1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 352: The Dog Classmate Who Grew Up Unconsciously

The sun was high in the sky, and the warmth of late spring became more and more intoxicating. Under the gentle east wind, there was inexplicably a hint of restlessness.

"Bang~!"

With a loud bang and amidst the flying dust, classmate Tugou rushed towards a black iron cannon without hesitation.

"Give me some 20 cents popcorn!"

With a loud shout, the murderous Lu Yingying finally exchanged the two brown bills in her hand for a bag of steaming brown objects. Then, she made a triumphant expression in front of the envious eyes of a group of little kids, and then proudly threw two of them into her mouth.

Yang Mo looked at the girl's extremely childish behavior in silence, and quietly distanced himself from her, fearing that others would know that he knew her.

"Would you like some popcorn? Let me tell you, the boss of this place is really generous with the sugar, it's so delicious!"

Classmate Tugou stingily grabbed a handful of sweet and fragrant popcorn and put it in front of Yang Mo, looking like he was getting a good deal.

Yang Mo looked at the corns in the girl's hand that had not yet fully exploded, and his eyelids twitched: "No, I don't like sweet food."

Lu Yingying curled her lips and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you. You still have to help test the new products later. There are many very sweet things in them."

Three days had passed since the last weekend meeting. Under the instructions of a group of key members, a small batch of samples of products related to those projects that had been delayed in progress were rushed out overnight based on the improvement plan.

However, the current period is still the product era, and new product plans are the focus of any unit. Therefore, it is impossible to bypass Yang Mo on this matter. Only after his approval and nod can these improved products be put on the commercial street for the next round of market testing.

Therefore, this matter naturally fell on Tugou, the classmate who had the best relationship with Yang Mo... With the increasing prosperity of the commercial demonstration zone, Yang Mo's prestige became stronger with his impressive achievements. At a time when the owner was also very busy, others did not have the courage to pull him over to test the new products for an afternoon.

Facts have proved that Qin Xin and Yan Laoxi were right in their guesses. Tugou and Yang Mo's relationship is indeed unique. When Yang Mo, who was busy until 1 pm and had no time to eat lunch, was dragged out of the office by this girl, he looked helpless but not dissatisfied at all.

When Yang Mo heard that this guy wanted to force him to do testing and evaluation of more than 11 new products, he simply told his apprentice to cancel his afternoon schedule and obediently followed Tugou to the park comprehensive management company.

It was precisely because of this that the good-humored Tugou classmate generously rewarded Yang Mo with a handful of popcorn.

It's just a pity that Mr. Yang, who has always been indifferent to these things, rejected the kindness of our Tugou classmate...

………………

"Huh? Whose idea was this peanut crisp?"

In the small reception room of the Comprehensive Management Company, Yang Mo, who had not yet finished his tea, took a sip of the bland boiled water and looked with some surprise at the yellow object on the coffee table that looked like a medium-sized chocolate.

Lu Yingying took out a stack of information from her bag and turned to the corresponding page while eating popcorn. "Oh, you're talking about this. This is an improvement plan that Lao Yan came up with. He said that he planned to take advantage of the raw material advantages of Dezhou and Lanling, and only use peanuts, maltose, and starch to reduce the cost of the product as much as possible... Everyone thought this was a good idea, so they modified this product based on the purple candy."

Yang Mo nodded, then picked up the two-inch board that was pressed into six grids, tore open the package, broke off a small piece and put it into his mouth.

"I agree with this idea... please record your evaluation."

After Yang Mo chewed with some difficulty, he closed his eyes and savored it for a while before speaking.

When Tugou heard this, his eyes lit up. He stuffed all the popcorn in his hand into his mouth, then patted the residue on his hands and quickly took out a notebook from his bag.

Influenced by his previous life, Yang Mo didn't like the old-fashioned, dull and depressing working atmosphere of state-owned enterprises at all. Instead, he believed that a casual and relaxed environment would more easily improve work efficiency. Therefore, he brought some of his personal thoughts from his previous life into these newly established satellite companies.

