Chapter 125 Bad Money Drives Out Good Money

Chapter 125 Bad Money Drives Out Good Money

Chapter 125 Bad Money Drives Out Good Money (Additional Update)

Jiang Miao came down from Yandunshan Farm.

When passing by the fish ball factory, I saw Li Xinhua and others.

However, Li Xinhua and others did not notice his arrival.

Jiang Miao did not go over there, but walked towards the feed factory next door. He planned to take a look at the recent purchase of Egyptian catfish.

Half a month ago, Hailufeng Company issued an announcement that starting from this month, the purchase price of Egyptian catfish will be lowered to 2.5 yuan per kilogram.

This price is actually acceptable to farmers.

Because the first batch of Egyptian catfish fed with No. 4 feed generally had an output of 1.5 to 1.6 kilograms per mu, while the average feed breeding cost per mu was about 1.8 yuan.

One acre of Egyptian catfish can be sold for 3.8 to 3.9 yuan, with a gross profit of about 2 yuan.

The nearby village of Shiomachi.

Three months ago, Lin Taian and his family sold Egyptian catfish to a feed factory. As the harvest season was approaching, he ran to his third brother Lin Taining and borrowed a fishing net.

When we drove the tricycle to the fish pond, our son Lin Yongqiang was already wearing waterproof overalls and waders, and went straight into the pond.

The mute Lin Taian gestured on the shore: "Ah ah..."

Only then did Lin Yongqiang notice his father's figure. He hurried to the shore, took the fishing net, and began to set the net under the pond.

Lin Taian laid a waterproof cloth on the back of the tricycle, and then took a bucket and a shoulder pole, scooped a few buckets of water from the fish pond, and poured it into the back of the tricycle covered with the waterproof cloth.

At this time, Lin Yongqiang was in the middle of the pond and felt very tired. After pulling the fishing net down, he was going to force the Egyptian catfish in the pond to the side close to the road. He did not expect the Egyptian catfish inside to struggle very hard. He could not pull the fishing net anymore. He had no choice but to wrap a quarter of the pond with the fishing net.

“Ah ah…” Lin Taian gestured with his hands in confusion.

"Dad, there are too many fish. I can't pull them all in. Just use the net bag." Lin Yongqiang grabbed the long pole and net bag from his father's hand and quickly scooped them out.

An Egyptian catfish weighing about ten kilograms was struggling desperately in the net bag.

"Damn! This fish is so big!"

After a while, Lin Yongqiang caught more than 60 fish and found that the tricycle bed was full. He could only give the net bag to his father and drive the tricycle to sell the fish.

Arrived at the gate of the feed factory.

Lin Yongqiang saw Jiang Miao and others.

He smiled and greeted: "Morning, Boss Jiang!"

"Oh, it's Yongqiang! How is your father's health?" Jiang Miao recognized the other person's identity instantly, and even knew his family situation clearly.

Lin Yongqiang was flattered by this and quickly replied, "My father is in good health."

"Are you selling fish?" Jiang Miao took a look at the other party's Egyptian catfish and found that each one weighed between 10 and 15 kilograms, and the fish protein content was between 24.6 and 25.1%.

Lin Yongqiang was like a chick pecking at rice: "Yes, Boss Jiang, will the purchase price of Egyptian fish be reduced further?"

"No, two dollars and fifty cents is almost the limit." Jiang Miao smiled and shook his head.

"That's good." Lin Yongqiang secretly breathed a sigh of relief. You know, their family's one-acre fish pond has invested nearly 1.8 yuan in feed costs in the past three months, including 2.4 tons of No. 4 feed on credit from the feed factory, plus various grass pellets and corn pellets.

Jiang Miao took a walk and left.

At this moment, Lin Yongqiang saw his childhood friend, who was counting money in his hands: "Hey, Black Fish, you're paying so soon?"

"A Qiang, you're here just now? My family started collecting fish yesterday and finished this morning." Lin Yongji stuffed the money into his pocket.

"How many pounds did your family harvest?"

"15473 kilograms."

"How much did you earn?" Lin Yongqiang asked quickly.

"After deducting the feed and other expenses, I made 19,000 yuan."

Lin Yongqiang was relieved now, because the pond of Lin Yongji's family was also about one acre. He smiled and said, "Although the price has dropped, I made 10,000 yuan more than before."

Suddenly, Lin Yongji approached him and whispered, "I heard that the purchase price of Egyptian fish will continue to drop in the future."

"Don't talk nonsense. I just ran into Boss Jiang and he said he won't lower the price any further."

