Sail across the sea

Chapter 335 Malnutrition
Hearing Pedley's words, Dorian smiled and said:
"Speaking of supply, our company has a new requirement for this year's supply agreement, which is to clearly stipulate the monthly supply quantity and delivery time in the contract. We do not accept early or delayed delivery. If there is a delay in delivery, your company needs to make compensation according to the contract provisions."

"What, set a monthly supply?"

Pedley finally felt something was wrong. The other party put forward two harsh conditions in succession. This could not be explained by negotiation skills, but it was really a wrestling match with him.

Is this... someone outside?

A strange thought flashed through Pedley's mind.

To be honest, Meister's request to specify the monthly supply volume in the agreement with Lowe's is not a harsh condition, but the most basic requirement in business cooperation.

For example, Meister consumes 2400 tons of vitamin C every year, which is put into production in batches, and the monthly consumption is 200 tons. It is only natural for Meister to sign a contract with Lowe's to purchase 2400 tons of vitamin C every year and require Lowe's to provide 200 tons per month. It would be strange not to do so.

However, since the vitamin C market is an oligopoly and big stores bully customers, Lowe's refused to include this clause in the agreement with Meister. Instead, it claimed that there were various force majeure factors in the production process and that it could not guarantee supply in a fixed quantity.

Since there is no agreement, Lowe's can supply Meister at will. When the market demand is insufficient, Lowe's will send hundreds of tons at a time. Meister cannot use them all at once and can only store them first, which is equivalent to bearing the inventory cost for Lowe's. When the market is in short supply, Lowe's may not ship for several months in a row, making Meister anxious but helpless.

One reason Lowe's does this is to maximize profits. When the market is in short supply, Lowe's can raise the price and the highest bidder wins. Long-term customers like Meister will naturally have to wait. Another reason is the hunger marketing mentioned above. Lowe's wants to use this method to maintain its negotiating advantage over customers and force customers to give up other requirements by using stable supply as a condition.

In the past, Dorian had repeatedly asked Pedley to stipulate a stable supply cycle in the agreement, but Pedley could only agree to calculate the supply volume on a quarterly basis, while also allowing for a certain degree of fluctuation. Even with such conditions, Dorian still needed to increase the price and purchase volume in exchange.

But now, Dorian first asked for a 15% price reduction, and then demanded a monthly supply quantity. If the supply is delayed, there will be a fine. This attitude is a bit too tough.

"Mr. Dorian, I feel that both of the conditions you proposed lack sincerity. Regarding the supply issue, I have explained to you many times before that due to many uncontrollable factors in vitamin production, our output is unstable, so it is not feasible to provide a stable supply on a monthly basis." Pedley said.

Dorian said, "I don't care about this issue. The stability of production should be considered by the manufacturer, not by the customer. There are also various uncontrollable factors in our feed production, but we never ask our customers to accept unstable supply. You should know that the pigs in those farms will not overeat just because our machines run faster."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can agree to your company's requests," said Pedley.

Dorian spread his hands indifferently: "In that case, please, Mr. Pedley, report our conditions back to your headquarters."

"It takes time."

"We have plenty of time, don't we?" There was no point in continuing the conversation that day. Pedley stood up to leave, and Dorian rang the doorbell to call a secretary, who took his place and escorted Pedley out of the company.

When he walked out of Dorian's office, Pedley still had some hope, thinking that Dorian might run out and call him back, and then hypocritically express that he was willing to give up some conditions out of friendship.

Isn't that what negotiations are all about? The party that is bluffing will be exposed when the other party walks away in anger.

But this hope was ultimately dashed. The secretary sent Pedley to the company gate and turned back, without any sign of wanting to talk to Pedley any more.

Pedley didn't know that Dorian was making a phone call in the office at this moment.

"Hey, little Bob, I did everything you said. If you can't guarantee the supply of vitamin C, at least 1000 million pigs in the United States will die of malnutrition. By then, even the president will call you to hold you accountable." Dorian said with a chuckle.

The person on the other end of the line was Bob, a small shareholder of the Canghua Vitamin Factory. At the moment, he was sitting in his office, with his feet propped up on the desk, his face full of pride:
"Don't worry, Uncle Dorian. You should have confidence in my investment vision. Since our vitamin factory went into operation, production has been very stable. The 400 tons of vitamin C per month are enough to ensure that all pigs in the United States grow fat and strong. All you need to worry about is whether Lowe's will go bankrupt or whether those hideous Germans will die of malnutrition."

Dorian said, "I still don't understand whether you are doing this to make money or simply to cheat the Germans. As far as I know, the price of vitamin C at $8 per kilogram is not even enough to cover the cost. How did you do it?"

Bob said: "We use a new production process called two-step fermentation, which can effectively reduce the production cost of vitamin C. In addition, my partner is a talented chemist who has proposed many process improvements, making the vitamin C we produce the lowest cost even in China."

"I hope that Law knows this," Dorian said meaningfully.

Bob understood. "I think they will know. Pedley will come back to negotiate with you soon, and he will clean his ass before he goes."

Dorian laughed and said, "Ha, little Bob, this is not your language habit. Did you learn bad things from your Chinese partner?"

"I'm just stating a fact." Bob was a little embarrassed. The joke he was talking about was actually told to him by Gao Fan, which was indeed somewhat inconsistent with his status as a Harvard elite.

"Uncle Dorian, I fully understand your trust in Lowe's products. However, I hope you can leave us the necessary share when you sign a new agreement with Lowe's," said Bob.

Dorian said, "Don't worry, we will do this. If Lowe's can accept a 10% price reduction, we will guarantee to purchase no less than 500 tons of products from Canghua Vitamin Factory every year."

(End of this chapter)