After experiencing some initial discomfort, Tugou and the others quickly came to like this work atmosphere where there was no distinction between public and private. So, let alone eating popcorn in front of Yang Mo at such an evaluation meeting, even when they were negotiating with investors about investment projects, they could still turn the scene into a casual tea party... In fact, after experiencing some initial discomfort, many investors actually liked this negotiation atmosphere. The commercial demonstration center's project could be advanced so quickly, and this relaxed negotiation atmosphere also played a significant role.

Glancing at the cup of tea in front of him, Yang Mo complained a little about how he was not even treated as an outsider, and then said, "First, the sweetness is still too high. I suggest reducing the proportion of maltose and adding more starch. This will ensure palatability and further reduce costs."

Upon hearing this, Tugou looked at him with disdain: "Section Chief Yang, I have doubts about this instruction... It would be fine if you said something else, but you said this thing is too sweet? Judging from your attitude that you don't like sweets at all, is your opinion really worth referring to?... I think that the sweetness should be based on the opinions of our female compatriots. I have asked many female employees to try it, of all ages, and they all think there is no big problem. Some people even think it's not sweet enough!"

Tugou's meaning is very clear. You are not the target user of this product. You have no say in whether it is too sweet or not.

Yang Mo rolled his eyes: "Whether I am the target audience for this thing or not has nothing to do with the advice I give... I am not giving guidance based on personal preferences!"

As he spoke, Yang Mo put the remaining half piece of peanut crisp back on the coffee table with a bit of fear: "Girl, please understand that any product must have its own positioning and characteristics. I don't care whether you call it peanut crisp or peanut candy... I just want to ask you, what is the most important feature of this product?"

Tugou seemed to understand something and answered carefully: "Since the name is peanut crisps, from a comprehensive commercial perspective, we need to highlight and magnify the raw material advantages of our Qilu, so the focus is naturally peanuts."

Yang Mo nodded. "That's it. Since the focus is on peanuts, the sweetness of maltose cannot exceed the crispness of peanuts, whether in terms of name and appearance or actual tasting experience. Otherwise, the main and the secondary are indistinguishable, or even neither of them... I asked to significantly reduce the amount of maltose used in order to highlight the rich and crispy peanuts of this product. This has nothing to do with whether I like sugar or not!"

As he spoke, Yang Mo's face was filled with sorrow. "You little country girl, you have to remember that when consumers see the name and appearance of a product for the first time, they will have set their expectations based on these psychological inductions. For something like peanut crisps, if the characteristics and advantages of peanuts are completely suppressed by maltose after eating them, they will be very disappointed and it will be difficult for them to make a second purchase... After all, if they want to buy candy, there are plenty of them on the market. Why would they buy something like yours that looks nothing like it? Consumers have a completely different set of standards for sugary foods. Once it is classified as a regular sugar product, then this product has no appeal at all!"

Tugou let out a frustrated groan, then took note of it obediently: "Okay, I'll tell Lao Yan and the others about it later."

Seeing that this guy finally understood, Yang Mo nodded with satisfaction and said, "Second, since we have to consider the overall cost, then we should not use whole peanuts as the raw material for this peanut crisp. We should change it all to peanut crumbs... medium-sized peanut crumbs will do."

Lu Yingying was surprised: "Why change it to crushed peanuts? Didn't you say that we have to guarantee the quality and reputation of all projects we ship out? These whole peanuts look so comfortable, and anyone with a discerning eye can tell that they are good ingredients. If we change it to crushed peanuts, wouldn't it be a big difference?"