"Have you met Boss Jiang?"

"Look, over there." Lin Yongqiang pointed at Jiang Miao's receding back.

"Fuck, that bastard San Gou dared to lie to me."

"He probably wants to contract your fish pond, so he spreads false information on purpose." Lin Yongqiang expressed his guess.

"I'll go back and settle accounts with San Gou first."

Lin Yongqiang reminded him, "Don't do it rashly! Things are different now than before."

"know."

Lin Yongji hurriedly drove his tricycle back to the village.

...

Jiang Miao and Shu Ya passed by the fish ball factory again and found that Li Xinhua and others were still discussing something.

At this time, Li Xinhua also discovered his figure.

A group of people hurried over.

"Boss, Researcher Lin."

"Hello, Manager Li." Shuya nodded while holding the cloth bag.

"Lao Li, you're here to inspect the factory so early?"

Li Xinhua explained: "It was Mr. Lin from Cathay Pacific who came to me and reminded us that we need to deal with cheap fish balls and asked if we could lower the price we sell them at."

"Oh?" Jiang Miao looked at Qin Hanming, the market research manager who was also present, and asked, "Hanming, what is the current situation of the fish ball market?"

Qin Hanming's face was a little serious: "At present, the market prices of fish balls and fish eggs are polarized. The wholesale price of some cheap fish balls has dropped to 10 yuan per kilogram."

Then he took out a market research report from his briefcase and handed it to Jiang Miao.

Jiang Miao flipped through it and saw the wholesale prices of golden fish balls from various brands on the market:

Chaowei brand: 64 yuan per kilogram.

Haiba brand: The unit price for a minimum order of 300 bags is 10 yuan per kilogram.

Huihe brand: 35.2 yuan per kilogram.

Xipai: 37.92 yuan per kilogram.

Wharf brand: 100 yuan per kilogram.

Lin’s: 11.8 yuan per kilogram.

Shengwei: 23.75 yuan per kilogram.

Easy Selection: 32.84 yuan per kilogram.

Pinghai: 17 yuan per kilogram.

The cheapest brand among them is Haiba, which costs 10 yuan per kilogram.

As for how such a low price is achieved, those who understand will understand.

For example, use low-quality fish paste and add more starch, tapioca flour and soy protein.

Generally speaking, the wholesale price of domestic low-quality freshwater fish paste, such as silver carp paste, may be around 6 to 10 yuan per kilogram.

Some fish pastes whose main advantage is low price, if added with more fillers such as starch, may even have a wholesale price as low as 4 to 6 yuan per kilogram.

From the perspective of origin, some low-quality freshwater fish paste from places like the Beibu Gulf has a wholesale price of 1.4 to 1.5 yuan per ton at the source factory, which is equivalent to about 14 to 15 yuan per kilogram.

The basa fish paste imported from the Annan region is a low-quality fish paste raw material used to make products such as fish tofu. The wholesale price is around 28 to 37 yuan per kilogram.

Li Xinhua said helplessly: "Our company's premium Egyptian catfish surimi is of relatively high quality, but the current market is seriously plagued by bad money driving out good money. I think we must develop low-priced products. This is also what General Manager Lin thinks."

Jiang Miao was not someone who would not listen to advice. He immediately made a decision: "That is to use starch and soy protein as fillers to reduce the fish meat content in the surimi. Lao Li, you arrange for the Aquatic Products R&D Office to research high-starch surimi."

"can."

As Hailufeng Company has once again lowered the cost of purchasing Egyptian catfish, the current cost of the company's premium Egyptian catfish is about 3 yuan per kilogram; the cost of high-grade fish paste with a fish meat content of 90% has been reduced to 4.8 yuan per kilogram.

If the fish meat content of surimi is reduced to 45% by adding starch and other filling materials, the cost can be reduced to about 3 yuan per kilogram.

This is the fundamental reason why the price of many brands of golden fish balls can be as high as 10 yuan per kilogram.

Usually, the surimi content of fish eggs is between 70% and 85%. The type of surimi used is very important.

High-quality fish paste with 80-90% fish meat content.

Low-priced fish paste with 40-50% fish meat content.

The costs of the two are vastly different.

This is why Cathay Pacific's previous wholesale price of golden fish balls was 50 yuan per kilogram. They used fish paste with 90% fish meat content, and they had to ensure that the overall fish meat content of the fish balls was not less than 80%. The cost was definitely not low.

Of course, cheap fish balls don’t taste any better.

These cheap fish balls are usually purchased by snack bars, malatang and hot pot restaurants for commercial use.

