20 years of restarting life

Chapter 3488 Zhao Chang'an's Reflections

What's even more bizarre is that the ingredient list for chicken bouillon clearly states monosodium glutamate (MSG). While it's possible that illiterate people wouldn't know the difference, it's astonishing that so many intellectuals couldn't see it either.
Moreover, Lotus MSG has been making efforts to clarify this matter, but things have gone against their wishes. The more they explain, the worse it gets. As a result, this behemoth, which once held 46% of the domestic MSG market share and had the world's largest single-plant MSG production capacity, went from extreme success to extreme failure in just three years. They couldn't even pay wages and were heavily in debt.

There are generally two explanations for the decline of China's MSG industry, represented by Lotus MSG. The first is that foreign capital brought chicken essence, which has higher profits, into the domestic market and attacked and discredited the safety of MSG. The second is that the domestic MSG production capacity exceeded demand, and prices and profits were suppressed.

In Zhao Chang'an's view, there should actually be a third explanation.

The main ingredient in chicken bouillon is MSG, which is easy to explain.

Furthermore, even if the MSG industry experiences oversupply, Lotus MSG, as the world's number one MSG brand, naturally possesses a competitive advantage, much like the story of the Coca-Cola factory fire.

None of these can be the fundamental reason why a behemoth of a company collapsed.

The real reason is that Chinese people have become wealthier and urgently need to upgrade their consumption.

The reason why Green Garden Group has risen so quickly in recent years is that it has grasped the fact that people have more money in their pockets and need to upgrade their housing.

In recent years, Lotus MSG has invested in health products, learning from others like turtle essence, mineral water, knowing that selling water is more profitable than selling oil, leather products, which are also highly profitable, as can be seen from the factory manager of the Jiangnan Leather Factory who ran away with his mistress, compound fertilizer, which was also a very promising investment in a few years ago in a major agricultural province.

These investment projects all looked promising, but without exception, they all failed, and hundreds of millions of dollars went down the drain.

Of course, Lotus MSG has also made significant investments in its core business, investing nearly 700 million yuan since the turn of the millennium to develop new technologies that use wheat instead of corn as a raw material for MSG.

After all, Chenzhou Prefecture is a major wheat-producing area, and the central province is a major wheat-producing province.

Lotus MSG's idea is not without merit: since there is an overcapacity in MSG production, the solution is to reduce product costs by lowering raw material costs, thereby gaining a greater competitive advantage in the MSG industry.

They never imagined that what ordinary people in China need in their private kitchens now is a more expensive seasoning that can replace MSG, rather than MSG itself.

These foreign companies, using the theory of time machines, are almost indiscriminately crushing and reaping the domestic market, and Zhao Chang'an coldly watches all of this.

In fact, many times he could have saved them but didn't, because he wanted to use the future theory of a time machine to cut off these Western technologies from behind the scenes.

Moreover, the methods these Western capitalists used to manipulate things were indeed very clever, and Zhao Chang'an was learning them as an apprentice at this time.

Just like before, he always believed that the downfall of Lotus MSG was due to the rumor that MSG was unhealthy, and that the disappearance of Jianlibao was due to internal strife.

In fact, all these appearances make people overlook the fact that Chinese people's consumption is upgrading, while these companies are still ignorantly thinking that they can make a fortune with a single trick.

Including Zhao Chang'an's previous life, the once vibrant 28 company that revitalized itself by telling stories and selling nostalgia, time is running out. After all, even the best stories and sentiments eventually lead to consumer fatigue. The key to a company's survival lies in firmly grasping whether product consumption is upgrading or downgrading, and focusing on that. At this moment, Zhao Chang'an's reputation in China has reached its peak. Yet, who would so jarringly mention that just five months ago, many irresponsible media figures in China were confidently stating in interviews with small newspapers, magazines, and television stations, "I believe—we mustn't let Zhao Chang'an get away!"

Zhao Chang'an estimates that in a few years, many domestic media outlets will once again be hurling insults at him.

So many things that seem inexplicable to outsiders, and all those seemingly boring things and actions he does, are actually his way of quietly planning for the future.

Just like a year ago, he almost recklessly gambled on BlackBerry, betting that the butterfly effect he created had not yet affected what happened.

The saying "One general's success is built on the bones of ten thousand" roughly means respecting the fate of others and abandoning the desire to help others.

Zhao Chang'an lay on the sofa in the living room for more than three hours, lost in thought. During this period, he had been working tirelessly for the sake of a nanometer and his own sexual happiness, and it could be said that he had almost no time for systematic thinking. He spent his days dealing with interpersonal relationships and women. This quiet time this afternoon also allowed him to reflect deeply on some of his previous behaviors.

Around 5 PM, Zhao Chang'an prepared to go to the hotel. Just as Pei Pingjiang needed a large number of jobs from Yinano, Zhengzhou also needed a supply area with several key employees.

So it's still worth having a good talk with Xiong Er. If he finishes the earthwork project in the future, Zhao Chang'an wouldn't mind if he opened a labor agency in Muye, just like Chu Guangwu, specializing in supplying hardworking and reliable workers to the Nanning-Zhengzhou area.

You can't put all your eggs in one basket, and if there's profit to be made, you can share it with more allies and their networks.

To be honest, Wen Ye lacked the ability in this regard. In Zhao Chang'an's view, purchasing buses and having Chu Guangwu set up a labor service company in Zhengzhou were two mistakes.

But since he's my brother, it doesn't matter. I'll just try to make amends.

Previously, Shancheng was definitely the top priority, but upon returning this time and seeing the bustling scenes in the streets and villages, he realized that the salary in Nan Zheng City was no longer enough to satisfy the ambitions of Shancheng migrant workers.

Young people from mountainous cities prefer to work with a free, bold, and unrestrained spirit, daring to take risks and make breakthroughs. These qualities are more suitable for doing business, starting a business, and other fields where money can be made quickly and easily.

Saying that poor, remote areas breed unruly people is a bit of an insult, but it seems that labor in plains areas still has more of an advantage.

Zhao Chang'an had read Li Peifu's "The Gate of Sheep," and of course, he had no right to comment on the book. However, he did see in it the attributes and qualities of an excellent employee that companies desperately wanted.

"Ling ring ring~"

Just then, his cell phone rang; it was his home landline.

Zhao Chang'an frowned as he watched.