1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 114: Pawn (2)

“Gugu~wu~ah~!”

With a sigh that was almost a groan, Tugou put the empty cup on the table with satisfaction.

This girl has the potential to be a little drunkard. One of her biggest hobbies in the village was to dig out her father's wine and secretly take a sip.
But unfortunately, after entering the drilling company, under Yang Mo's strict control, this girl's right to drink was largely deprived. Therefore, when she finally got the opportunity to drink openly, even if it was just a glass of beer with an alcohol content of only seven or eight degrees, it was enough to make this guy burst into tears.

In fact, this glass of wine was the direct reason why Tugou had been so restless before...it was not at all what Diao Sigui thought.

Seeing this girl licking the foam around her lips without any image, and then staring at the two big bottles pitifully, Yang Mo was speechless.

He didn't know if this girl had drowned in a wine jar in her previous life. She had a love for wine that was beyond his comprehension. But her alcohol tolerance was very average. Drinking two or three taels was fine, but once she exceeded that amount, she would immediately become a drunkard.

In later life, this guy got drunk in front of me many times, and his behavior after getting drunk was hard to describe... It was me who was sitting in front of her. If it was another man, he would have been raped countless times.

In fact, this is the reason why Yang Mo has refused to let her drink alcohol during this period - although it has its own unique rules, state-owned enterprises have never been a kind place, and this girl has never had a clear self-awareness of her appearance and figure.

To be honest, if it wasn't because they were at home and it wasn't a work requirement, Yang Mo wouldn't even let this girl touch beer... God knows if this girl would completely let herself go after drinking it, and even if it was just beer, do you think it really wouldn't make people drunk?
………………

"How about it?"

Just like tasting tea, Muliya sipped the glass of ice-cold malt juice in her hand and drank it up in a short while.

After realizing that this way of drinking beer was not enough to appreciate its essence, the young lady put down her cup in frustration and looked at the others.

"It tastes good~! But I can't taste anything... Can I have another cup?" Lu Yingying looked at her sister Mu eagerly, with a face full of hope.

The corners of Mu Liya's mouth twitched. After a moment's hesitation, she still gave the girl another cup, and then warned: "You can only drink one more cup, not more, otherwise it will affect the authenticity of the evaluation."

After watching the girl nod and drink it in small sips as if she was holding a treasure, Mu Liya turned her gaze to Diao Sigui.

Seeing that Manager Mu was looking at him, Diao Sigui drank the remaining half cup of beer in one breath. After tasting it, he gave a thumbs up without hesitation: "It tastes good, full-bodied, mellow taste, rich malt aroma, although the bitter taste is a bit strong, but after it melts in the mouth, it is obvious that it makes you salivate... Manager Mu's beer is really a good one!"

Seeing this guy's comment about whether it was white or beer, Mu Liya smiled and nodded, then moved her gaze to Tang Tingting beside him.

Tang Tingting was shocked by the indifferent gaze. She followed suit and drank the beer in one gulp. Then she tilted her head and said cautiously, "It tastes good, but... I still think it's a little bitter. Also, the sour taste is a little stronger. I didn't feel it when I drank it in small sips, but I couldn't stand it when I drank it in one big gulp."

After she finished speaking, she seemed to feel a little rude, and quickly waved her hands around, with a look of panic on her face like a little rabbit: "Well, I don't know much about alcohol, I just said it casually, and I'm a girl, so I can't be sure of what I said... This beer is for men to drink. If they think it's good, then it's really good."

Seeing Tang Tingting's vaguely deliberate thoughts, Mu Liya smiled without comment, then turned her gaze to Yang Mo who had been in deep thought.

Yang Mo naturally saw Tang Tingting's "acting pure". Knowing this "ex-wife" very well, he had no interest in exploring why this woman suddenly became possessed by a spirit of drama. He smacked his lips and put the empty glass on the table: "Another glass."

