African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1202 Home Appliances and Kitchenware
However, this growth rate in East Africa is also very fast. After entering the 20th century, East Africa's annual urbanization progress has exceeded that of other powerful countries. Except for Japan, the industrial development of other powers has all gone through nearly a hundred years of accumulation.

Take Germany for example. Germany began industrialization around the middle of the 19th century, but this does not mean that Germany did not have an industrial foundation before. Germany was also relatively late in industrialization among the great powers. The industrialization movement in East Africa did not officially begin until the First Five-Year Plan.

Of course, this so-called "industrialization" certainly does not refer to the small-scale industrialization process, but the large-scale industrialization process at the social level. After all, buying two machines, hiring a few workers, and registering a factory are obviously also considered industrial development. If the standards are lowered, East Africa's industrialization can even be traced back to the sisal factory during the colonial period.

……

The first town.

Sweet Palace has now become the central exhibition hall of the World Expo. Most areas of the entire Sweet Palace have been opened to house exhibits from companies from various countries.

The second prince of East Africa, Karls, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech, announcing the official opening of the East African World Expo. Karls did not give a long speech to disturb everyone's interest.

It is not a big problem to simplify the program. After all, the theme and highlights of the World Expo are still the new things and products of various countries at the Expo.

Except for the host East Africa, almost all other members of the East African Expo come from industrially backward countries and regions, or some colonies.

After all, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in the United States was also underway at that time, and the East African World Expo had to avoid some homogeneous content to highlight its own industrial characteristics, while also conforming to the development of East African national strategies.

“Kitchen of the future!”

Paraguayan businessman Morgan came to a booth and looked at the display area built entirely in the form of a kitchen with curiosity.

"Hello sir! I am an employee of East African Kitchen Company. How can I help you?" a salesman asked politely.

"What is this?" Morgan said, pointing at an object in front of him that might be a pot.

"This is an electric rice cooker produced by our company. Its main uses are steaming rice, making porridge, or boiling soup. Of course, it can also heat other foods."

"Of course, in most families in East Africa, it is generally used as a tool for steaming rice. After plugging in the power supply, just add the right amount of water and rice, press the button on it, and it will automatically trip after the time has passed. If it is other food, it is relatively troublesome. For example, when cooking porridge or soup, you have to pay attention to the time and steam like traditional pots to prevent overflow..."

The salesman was very experienced. As one of the most common household appliances in East Africa, rice cookers did not sell very well in non-rice-producing countries for a long time.

After all, during this period, rice still faces great competitive pressure as the world's staple food. For example, many European countries now regard potatoes as the most important food crop, while high-yield crops such as corn are also expanding rapidly. Other crops such as cassava and sweet potatoes also occupy an important position.

There is no doubt that wheat and rice taste better, but the level of productivity in this era is far lower than that of the 21st century, and more people still consider filling their stomachs as their primary goal when choosing food crops.

Therefore, the early sales of East African rice cookers were at most in the Far East, South Asia, and the Middle East, and the scope was ultimately limited.

Later, the East African company thought that although the rice cooker is best suited for cooking rice, it does not mean that it cannot cook other foods! As a result, the sales of rice cookers have increased significantly after the expansion of their uses.

Morgan, a Paraguayan businessman, has developed a keen interest in electric rice cookers. Rice cultivation in Paraguay is on a certain scale. Especially in recent years, influenced by East Africa, the rice cultivation area in Paraguay has also expanded a lot. Of course, if the electric rice cooker has only one purpose, which is to steam rice.

Morgan would not be tempted. After all, although the rice area in Paraguay has expanded in recent years, the dietary habits of Paraguayans are still mainly based on wheat, which has an absolute advantage.

But rice cookers can steam and cook, and can also be used to cook other foods, which means that its sales market is no longer limited to people who like to eat rice. It is also good for making soup or cooking pasta. After the wars in the 1960s and 1970s, Paraguay's population structure has undergone a considerable change, among which there are many descendants of Italian immigrants, so many Italian eating habits will inevitably affect Paraguay.

"How much does it cost?" Morgan asked.

"Only thirty Rhine guilders," the salesman replied.

“Can it be cheaper?”

"Of course there are cheaper alternatives, but look at the one next to it. It only costs twenty-three Rhine shields, but the materials used are very different."

Morgan calculated in his mind that the price was not low, but as a "home appliance", that was another matter.

In Morgan's opinion, this rice cooker is undoubtedly a "high-end product". After all, the world's mainstream kitchen utensils are still at the stage of burning open flames such as wood and coal, so this is also a selling point.

However, although Morgan was optimistic about the sales of rice cookers, he did not make a decision immediately. After all, this was only a product of an East African company, and other East African companies must have cheaper competing products.

On the booth, there was a wide variety of kitchen appliances, including rice cookers, electric rice stoves, coffee makers, electric tea kettles, range hoods, electric blenders, electronic lighters, etc. These household kitchen appliances opened Morgan's eyes.

At the same time, Morgan is also very interested in conventional kitchen utensils produced in East Africa. Although the home appliances are very high-end, the mainstream kitchen utensils are naturally traditional ones.

However, these home appliances are also relatively expensive. After all, Paraguay does not have enough home appliance maintenance personnel to solve after-sales problems. If a problem occurs, it is almost equivalent to scrapping them directly. This is a huge flaw.

Furthermore, Paraguay’s electricity supply is also a big problem. Paraguay does not have a developed electricity supply system like East Africa, so it is impossible for Morgan to order these kitchen appliances in large quantities.

However, ordinary kitchen utensils produced in East Africa are very different. The quality is reliable, and the price is extremely attractive to Morgan.

As a powerful industrial country, East Africa's industrial production capacity is naturally not comparable to Paraguay. Large-scale production has greatly reduced costs, making ordinary kitchen utensils in East Africa appear to be inexpensive and of good quality.

Of course, Morgan still asked a key question: "Does your company have a sales office on the West Coast? After all, given the location of Paraguay and East Africa, trade between the two countries mainly passes through the South Atlantic route. We can't go all the way to the East Coast to purchase."

The East African salesman said, "Of course. We have branches and factories in Cabinda and Lobito. If you have any needs, you can place an order directly in Cabinda. This is our company's business card. You can get our business information by calling."

As he spoke, he handed a card to Morgan, which contained the company's headquarters address and two phone numbers.

"24 Canal Street, New Frankfurt." Morgan read the information and said, "Is your company's headquarters located in an inland city?"

"That's right. New Frankfurt is not far from the capital, Rheinland, and is an important transportation hub in East Africa. Dar es Salaam is just one of the locations of our branches. Regardless of the east and west coasts, our business is doing very well, and we have many foreign partners."

East Africa Best Kitchen Company is a kitchenware manufacturer that has emerged in New Frankfurt. It relies on the strong transportation advantages of New Frankfurt, especially its great influence on the domestic kitchenware market in East Africa. Its predecessor was the New Frankfurt Kitchenware Factory No. 2, which is a local state-owned enterprise in East Africa.

(End of this chapter)