Chapter 348 The Start of Sugar and Papermaking Industries

"On average, that's right." Zhou Haoran said with a smile, "But in reality, the number of people buying is much smaller. Many people buy several bottles at a time."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "This also shows that there are still many people who haven't bought it. It depends on the quality of our herbal tea in the future and your operation and promotion."

As long as beverages and snacks taste good and receive a certain amount of publicity, they will eventually gain market share.

"I understand." Zhou Haoran replied, "It's just that Hong Kong's current beverage consumption capacity is still far behind that of Europe and the United States, and our beverage production capacity is far greater than Hong Kong's demand, so I plan to send some to Taiwan next week and use the channels there to see what the locals like first."

"Okay, we'll mainly rely on overseas." Yang Wendong agreed, and then asked, "How's the cooperation with Pepsi?"

Zhou Haoran replied: "I am also preparing to trial-produce a batch of canned cola. The first batch will produce 5 bottles of Pepsi. Pepsi will test the quality and taste. If there are no problems, then we will start the initial OEM.

As for the subsequent all-round cooperation, Pepsi will only negotiate after all these are resolved. Their company also has its own procedures.”

"That's true for big companies." Yang Wendong nodded. "Then let's do it step by step. What about our sugar factory?"

The cooperation between multinational companies is always very cautious, because it is too easy to capsize. Even if he is a time traveler, he is more cautious if he wants to invest in factories overseas.
Therefore, his first choice was Taiwan. It was closer, and knowing the future made him feel more at ease. As for Southeast Asia, he would only dare to invest if his influence became stronger and he formed an alliance of interests with some local tyrants.

Zhou Haoran replied: "The sugar factory is already under construction. The first phase will be small, with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons. It will be used as a training ground to cultivate relevant technical personnel.

We will consider expanding production capacity when we get more orders from PepsiCo or when our own beverages sell better.”

"Ten thousand tons? This is already a huge output, right?" Yang Wendong asked in surprise.

"Not that big." Zhou Haoran shook his head and asked, "Mr. Yang, do you know how much sugar is in a 500ml bottle of Coke?"

"I'm not too sure about that." Yang Wendong didn't care.

In his previous life, he knew that there was a lot of sugar in the drink, but he didn't know exactly how much. In this era, even if he wanted to know, it was impossible, because the outer packaging of today's drinks did not introduce the various ingredients.
Zhou Haoran said: "About 50g, which means that one tenth of a bottle of drink is sugar."

"So high? 50 grams of sugar?" Yang Wendong was also shocked. 50 grams of sugar, it would probably take an adult's hand to barely hold it.

Zhou Haoran said: “Yes, our herbal tea is better, but it is actually an order of magnitude. Without enough sugar, the drink is not tasty at all;

Even if the sales volume of a brand like Pepsi is not as high as that of Coca-Cola, it still sells hundreds of millions or even billions of bottles in Southeast Asia every year. To produce these 500 million bottles of 5000ml Coke, at least tons of sugar are needed.
So our sugar factory with an annual production capacity of 10,000 tons is nothing at all. It can meet our current needs, but if it is to supply Pepsi, it will be far from enough. "

"That's true." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Okay, then just follow your plan."

High-sugar drinks, like instant noodles, were bad for the body in the past when the mainland's economy was developed, but in today's Asia, they are definitely a great tonic.

Of course, the price is also expensive.

"Okay, Mr. Yang." Zhou Haoran said, "There is one more thing, Mr. Yang. Our people have gone to Japan and met with Nissin Foods. They are willing to license us the production patent for instant noodles, but the price is $15. However, they require us not to enter the Japanese market because their own instant noodles are mainly sold in the Japanese market."

"Not allowed to enter the Japanese market?" Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "How many years will their patent last?"

Zhou Haoran said: "In Japan, the patent is valid for 15 years, and there are still 10 years left. In Europe and the United States, the time is uncertain. It depends on the laws of different countries, but it is basically the same.

But in places like Southeast Asia, there are basically no patents.”

"We don't have a patent, but we can't infringe on it, otherwise there will be endless troubles in the future." Yang Wendong said, "Then let's talk about this, $15. As for the Japanese market, there must be a time limit. Let's talk about it again. We can try to negotiate it within about 5 years. In the first 5 years, I can choose not to enter the Japanese market."

Before the mainland's economic boom, Japan's instant noodle market was the largest in the world, because Europeans and Americans rarely ate this.
Therefore, you can give up this market in the short term at the beginning, but you cannot do so in the future.

Zhou Haoran said: "Okay, then I will discuss it with my colleagues in Japan."

"Okay, after we get the patent, we will build a factory to produce barreled instant noodles, and then sell them in Carrefour." Yang Wendong paused and said, "If we want to make a difference in this market, we still need Changxing Industrial to make special packaging plastic bags."

If you don’t have your own characteristics, it will be difficult to succeed when entering a new market.

Unless we improve our channels and supply chain, we can do everything well. This is also our current goal. We will first expand the scale of Carrefour, then gradually optimize the existing supply chain, enter more industries, and then feed back to the supply chain.

As long as we can combine multiple upstream and downstream industrial chains, we will be able to gain a firm foothold in this industry. At present, our focus is on paper, plastic, food, sugary drinks, etc.

Of course, there is also the most important factor, transportation. The concentration of the industrial chain is also very important. However, Hong Kong and Taiwan are both short of resources and must rely on imports. Having their own fleets will make up for it.