Upon hearing this, Mu Liya did not think there was anything wrong with the other party's casual and almost offensive tone. She immediately stood up, held the glass bottle and refilled his glass, then looked at him expectantly.

Under the complicated gazes of Diao Sigui and Tang Tingting, Yang Mo drank the glass of refreshing wheat juice in one breath, burped for a long time, and savored it carefully.

………………

Although there are as many as seven or eight flavors of beer that Miss Mu commissioned Laiwu Brewery to fine-tune, only two samples were sent over after the initial screening, and the one you are drinking now is the first one.

In terms of taste, the current one is very similar to the "7 Days Fresh" of Dongyue Original Beer in later generations (specifically batches before 2018). Whether it is aroma, mellowness or freshness, it is impeccable.

But the problem is...

Perhaps it was a problem with the taste of the beverage, he always felt that the ratio between sourness and bitterness was a little unbalanced. His ex-wife was not wrong, when drinking it in big gulps, the sourness and bitterness would be very obvious.

This problem is not a big problem for Chinese people. After all, Chinese people pursue freshness and mellowness in taste, and the sour and bitter tastes are slightly more important, which is more in line with the image of beer in their minds.

However, if it is exported to the South Korean market, it will be a serious flaw that cannot be underestimated.

Don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean that people in South Korea really understand beer. In fact, in this regard, they can only be considered beginners at best... With the quality of this beer, it would be amazing even if it was taken to an island country, let alone South Korea where industrial beer is now everywhere on the streets.

Unfortunately, the eating habits in South Korea are different from those in the island countries, and are even more different from those in China... In that region, pickled products, represented by kimchi, are everywhere.

This creates a situation that is easily overlooked but is very embarrassing... When beer and pickled foods are consumed together, their bitterness will be amplified. This bitter feeling will remain on the taste buds for quite a while, often taking five or six hours or even seven or eight hours to subside. If you eat a lot, this bitter taste will even settle at the root of the tongue, forming an effect similar to that of "coptis bitterness".

In fact, this problem exists not only in beer, but in any alcoholic beverage.

If you only drink a small amount of alcohol or eat a small amount of pickled food, this situation will not be obvious or even difficult to detect; but if the amount is large, this phenomenon will be very prominent.

But the problem is that beer itself is an alcoholic beverage consumed in very large quantities at a single time, and in South Korea, kimchi is often even put into hot sauce. When the two are added together, how can this situation be avoided?
If this is industrial beer, then this problem is actually not serious. After all, in most countries, industrial beer is synonymous with "low-end" and "affordable". Consumers' psychological expectations will not be very high, and they will not care so much.

But this beer did not work. According to the original setting, this beer was mainly "craft beer" and was priced in the mid-range.

Don’t be surprised. Although the landed distribution price of this beer is not high for South Koreans, people who have worked in international trade know that during the economic upswing, a product with an ex-factory price of 1 yuan in the country will have a terminal price of at least 6 yuan over there... Whether you like it or not, for a product like this that has both gimmicks and quality but is not an international strong brand, if you want to sell it at a low price over there, the distribution channels over there will not agree!

But there is a problem with going for the mid-range price point… Consumers will subconsciously compare your product with the beers they have drunk to gauge whether it is worth the money spent;
However, if there is such a flaw that is not a fatal flaw, once it encounters some picky people or encounters sniping from local competing brands, the sales of this beer will likely be greatly affected.

People don't need to resort to any dirty tricks, they just need to release opinions through public opinion such as: "Oh my, even if the taste is good, some people spend three times the price to buy beer that is as bitter as Chinese herbal medicine. They are really idiots and even pay taxes with such an IQ!" and so on, and your sales will be greatly affected - don't be surprised, unlike China, South Korea is a small island country, the size of a palm, and public opinion spreads quickly.

This is the embarrassment of being in the mid-range. If you are doing low-end or high-end, you will not encounter this situation. Only products positioned in the mid-range will be treated like this, being compared and criticized everywhere... Earning the money from selling tofu but having the heart of selling flour, that's what it means.