As for Cathay Pacific's request, Jiang Miao also thought it could be agreed: "As for Cathay Pacific, we agree that they can produce fish balls with low fish content, but the price requirement is the same as ours."

"Okay." Li Xinhua nodded.

Anyway, Cathay Pacific has to pay 70% of the gross profit to Hailufeng Company for its new products using Egyptian catfish. Jiang Miao naturally would not object as long as the other party's price remained consistent with Hailufeng Company's cheap fish balls.

If we follow the current cost of Egyptian catfish surimi, the cost of cheap fish balls is really very low, only about 4.5 yuan per kilogram.

If a price war is launched, the wholesale price can be reduced to 10 yuan per kilogram, and there will still be a gross profit of 5.5 yuan. Even if Cathay Pacific gives 70% of the gross profit to Hailufeng, there will still be a profit of 1.65 yuan per kilogram.

For the food processing industry of agricultural and sideline products, a gross profit margin of 16.5% is actually relatively high.

The gross profit margin of many agricultural and sideline product food processing industries has even dropped below 10%.

For Hailufeng Company, the gross profit margin of cheap fish balls can reach 55%, which is similar to that of carbonated beverages and a certain black duck.

Jiang Miao and Li Xinhua knew very well that the cheap fish balls from Hailufeng Company would definitely taste better than cheap fish balls from other brands.

The reason is also very simple.

It is difficult to avoid the fishy smell of cheap fish balls from other brands, after all, they use ordinary cheap fish paste as the raw material.

The cheap fish paste used by Hailufeng Company may seem cheap, but in fact its quality is similar to that of the Basa fish paste imported from the Annan region. It has only a faint fishy smell, but no obvious earthy smell.

In this situation, the two sides competed and other brands of cheap fish balls were quickly suppressed.

The premise for bad money to drive out good money is that good money is not dumped on a large scale at low prices. If the price of good money is similar to that of bad money, the situation will be reversed.

After all, when the prices are similar, both individual consumers and commercial organizations tend to use better products.

Of course, due to the inertia of many restaurants, they will continue to purchase cheap fish balls from other brands.

With Jiang Miao's approval, the fish ball factory soon started the experiment.

To be precise, it was a direct reference to a portion of the old recipe of the Cathay Food Factory, which Lin Jili proactively provided to Hailufeng Company for free use.

Because there is a recipe, although there will be a slight difference between Egyptian catfish surimi and other fish surimi, only minor adjustments are required.

The Aquatic Products R&D Office tested 10 versions, and Li Xinhua finally selected the one with the best cost-effectiveness as the mass-production version.

In less than ten days, the first batch of cheap fish balls was produced.

To distinguish them, the company labeled the cheap fish balls as Grade B fish balls, while the fish balls produced previously were labeled as Grade A fish balls.

The fish balls were packaged quickly. In order to promote the product, the sales department gave a 5% rebate to wholesalers in Chaoshan and the Pearl River Delta.

That is to say, for every 1 kg bag of Grade B golden fish balls sold, the wholesaler can get a rebate of 0.5 yuan.

This has led many wholesalers to actively promote the fish balls, fish meatballs and fish tofu produced by Hailufeng Company.

...

On the bustling Ermalu Night Market in the city, there is a popular food stall owned by Chen Daxia, who is famous for his curry fish balls.

The reason why Chen Daxia’s curry fish balls are famous is mainly because the raw materials he selects are better, but the price is a little more expensive than the curry fish balls at other snack stalls.

Early that morning, Chen Daxie arrived at the wholesale market in the city early to purchase golden fish balls for making curry fish balls.

"Boss, where are the Cathay fish balls? I want the ones with a more recent expiration date." Chen Daxie asked the boss who specializes in wholesale of frozen foods such as fish balls and hot dogs.

The boss brought out a large box of Haiba brand fish balls: "Old Chen, my fish balls are absolutely fresh. They were just delivered this morning."

Chen Da Xia frowned, took a closer look, and said, "My curry fish ball business depends entirely on quality, and fish balls cannot be sloppy. Yours doesn't look ideal."

The wholesaler boss hurriedly explained: "Old Chen, don't worry, this is really a good product. How about I give you a lower price, if you take 300 pieces, it's 5 yuan per pound."

Hearing this, Chen Daxie shook his head and said, "Price is secondary. If the quality is not good, it doesn't matter how cheap it is. I want high-quality fish balls with firm meat and no fishy smell."