Yang Mo shrugged: "Since the idea of ​​this product is to give full play to the raw material advantages of Lanling, Dezhou, you have to reserve enough blank space for subsequent cooperation;" "Think about it, if even products made from peanut crumbs, which are regarded as scraps in the industry, can sell well, other investors will definitely unconsciously focus on half peanuts and whole peanuts, which are regarded as better quality raw materials, and then come to invest or cooperate... As the saying goes, a hero needs three helpers. If we want to promote the healthy development of an industry, we can't do it alone... Again, the more abundant the use scenarios and the more levels of market flexibility, the easier it is for the industry to grow rapidly."

Yang Mo emphasized the significance of the multi-level market more than once last year, so he did not intend to explain it in detail.

"Besides that, you have to understand that more than 90% of consumers in this world are laymen. Even for peanuts, which are the most common thing for consumers, most people can't tell whether the peanuts produced in which region are good or bad, and why they are good;"

"In other words, apart from following the crowd, when a peanut is put in front of them, the only way they evaluate it is whether it tastes good... As for nutrition, trace element content, health value, specifications and grades, it's all nonsense."

“So, since the peanut crisps you made are candy products, you must consider the taste and crispness as the first factor, and then the appearance… Although the peanut crumbs are considered as scraps by industry insiders, in fact, if you have fried or roasted peanuts, you will know that they are more likely to have a crispy and fragrant texture… On the contrary, it is very difficult to achieve the same taste and aroma with those beautiful-looking whole peanuts.”

"Besides that, due to the structure of the human mouth, unless you eat them one by one, if you throw a handful of peanuts into your mouth, the pleasure of chewing peanut crumbs is significantly greater than that of chewing peanut kernels or half a peanut."

Yang Mo knocked on the table in frustration and said, "Products and raw materials are two different concepts. The actual experience of consumers should be the first consideration. After changing to crushed peanuts, the cost of raw materials, processing cost, processing difficulty, and consumer experience are obviously higher than whole peanuts. Why do you have to cling to those self-righteous advantages?"

Tugou pouted a little aggrievedly: "Okay, just change it... Then we can make samples of both plans and test the consumer reaction to see which plan is more popular."

Yang Mo was not disgusted by this girl's unwillingness to admit defeat. On the contrary, he was quite happy. No one in this world could guarantee that his ideas were correct, even if he was a reborn person... At least this girl now had some sense of "those who are similar to me can survive", instead of being one of those nodding bugs who were too suppressed by his achievements to dare to refute.

Thinking of this, Yang Mo added: "Since we are talking about consumer experience, I suggest that you change the specifications of these peanut crisps when you go back, and turn them into individually packaged candies. As for the quantity... while adjusting the viscosity, it is best to make them bite-sized crisps... Times have changed, and packaging will only become more and more important. Not everyone is willing to eat like a child, holding such a large hard board with bare hands... For the sake of image and convenience, they don't mind spending a little more money to pay for those candy wrappers."

Regarding this, Lu Yingying did not have any intention of objecting. She had discovered this problem when Yan Laoxi had just handed her the sample. However, Yan Laoxi was a pure believer in cost theory, and his market consumption concept still remained in the past 20 years. He simply did not think there was anything wrong with such bulk style... However, since even Yang Mo pointed out this problem, he would have no choice but to change it no matter how unwilling he was.

Seeing this girl grinning and recording her opinions in her notebook with a look of gloating, Yang Mo guessed something and laughed: "Also, I personally suggest that after you have modified the sample, you might as well contact or have someone introduce you to investors from the Bashu region. Although Qilu peanuts are very famous, consumers in the southwest also like to eat peanuts... We should not always focus on the three provinces in the Central Plains. Contact investors from the Bashu region. There may be unexpected surprises!"

According to my memory from my previous life, peanut crisps seemed to have suddenly become a national snack at some point in time, and were sold in almost every supermarket. And if my memory serves me correctly, the reason why this thing became a national hit seemed to be due to a brand called "Teacher Zhao" in Bashu.