But there is no way. With China's current international influence and cultural niche, it does not have the foundation to make high-end products in the fast-moving consumer goods sector. If it makes low-end products, it is far from what Yang Mo and Mu Liya want. Therefore, they have no choice but to take this difficult path. (Don't talk about Tsingtao Beer. Although Tsingtao Beer was very popular in South Korea later, Tsingtao Beer was affordable in South Korea. Secondly, it was not until 08 that South Koreans really accepted the taste of Tsingtao Beer and even flew to Tsingtao to drink beer. At that time, China's international niche had undergone earth-shaking changes. The two variable factors are different and have no reference value at all.

………………

After closing his eyes and thinking for a while, Yang Mo shook his head: "No, this wine does not meet the standards... Let's take out the plan B product we set at the beginning and test it."

Upon hearing this, Mu Liya let out a cry of disappointment, and her expression couldn't help but look a little lost.

Although this beer was nominally fine-tuned by the technical engineers of Laiwu Brewery for this project, in fact, she specially asked someone to invite two German brewers to come over and do emergency technical public relations with Laiwu Brewery... Referring to the key indicators pointed out by Yang Mo at the beginning, this beer even borrowed some of the brewing technology of white beer, which makes the sour taste of this beer somewhat obvious.

But I didn't expect that even after working so hard for more than half a month, I still couldn't get past Yang Mo.

After the last deduction plan incident, she was very convinced of Yang Mo. Therefore, even though the results of her hard work for more than half a month were denied, she felt disappointed but not angry. She would not argue with Yang Mo hysterically like a shrew... After more than half a year of getting along, she could see that Yang Mo was a very rational person in serious matters, and would never deliberately deny Plan A, which she was responsible for, because of Plan B he proposed.

Exhaling lightly, Mu Liya opened the second large bottle, then poured the much lighter and more refreshing light golden liquid into new cups and distributed them to everyone.

"Huh? This wine tastes so bland...it's not tasty!" Tugou was the first to express his dissatisfaction.

"Well... very refreshing, not bad, not bad!" Diao Sigui was practicing Tai Chi as expected.

"It's indeed a little bland, but it tastes good and feels very comfortable." Tang Tingting nodded and gave Yang Mo a big smile.

Yang Mo ignored his ex-wife's thoughts and slowly tasted two glasses of wine as usual. Then he nodded and asked, "What's the alcohol content?"

Mu Liya tasted the fake product made according to plan B as if drinking water: "4.5°, strictly follow the various indicators controlled by your plan."

There were outsiders present, superfluous, but they said nothing.

Yang Mo nodded: "Although the aroma is still a little lacking, and the mellowness is also somewhat compromised, but overall, this wine should be okay."

Yang Mo's plan B is actually very simple and crude, which is to reduce the alcohol content of beer while maintaining the original flavor as much as possible.

The reason is simple;
Wouldn't consuming large amounts of alcohol and pickles together produce a distinctly bitter taste?
Then can't I just lower the value of a certain variable factor?
Since there is no way to change South Korea's eating habits, can't I just reduce the alcohol content?
I used to taste the bitterness after drinking two cans, but now I have to finish four cans before I taste a hint of bitterness… It’s foolish to talk about toxicity without considering the dosage. Now my flaws aren’t that obvious, right?

Moreover, you have to know that reducing the alcohol content of beer is not just about diluting it with water. Reducing the original 7° beer to 4.5° does not mean that the beer will be any less bland... There are naturally corresponding techniques in this. Different fields have different worlds, and many things may not be as simple and brainless as the public thinks.

Seeing Yang Mo nod, Mu Liya breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't help but feel a little worried: "Yang Mo, the wine made with this plan B... can the consumers in South Korea really accept it?"