In the following half month, the popularity of Uni-President Herbal Tea in Hong Kong continued to grow, and its sales gradually stabilized at 2 to 3 bottles a day. This may be due to the combined effects of hot weather and water shortage, but it is enough.

After Uni-President Herbal Tea was sent to Taiwan, the effect was quite good. Under the bombardment of advertisements, the sales volume reached 7,000 to 8,000 bottles a day. Although the profit was not as much as the advertising investment, the initial promotion was basically like this.

On June 6, Yang Wendong, Wei Zetao and others rented a speedboat and arrived in Taipei, Taiwan.

In this era when airplanes are not very mature, Yang Wendong usually does not take a plane unless he is going to faraway places such as Europe, America and Japan. A luxury ship is more comfortable. A cruise ship is approaching a small port in eastern Taipei.

"That's our paper mill over there, right?"

On the cruise ship, Yang Wendong could already see a factory near the sea, with smoke still coming out of the chimney.

Wei Zetao smiled and said, "Yes, that is the first phase of our Changxing Paper Mill."

"This is also our first factory overseas," Yang Wendong said with a smile.

In its early days, Changxing Industry had its roots in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong was also suitable for opening factories, so it was naturally impossible to choose other places. Now, due to chemical raw materials, pollution, water source problems and other reasons, it can only come to neighboring Taiwan.

The boat quickly docked and there were already a dozen people waiting at the small pier.

"Hello, Mr. Yang and Mr. Wei." A middle-aged man in the lead took the initiative to step forward and said, "I am Ma Jiayou, the person in charge of Changxing Wanwan Paper Factory."

"Hello, Mr. Ma." This was the first time Yang Wendong met this person.

This person was poached by Wei Zetao from the Yongsheng Paper Mill in Taiwan. He also brought a team with him to be responsible for Changxing Group's papermaking business in Taiwan.

"Mr. Yang, you're too polite." Ma Jiayou said with a smile, "Please come this way."

Everyone exchanged greetings as they walked, and many people got to know each other.

Then they came to the inside of the factory, and Ma Jiayou said: "Mr. Yang, Mr. Wei, please take protective measures. Although our factory has some environmental protection equipment, it cannot achieve zero pollution. There is still some odor inside."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded.

Afterwards, everyone put on special masks and entered the factory.

From the initial manual sorting of waste paper to the next step of machine soaking, chemical decomposition, screening, purification, deinking, bleaching, concentration, pulping, and finally papermaking.
Yang Wendong went through the entire process. Some of them involved chemicals or dangerous elements. Ma Jiayou and others did not dare to let Yang Wendong get close to the equipment, and Yang Wendong himself did not force him. But even so, the smell of the workshop through the mask was unbearable for him.

When they arrived at the final paper packaging workshop, Yang Wendong took off his mask and said, "The smell is really bad."

Ma Jiayou said: "Yes, paper mills are like this, even factories in Europe and the United States cannot avoid it. If waste paper is to be turned into pulp, a lot of chemical treatment is required in the middle. Although most of it is discharged outside, there will definitely be some smell inside the workshop."

"Yeah," Yang Wendong nodded and said, "How harmful is it to your body if you smell it for a long time?"

Ma Jiayou said: "According to statistics from Europe and the United States, workers in paper mills are more likely to suffer damage to their respiratory system, hematopoietic system and nerves. When I was at Yongfeng Paper Mill, similar situations also occurred. Many people had serious lung diseases or physical problems, but no one could find out what the problem was."

"How about this, can we alleviate this problem a little bit?" Yang Wendong asked again.
It is impossible to avoid it completely. Many special industries are dangerous. Even driving may cause a car accident. The only thing we can do is to find ways to control it.

Ma Jiayou said: "I have increased the ventilation efficiency inside the workshop, and let employees work in shifts. In high-risk areas, after working for a period of time, they will be transferred to packaging or other places. This will give people some time to rest and recover."

"The idea is good, but won't this affect the operations of the technicians?" Yang Wendong asked.

Ma Jiayou replied: "It is true that most factories do not believe in this operation, but Mr. Wei asked us to increase personnel training, especially technical personnel, so the number of technical personnel in our factory is relatively large."

At this time, Wei Zetao also explained: "Mr. Yang, I have also determined based on my own needs and future market demand that future production capacity will not be able to keep up with demand, so we must make early preparations in terms of personnel."

"Okay, that's perfect." Yang Wendong nodded.

The papermaking industry will also be an industry that Changxing Industry will focus on in the future. Although he, as a time traveler, does not have much advantage in this area, not every industry needs the advantage of a prophet.

As long as you have sufficient capital and perfect channels, you can engage in these conventional industries. The market is large enough. If you succeed, just by making paper, you will have the opportunity to become one of the world's top 500 companies in the future.

Therefore, we are just trying it out now. Once the technology is available, we will inevitably expand it greatly.

"Yes, I am also training a large number of various technical personnel here now." Ma Jiayou said with a smile.

Yang Wendong looked into the packaging workshop again and asked, "Our products now are A4 paper and toilet paper?"

Ma Jiayou said: "Yes, now A4 paper is mainly supplied to Changxing Industrial's sticky note factory, and toilet paper is supplied to Carrefour, which is basically consumed internally.

But I have also been in contact with some distributors in Taiwan, Japan and Southeast Asia, and I plan to enter these markets when my production capacity is high in the future.”

"Okay, you can discuss these with Lao Wei." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "This time I came to Taiwan, in addition to visiting the factory, there is a paper-related product that I want to discuss with you."

PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)

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