Siheyuan: Starting as a Chef Apprentice

Just when Boss Liu was worried, Boss Wang of Wang's Restaurant did not relax.

He knows very well that the market competition is fierce, just like rowing against the current, if you don't move forward, you will fall behind.

He organized a meeting for the employees. In the meeting room, the employees sat together and Boss Wang said seriously: "Although our business has improved now, we must not take it lightly.

We must continue to work hard to continuously improve our dishes and service quality to satisfy our customers.

Customers are our bread and butter, and only when they are satisfied can our business last long."

The waiter Xiao Li stood up and said, "Boss Wang, don't worry, we will definitely provide good service and make every customer happy."

Chef Zhang also said: "We will continue to research new dishes to ensure that customers will have new surprises every time they come."

In the following days, Wang's Restaurant's chef team began to research new dishes.

They went deep into the streets and alleys of Xuzhou, and shuttled through various vegetable markets and snack stalls, looking for more food inspiration.

One time, they found a unique sauce in a small alley. After communicating and trying it with the stall owner, they decided to incorporate it into the new dish.

The waiters also participated in various trainings to learn how to better communicate with customers and how to provide more considerate services to customers.

As time goes by, Wang's Restaurant's share in Xuzhou's catering market has gradually expanded.

More and more customers have become loyal fans of Wang's Restaurant. They spread the word by word of mouth, making the reputation of Wang's Restaurant more and more famous.

The catering landscape once dominated by Pengcheng Restaurant was gradually broken by Wang's Restaurant, becoming a new force in Xuzhou's catering industry.

The Wang's Restaurant's road to innovation continues. With their love for food and responsibility to customers, they keep moving forward and writing their own glorious chapter.

……

In the catering world of Xuzhou, Sun Fu, the owner of Shiyunlou, is currently sitting in his spacious but slightly depressing office.

There were several photos of Shiyunlou’s glorious past hanging on the wall, but in Sun Fu’s eyes, these photos now seemed to be mercilessly mocking his current situation.

He had gained a little weight, with a bulging belly. He had unbuttoned two buttons of his expensive shirt in an annoyed manner, with an unwilling look on his face.

"This Wang's Restaurant is so arrogant!" Sun Fu slammed his fist on the table, and the teacups on the table shook.

He picked up the phone and dialed a few numbers. His voice was low but fierce: "Hello, Lao Zhang, are you free tonight? Come to my Shiyun Restaurant. We have to think about how to deal with Wang's Restaurant..."

As night fell and the lights came on, a private room in Shiyunlou was filled with smoke.

Sun Fu sat in the main seat, with several owners of local catering businesses sitting next to him.

There is the fat boss Zhang, who runs a well-known home-style restaurant; and there is the tall and thin boss Li, whose hot pot restaurant is also well-known in Xuzhou.

"Boss Sun, why did you call us here in such a hurry? What's the matter?" Boss Zhang asked while stuffing peanuts into his mouth.

Sun Fu took a deep puff of his cigarette, slammed the butt into the ashtray, and said, "Everyone knows that Wang's Restaurant has been very popular recently and has taken away a lot of our business.

I thought, we can’t just stand there and watch, we have to unite and teach them a lesson.”

Boss Li frowned and said, "Union? How? In this restaurant business, everyone has their own ways."

Sun Fu sneered and said, "It's very simple, let's form a catering alliance.

If we get together and buy ingredients in large quantities, we can lower the price. With lower costs, won’t the profit margin be greater? And if we work together on marketing, engage in price wars, and launch preferential packages, won’t those customers who like to take advantage of the situation come back? "

Boss Zhang's eyes lit up and he clapped his hands, "Hey, Boss Sun, this is a good idea! I've been displeased with Wang's Restaurant for a long time, let's do this!"

Everyone discussed for a long time and finally decided to form a catering alliance.

From the next day, they began to take action.

Procurement teams come together to negotiate with suppliers.

"Boss Wang, you see, now that we have united together, we can purchase much more in the future.

You have to lower the price for us, right?" Sun Fu said confidently, standing in the office of a large food supplier with several bosses.

Supplier Boss Wang looked embarrassed and said hesitantly: "Boss Sun, this price is already very affordable. If you lower it further, my profit will be extremely slim."

Sun Fu snorted coldly and said, "Boss Wang, you have to think it over carefully.