At this time, the boss of another stall nearby heard their conversation and greeted them enthusiastically: "Lao Chen, come over here and have a look. I have some newly arrived premium fish balls. I guarantee they will meet your requirements."

Chen Daxia walked over, picked up a fish ball, smelled it, pinched it with his hands, and nodded with satisfaction: "Well, this is about right. How about your price?"

The stall owner smiled and said, "Old Chen, you are a regular customer, so I will give you a reasonable price of 18 yuan per pound."

Chen Daxia thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then give me 20 kilograms first."

The boss handed Chen Daxia a piece of Huazi, and then brought out a large box of fish balls: "This is also fish balls produced by Hailufeng Company, but this is grade B."

Chen Daxia frowned, picked up a fish ball and smelled it, and found that there was no obvious fishy smell, but the fish smell was a little lighter: "How much is this per pound?"

"Twenty dollars."

"What? 5 dollars? This is much better than the Haiba brand. They sell it so cheaply, aren't they afraid of losing money?"

“Maybe it’s a new product promotion!”

"Give me 10 kilograms of this B-grade stuff too. I'll go back and try it."

"no problem."

When he got home, he quickly made curry sauce and then defrosted part of the two types of fish balls. Two hours later, the curry fish balls, which had been cooked for more than an hour, were fully flavored.

My son, who was working on the snack cart and had just finished mixing the batter for the egg burgers, saw him making two pots of curry fish balls and asked curiously, "Dad, why did you make two pots of fish balls today?"

Chen Daxia did not answer, but picked up an A-grade fish ball with a bamboo stick, took a bite, and carefully felt the taste.

His son also came over and used a bamboo skewer to pick up a B-grade fish ball. After taking a bite, he was a little confused: "Why is it a little different from usual? Dad, did you change the brand?"

"Try the other pot." Chen Daxie took a sip of water and picked up another Grade B fish ball. This time, he felt a clear difference.

There is a more obvious starchy feeling, but the fishy smell is very light, and there is no obvious earthy smell. Chen Daxia's tongue is very sensitive to various tastes, which is why he cares more about the quality of fish balls. After all, he has to eat it himself, and he can't let his tongue down!
"Huh? Dad! The fish balls here taste better, very chewy, with a hint of sweetness, and no fishy smell."

"Of course, when we cook delicious food, we must pay attention to quality. Only by using better fish balls can we make more delicious curry fish balls and keep our customers happy."

His son Chen Xiaofeng smiled and nodded repeatedly: "Yes, I believe the curry fish balls made from this batch of fish eggs will be more popular."

Suddenly Chen Da Xia said, "Haven't you always wanted to work alone?"

"Dad, why are you bringing up this matter suddenly?" Chen Xiaofeng was a little evasive.

Chen Daxia knew his son's little thoughts, especially after he got married, it became more obvious: "Well, now that you have a family and a career, I can use my old snack cart. You can use these fish balls to make curry fish balls!"

"Dad, why did you give me this pot of fish balls?"

"Because it's cheap, you're just a rookie, and you want to sell it at a high price? According to the portion I taught you before, you can sell it for eight dollars a portion."

Chen Xiaofeng was confused: "Eight dollars? How can you make money with this?"

"This kind of fish balls costs five yuan per pound. Do you think we can make money?" Chen Daxie glanced at his noisy son.

As soon as he heard the cost, Chen Xiaofeng's doubts immediately disappeared.

Chen Daxie drove his small tricycle to set up his stall. The rich aroma of curry filled the air, attracting passers-by.

"Boss, give me a serving of curry fish balls. They smell so good. Your curry fish balls are the best." A customer said impatiently.

Chen Daxia packed a portion with a smile: "Try it, the fish balls this time are of better quality!"

The customer took a bite of the fish ball and his eyes lit up immediately. He then gave a thumbs up and said, "Sure enough, this tastes amazing. You really put a lot of effort into it, boss!"

Chen Daxia looked at the satisfied customers with a proud smile on his face.

And the other side.

In fact, Chen Xiaofeng had already chosen a location and arrived at the entrance of a small alley in Ximen Market in the afternoon.

Although the taste of his curry fish balls is average, it is cheap. A serving of curry fish balls at eight dollars is more expensive than others at twelve dollars.

The egg burger that Chen Daxia taught him also attracted many pedestrians.

The father and son sold out their respective 10 kilograms of curry fish balls today.

As time passed, more and more snack stands, hot pot restaurants, and malatang restaurants learned about the cheap fish balls launched by Hailufeng Company, and the product soon fell into short supply.

(End of this chapter)