Mu Liya is not a novice in drinking. It is normal for people in Qilu, regardless of gender, to have a drink at home. Due to the project, she has been accustomed to drinking various craft beers in the province recently. She is not interested in the light wine in front of her that is no different from boiled water.

Judging from her own experience, she naturally became a little unconfident about the market prospects of this wine in South Korea.

Yang Mo didn't look worried when he heard that. He smiled and said, "As long as we control the price well and keep up with the publicity, we should have more than 50% chance of success."

A 30% chance of success may not sound high, but for a commercial project, this number is already very scary...For those big brands and projects that are well-known in later generations, in the initial evaluation reports of VCs, there were very few with a success rate higher than %.

In fact, the number given by Yang Mo is not groundless.

Students who have traveled or lived in South Korea should know that the most popular foreign beer brands there are not the Budweiser and Heineken we are familiar with, nor are they Tsingtao as some people think. In fact, before 2018, although Tsingtao Beer was very popular, it had been hovering between 4th and 8th among foreign brands (but in 2019, Tsingtao Beer officially became the number one imported beer brand in South Korea).

The first place is actually Asahi Beer from the island country (by the way, this brand of beer was later made in China, so we should have confidence in Chinese beer).

The reasons behind this are both complex and simple.
In addition to the island nation's advantages in cultural and economic niches and the right timing of entry, the most important reason is that Asahi Beer is a craft beer with a refreshing taste that is not likely to make people drunk and lose control.

That’s right, Asahi Beer is also a craft beer, and it is a craft beer with an alcohol content of only 5°... In fact, this is a common feature of island beer, not only Asahi, but also Sapporo and Kirin.

Looking at the history of beer imports in South Korea, three of the brands that have long dominated the top 10 imported beers are from the island country, far exceeding the proportion of beer brands in other regions. In fact, it has even become the largest importer of island beer. Isn’t the reason obvious enough?
In fact, according to a later survey report, although South Koreans are very fond of island beer because of its taste and believe that it is the craft beer that best suits their country's taste, many people still think that it would be better if the taste could be lighter.

Therefore, at this time when the macro-relationship between the two countries is favorable, Yang Mo dares to give more than 80% certainty that this refreshing beer can enter the emerging craft beer market in South Korea, if some macro variables and wrestling factors are not taken into consideration!
Seeing Yang Mo give this answer so casually, Mu Liya suddenly felt confident for some reason.

If Yang Mo said this answer confidently and proudly, and even brought up a bunch of arguments, she might feel unsure.
But when she saw such a seemingly low number thrown out so lightly, she felt at ease.

People like her knew very well that the more people lack something, the more they want to express it. Based on her understanding of Yang Mo, since he acted so confidently, it was very likely that this was just as he expected.

………………

Although she felt a little frustrated, she got the answer she wanted and quickly stood up to say goodbye... She had a lot of work to do now and really didn't have much time to waste here.

After sending Miss Mu away and closing the iron gate, Yang Mo glared at Tugou, who was drinking happily from a beer cup, and then took out a cigarette and handed it to Diao Sigui:

"Boss Diao, I have a rough idea of ​​why you came here today... Since Zhang Jun is involved, there is no need for us to hide some things. Just speak openly."

After pretending to do a favor for the little fat man, Yang Mo's expression began to become serious. He struck a match and lit a cigarette. After taking a deep puff, he pondered for a moment and suddenly asked, "If... I mean if..."

"If we include the Fifth Farm in the cooperation list and provide you with a second round of additional financial support through the supply and marketing system, are you willing to follow our requirements and, when clearing the triangular debts, in addition to restructuring a number of units that have historical debt relationships with you, restructure some of the units we designate... and then restructure the equity strictly in accordance with our requirements, and become one of the most important strategic suppliers of chicken raw materials for the Momo Baizha and Momo Baichao projects?"

! ! ! !
Hearing this bombshell question, Diao Sigui was so shocked that he even forgot to light his cigarette.

What is going on here!? ?
(End of this chapter)