If you don’t lower your price, we’ll have to look for other companies to cooperate with.

You know, the combined purchase volume of us is not a small amount.”

Boss Wang weighed the pros and cons again and again, sighed helplessly, and said, "Okay, for the sake of our long-term cooperation, I'll give you a small reduction."

At the same time, the catering alliance began to focus on marketing.

They put up posters in the streets of Xuzhou that read: "Shiyunlou has teamed up with many famous restaurants to launch super-value discount packages. The prices are lower than you can imagine!" They also placed advertisements in newspapers and on television, which immediately attracted the attention of many customers.

But at Wang's Restaurant, business suddenly became quiet.

The once bustling lobby now has very few customers.

The waiters stood aside, looking anxious and talking in low voices from time to time.

"What's going on? Business was good a few days ago, but why has no one come these days?" said a young waiter, frowning.

"I heard that Shiyunlou has formed a restaurant alliance, lowering prices and offering discounted packages to attract customers."

Another old waiter sighed.

After learning about the situation, Manager Zhang Feng hurried to the boss, Mr. Wang’s office.

"Mr. Wang, something bad has happened! Shiyunlou has joined forces with several stores to form a catering alliance, lowered the purchase price of ingredients, and launched a price war. Our business has been greatly impacted!" Zhang Feng said anxiously.

President Wang sat in a chair with a frown on his face. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Call the management team. Let's hold a meeting and discuss countermeasures."

After a while, all the members of the management team came to the meeting room.

Everyone sat around the conference table, looking unhappy.

“Everyone knows the current situation, Shiyunlou’s move was indeed ruthless.

We have to think of ways to deal with it.”

Mr. Wang spoke first.

Xiao Li, who is in charge of purchasing, frowned and said, "They lowered the purchase price, and our cost advantage is gone.

How about we talk to the suppliers and see if we can lower the price?" Zhang Feng shook his head and said, "It's not that easy. Only when Shiyunlou and the others join forces and purchase in large quantities will the suppliers be willing to lower the price.

If we go and talk alone, I don’t think it will be very effective.”

At this time, Xiao Zhao, who was in charge of marketing, said, "Why don't we also hold promotional activities to compete with them?" Mr. Wang thought about it and said, "We can hold promotional activities, but we can't just engage in a price war. We have to find another way.

I think we should, on the one hand, renegotiate with suppliers to get more favorable purchasing conditions; on the other hand, launch a membership system to enhance customer stickiness.

What do you think? "Everyone nodded in agreement.

So, Mr. Wang brought the purchasing team to the supplier's office again.

“Boss Wang, as you know, Shiyunlou recently formed a catering alliance, which put a lot of pressure on us.

But our Wang's Restaurant has always been operating with integrity and has been cooperating with you for a long time.

Can you give us some discount on the price?" Mr. Wang said sincerely.

Boss Wang, the supplier, looked embarrassed and said, "Boss Wang, I want to help you, but the purchase volume of their alliance is too large. If I reduce the price too much for you, it will be difficult to explain to them."

Mr. Wang smiled and said, "Boss Wang, don't worry.

Although our purchasing volume is not as large as theirs, we are confident that by improving the quality of our dishes and service level, our purchasing volume will increase in the future.

Moreover, we can sign a long-term contract with you to guarantee a certain purchase volume.”

After listening to this, Mr. Wang thought for a moment and said, "Okay, Mr. Wang, considering our many years of cooperation, I will lower the price a little bit.

But this is my limit.”

After solving the problem of purchase price, the next step is to plan the membership system.

The marketing team worked overtime to design a complete membership system.

Members can enjoy privileges such as discounts on dishes, birthday benefits, priority reservations, etc.

"Xiao Zhao, after launching this membership system, you must do a good job of promoting it.

We need to let customers know about our membership benefits.”

Mr. Wang said to Xiao Zhao.

Xiao Zhao patted his chest and assured: "Boss Wang, don't worry.

I have contacted several media outlets and are preparing to do special reports.

At the same time, we will also put up posters in the store to promote it to customers.”

In the following days, Wang's Restaurant improved the quality of its dishes while actively promoting its membership system.

Slowly, business began to pick up.

Customers feel that although Wang's Restaurant's prices are not as low as those of the Catering Alliance, the quality of its dishes and services are better, and after becoming a member, they can also enjoy many benefits.