Although considering the current income of domestic people, it is difficult for peanut crisps, which cannot be classified as cheap candy, to become popular all over the country as it did in the future, but people in Bashu are much more particular about food than the three provinces in the Central Plains. If we open up the market there, there might really be unexpected surprises.

what?
Why don’t we use existing resources to export this stuff to Russia, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia?

amount……

I'm sorry, but the rate of allergies to nut products among foreign consumers is very high, and there is no shortage of middlemen in Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia. Yang Mo really doesn't want his own brand of peanut crisps to cause a lot of trouble in Europe and the United States.

Although Tugou didn't know why Yang Mo attached great importance to the channel connection between this product and the Bashu region, he still vaguely sensed something when he thought of the style and habits of the southwestern employees of the drilling company, and nodded vigorously.

………………

"Huh? This is... Shaqima?"

After discussing suggestions for improving peanut crisps, Yang Mo looked at something that looked very familiar with a look of surprise on his face.

The thing in front of me is in the shape of a square brick, and the overall look is a square of cut fried rice topped with orange maltose, but judging from the slight oil stains on the plastic packaging... Although the main body is not a twisted rice cake, isn't this the shachima that is everywhere on the streets in later generations?
However, in Yang Mo's memory, this thing only appeared and gradually became popular after the millennium. How come it is now in front of him?

"What's the point of killing the horse rider or not? This is Yishui's Fenggao, okay? It's just that in order to commercialize it, they made some minor changes based on my suggestion. They changed it from a stick shape to a square shape, and in order to prevent the packaging from sticking, they applied a layer of oil during the processing!"

Classmate Tugou looked at the man in front of him with disdain, who had never even seen Feng Gao.

"How about my method? The reason why this thing was not commercialized before was, on the one hand, because according to the traditional method, the glutinous rice flour had to be fried first and then poured with sugar, so it was hard after being packaged and had a hard texture; on the other hand, the layer of maltose on the outside was very easy to stick to the packaging, and it looked so watery that people had no appetite."

"So I was thinking, why do we have to use glutinous rice flour? And why do we have to shape it all at once? Can't we just fry the glutinous rice as the raw material? Then mix the maltose, syrup, oil, and honey into a soup, pour it into the fried rice, stir it, and then quickly mold it while it's hot. After that, cut it into small pieces and apply a layer of oil. Isn't everything solved now?"

Tugou's tone was full of pride as he said, "How is it? This was inspired by Sister Mu's Maren Candy. I'm smart, right? Try it now. It has the same soft and crispy texture when using fried glutinous rice as the raw material. As long as the sugar coating is properly prepared, it won't become wilted or hard even if you leave it for ten days or half a month, and it won't stick to your mouth!"

Yang Mo picked up the 1.0 version of the shachima in front of him with an incredible look on his face and took a bite.

Ok……

Although the taste is a bit harder than the later shachima, and the mellowness is also two lines worse, that is because the raw materials are limited and no duck egg yolks and other food additives are added into it... The later shachima is made of corn starch as raw material, relying on various deeply processed starch sugars and food additives to achieve that soft taste. With the current domestic food industry level, it is impossible to achieve the level of later generations.

Therefore, in fact, although this 1.0 version of Shachima in front of us has not gone through the traditional procedures of kneading dough, cutting skins, proofing, and frying, its taste is not much different from the traditional Fenggao.

Of course, this thing is a bit ambiguous. It is inappropriate to call it Fenggao, and it is equally inappropriate to call it Shaqima.

Tsk tsk, I didn't expect this girl to give me such a difficult problem. I can't even judge the market potential of this thing!

Thinking of this, Yang Mo looked at Tugou, his classmate, with some satisfaction. Just through this strange product, he could tell that this girl's ability in selecting market consumer groups, controlling costs, and commercializing products was already at the entry level. Compared with his formal little apprentice, she was so much better.

only……

I'm really not sure whether this thing is worth the effort to try!

(End of this chapter)