Riding the wind of rebirth

In addition to this half-dead production line, Zhengchang Food Company is still producing soy sauce and vinegar, but they are mainly supplied to the supply and marketing system, which is now losing ground in other places but is still quite vibrant in the local area.

It's very low-end. Because Liangshan Prefecture is very poor, the supply and marketing system prefers to sell bulk soy sauce and vinegar, and consumption habits have not yet been changed.

Then another problem arises. Balsamic vinegar is better, but soy sauce can be diluted with water and salt. The quality of bulk soy sauce is therefore partially offset. The food companies are still holding their noses and unable to sneeze because the sales are controlled by others.

Although the business was not big, the food company still encountered the old problem of "triangle debt". The food company owed the bank, the supply and marketing cooperative owed the food company, and many collective state-owned units owed the supply and marketing cooperative. It was a mess.

In the factory's honor room, Zhou Zhi tasted the "original" Panxi sun-dried vinegar and buckwheat soy sauce. It should be said that these two products are quite distinctive. Among the many brands of Zhou Liu Niang Food Company, Zhou Zhi believes that they are no worse than Jianghan soy sauce and Baoning vinegar.

If the quality is fine but the sales are not good, then it is a problem of market and marketing.

Today, Zhou Liu Niang Group is still reaping the benefits of advertising on CCTV. Market and marketing are the longest parts of the group's bucket, so it is expanding so rapidly in order to make up for the shortcoming of production capacity as soon as possible.

"This is Kong Huaiming, the general manager who has just been here for a month." In the conference room, Li Yutang introduced a middle-aged man in his thirties who was wearing an ill-fitting old suit, holding a notebook, and wearing black-rimmed glasses. "Comrade Kong Huaiming was formerly the deputy director of our city's Second Light Industry Bureau. He was in charge of the revitalization of many enterprises in the city's lacquerware factory and food company. He was also considered a young cadre in his prime. This time, in order to tackle the tough challenge of the food company, we have assigned our most capable forces!"

"Huai Ming, this time we need to be open and honest. We need to speak out our strengths, not shy away from our difficulties, and put forward our demands. We should all seek cooperation together after laying out our cards. Now I understand that it is impossible to keep customers who have been deceived..."

"We must obey Governor Li's instructions." Kong Huaiming said, "Zhou Liu Niang Food Group is the best private enterprise in our province. We visited Jiachuan last year to learn from it. We were deeply shocked by the group's development and growth. It was only after the visit that the provincial party committee and government made up their minds to thoroughly reform Zhengchang Food."

"On the way here, Governor Li and I exchanged our bottom lines. We can accept his proposals to relax the age limit for employed workers, take over the food company's debts, revitalize assets, introduce production lines, etc., but we also have our own requirements," said Brother Dayong.

"Mr. He, please go ahead." Kong Huaiming prepared to take notes.

"Our request is very simple, that is, to introduce a modern enterprise management mechanism. Each position requires a selection test before employment." Brother Dayong paused here and said, "The capable will be promoted and the weak will be demoted, including you as the general manager... Can you accept this?"

"I can take the lead!" Kong Huaiming said directly: "Since I started the assessment, the cadres and management have no complaints. Governor Li also gave me a guarantee. If there are cadres who don't want to stay in the company, the state will find a way to help absorb them."

"I think we should change the order." Zhou Zhi said immediately: "We will have the exam first, and then announce the job positions. If there are people who fail to make the list after the announcement, please ask the state to solve it on its own; if there are people who make the list but think the position is not suitable and are unwilling to continue to stay in the company, please ask the state to solve it, and the vacant positions will be filled in order of ranking."

Li Yutang couldn't help but curse in his heart. What he just said to Kong Huaiming was just polite words. The last point was originally his trump card, but he didn't expect to be exposed directly to Kong Huaiming. Unexpectedly, before he had time to interrupt, Zhou Zhi immediately reacted and combined it with the examination selection.

On the surface, this is indeed the best solution, and it also gives reassurance to the existing cadres and employees of the food company. Apart from putting pressure on the provincial party committee, there is nothing wrong with it, especially Zhou Liu Niang Food Group, which has done all the good things and has never been involved in any scandals.

But the words had already been spoken, and this was indeed the plan with the least pressure for the reform, so Li Yutang had no choice but to nod his head: "The state did say this. If you are willing to give up your collective cadre status, we will transfer those cadres to other state-owned enterprises and collective enterprises. This is the greatest determination and sincerity of the state party committee and government."

"That will make things easier," said Dayong. "Our group will soon send an asset evaluation team to take stock of Zhengchang's corporate finances, debts, and asset structure, as well as determine future operating costs, the number of employees, and the size of the company."

"The group was interested after hearing Elbow introduce the wild mushroom and vegetable resources in the autonomous prefecture. We just saw the production line and it was a bit..." Dayong shook his head. "However, buckwheat soy sauce and Panxi sun-dried vinegar gave us some surprises. We may continue to produce these two products after we take over."

"In the future, the group's business in the state will focus on high-end wild vegetable sauce, mushroom sauce, and mushroom oil. At the same time, we will introduce modern cold storage in the island country, establish a frozen fresh production line, and try to carry out cold chain transportation by air." Brother Dayong said: "However, these will have to wait until we have inspected the wild mushroom production in the state before we can confirm them. These will be completed by the group's business intelligence department."

"In fact, we can go to the market now to get a direct impression." Zhou Zhi said: "The rainy season has begun, and there are many mushrooms in the countryside now. I think it should be the same in the state, right?"

"Then let's go to Nanhe, the market there is relatively large." Li Yutang said to his secretary, "Contact the comrades from the Industry and Commerce Department and ask them to send someone there first."

Nanhe Market is located on the bank of the largest river in the autonomous prefecture. It is a three-way intersection, with one road connecting the old and new urban areas on both sides of the bridge, and the other passing through the market and leading to the suburbs.

The market is semi-open. The roadside away from the river is a fixed stall area with steel tile roofs, while the outer side of the sidewalk on the river side is a temporary mobile stall area.

The temporary mobile stalls area is now much more lively than the fixed stalls area, because here, lined up along the street, are all Yi villagers dressed in blue clothes. In front of them are basically large backpacks filled with baskets of mushrooms.

In addition to the backpack, there is also a fertilizer bag, or simply a piece of banana leaf, on the ground under his feet. There are also mushrooms on the banana leaf, but the variety of mushrooms is different from that in the backpack.

The large backpack contains Qinggang mushrooms, which are collectively called "miscellaneous mushrooms" by people in Liangshan Prefecture. Due to the large production volume, the freshest one is only two yuan per catty. If the quality is slightly worse, or if it is after 10 o'clock in the morning, the price will immediately drop to one yuan and fifty cents, or even one yuan.

By the afternoon, no one wants even 50 cents. (End of this chapter)