On the other side of Shiyunlou, Sun Fu was very annoyed when he saw that Wang's Restaurant was not defeated by their alliance, but gradually recovered.

"This Wang's Restaurant is really quite capable. We can't just let it go like this."

Sun Fu said to other bosses in the league.

"Then Boss Sun, what should we do next?" asked Boss Zhang.

Sun Fu pondered for a moment and said, "Let's think of a way to see if we can attack them from other aspects.

In the catering industry, competition is so cruel, it’s either you die or I live.”

……

In the autumn morning in Xuzhou, the sun shines through the thin clouds, onto the stone road, giving the streets a layer of warm light.

At the entrance of Wang's Restaurant, the clerk A Qiang was humming a little tune and was about to take down the heavy shutter at the door of the store to start a new day of business.

As he was struggling to move the shutter, he thought that the business in the store would be as prosperous as usual today, and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.

Inside the store, the sounds of cutting and washing vegetables came from the kitchen. Chef Liu, who was in charge of cooking, and Chef Zhang, who was in charge of preparing the side dishes, worked in perfect harmony, preparing for the upcoming busy schedule.

Master Liu hummed a local ditty as he moved the kitchen knife rhythmically up and down on the chopping board, cutting the vegetables into even small pieces under his knife.

Master Zhang was washing vegetables carefully in a sink nearby. He rinsed the fresh vegetables clean. Water droplets rolled on the leaves, sparkling in the morning light.

Suddenly, Xiao Li, who was in charge of the lobby, rushed into the kitchen in a panic, breaking the original tranquility.

He ran out of breath, his face full of anxiety, and shouted loudly: "Boss Wang, it's bad! Someone on the Internet said that there was foreign matter in our restaurant's food, and many people are talking about it!"

At that time, Boss Wang was bending over to carefully examine the newly arrived ingredients, holding a piece of fresh pork in his hand. When he heard what Xiao Li said, he stopped moving his hands instantly, frowned tightly, and asked, "What? Tell me clearly, what's going on?"

Xiao Li gasped and handed over the phone. On the screen, in a photo of a dish, there was indeed a black, oddly shaped thing mixed in the middle of the dish.

Looking at the comments section, negative comments were overwhelming: "Is this edible? It's disgusting!"

"I will never come to Wang's again!" Boss Wang's face turned livid, veins on his forehead bulged slightly, and he said loudly: "Notify everyone immediately, stop the work at hand, and gather in the conference room."

In the conference room, employees came one after another, whispering to each other, with uneasy looks on their faces.

Boss Wang stood in front of everyone, his expression as serious as the sky before a storm, and said, "Everyone knows that someone exposed the existence of foreign matter in our dishes online, and this has a great impact on us.

Whether it is true or not, we have to find out immediately.

Xiao Li, please contact the customer who exposed the incident and ask about the details. The chefs in the kitchen, please recall the ingredients and the cooking process of yesterday's dish carefully to see if there is anything unusual. Xiao Zhang, who is in charge of public relations, please prepare an official statement to show that we take this matter seriously and are investigating.

Everyone nodded and took their orders. The meeting room instantly became busy.

Xiao Li called the customer who exposed the incident according to the contact information left online.

"Hello, are you the customer who posted online that our restaurant's dishes contained foreign matter? I'm a staff member of Wang's Restaurant, and I'd like to get more details from you."

A young man's voice came from the other end of the phone. His tone was not friendly and he was obviously angry: "What is there to know? I ate at your house and found this in the food. You need to give me an explanation."

Xiao Li was patient and tried to make his tone sound gentle: "Don't be angry, we will definitely give you a satisfactory answer.

Can you tell me which dish it was found in, and the exact time and location of the meal? "

The man was silent for a while, as if calming down, and then he said, "Just last night, I was at the table by the window in your lobby and ordered the signature braised pork."

Xiao Li quickly recorded it in his notebook and then asked, "When did you find this foreign object, was it right after the dish was served, or was it discovered after you had eaten part of it?"

The man was a little impatient and raised his voice, "I saw this after just a few bites. I'm so sick. How are you going to solve this problem?"

Xiao Li quickly said: "Don't worry, we are already investigating and will definitely give you a reasonable solution." (End of this chapter)