Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 351 White Rabbit Milk Candy

After staying for another week, Masato Takeshita finally left Starsea Capital.

He plans to go to China to finalize three new contracts.

The first contract with Shanghai went smoothly and was easily completed in half an hour.

After signing the contract, the young man looked at it in his hand and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"That's really cheap. Guanshengyuan's valuation is less than 6000 million, and that's in RMB."

Following the 92 talks, overseas giants flocked to the Chinese market.

Traditional Chinese brands like Guanshengyuan are simply unable to withstand the onslaught from international giants. They are either teetering on the brink of losses or already operating at a loss.

Xinghai Foods is also considered an overseas giant, but it is a very young giant.

Although the beverage industry has continued to grow and expand, the product range is too limited. Currently, only energy drinks, tea drinks, and instant noodles are performing well, and more products are needed to supplement the business.

Therefore, Masato Takeshita set his sights on Guanshengyuan Food Factory, a well-known restaurant in Shanghai.

Of course, what young people truly value is not the Guanshengyuan brand itself, nor the Guanshengyuan factory. This is because the Guanshengyuan brand primarily sells honey, which is a niche product in the food industry.

What he truly valued was Aimin Candy Factory, a subsidiary of Guanshengyuan.

Although this candy factory is smaller than Guanshengyuan, it owns the most well-known food brand in China – White Rabbit Milk Candy.

However, given the brand's fame, the Shanghai State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission naturally wouldn't sell it.

The two companies are joint ventures.

Xinghai Group contributed capital and equipment, holding 70% of the shares in the new company; the Shanghai government contributed its brand and factory, owning the remaining 30% of the shares.

To be honest, if it weren't for the recent trend of Sino-foreign joint ventures in this area, Xinghai Life's subsidiary, Xinghai Food, would never have had the opportunity to acquire such a good brand.

Of course, Shanghai will not lose out; the cooperation between the two companies will soon become a model of win-win.

Because Xinghai Foods does not have a confectionery business, it will use White Rabbit as the company's only confectionery brand in China.

Although we are in a hurry to arrange the development of White Rabbit Creamy Candy, we still cannot miss the dinner.

To reassure the relevant leaders, especially Weng Mao, the person in charge of Guanshengyuan.

He simply stood up and made a solemn promise when everyone had almost finished eating.

"White Rabbit Creamy Candy will be Xinghai Foods' only confectionery brand in China. We will not shelve it or delay its development. Please rest assured, leaders of Shanghai and Guanshengyuan."

Takeshita Masato carries a great deal of weight, and people don't believe he would break his promise for a company that only makes a few million in profit.

Therefore, upon hearing him say this, Guanshengyuan's leaders, including Weng Mao, as well as higher-level Shanghai government officials, all showed expressions of satisfaction.

“Mr. Takeshita, there’s no need for this. We entrusted the White Rabbit Creamy Candy brand to your company because we believe you are a responsible company.”

"That's right, the people at Xinghai Group are absolutely top-notch. We have complete confidence in entrusting this to you."

The relevant leaders in Shanghai expressed their approval of the young people, and Weng Mao nodded in agreement.

"Yes, among so many foreign companies, Guanshengyuan only trusts Xinghai Group."

Weng Mao is very young, having only been in charge of Guanshengyuan for two years. But he is very shrewd; in his previous life, he forcefully rejected a businessman who wanted to buy the White Rabbit brand.

Without his approval, Xinghai Group would never have had the chance to take over.

However, the win-win cooperation between Shencheng Luggage Factory and Xinghai Internet Cafe has earned Xinghai Group a high level of trust in China, especially in Shanghai.

Weng Mao then did not stop him.

He knew in his heart that the White Rabbit brand would not have a chance to develop in a short period of time if it only had the support of the Shanghai government.

The government lacked funds, and its own equipment was extremely outdated, making it inferior to similar foreign companies in both cost and production capacity.

In order for the company to grow and thrive in the new era, it must attract overseas investment to purchase advanced equipment.

Of course, Xinghai Foods' rapid development in China was also a reason why Shanghai was interested.

Xinghai Foods' instant noodles currently occupy two-thirds of the Chinese market, making it the undisputed leader in the industry.

As a result, Xinghai Foods established a three-tiered sales system at the provincial, municipal, and county levels.

Not only have they expanded instant noodles to more parts of China, but they have also popularized tea drinks and energy drinks in major cities and counties.

As for the broader market in small towns and rural areas of China, Xinghai Group has not yet expanded there and needs to rely on the initiative of its county-level distributors.

In fact, Xinghai Foods' acquisition of the White Rabbit brand also reflects its intention to further improve its sales channels.

It is cheaper than soda and instant noodles, making it more suitable for entering the lower-tier markets of small towns and rural areas, and expanding Xinghai Food's influence.

"Thank you all for your trust. I believe that under General Manager Weng's leadership, White Rabbit Creamy Candy will definitely be revitalized."

In order to reach a cooperation agreement as soon as possible, Xinghai Food Factory did not vie for the position of person in charge. However, Xinghai Food Factory has already secured all the key aspects such as personnel and accounting.

He didn't want the new company to be overstaffed, nor did he want too many people who didn't do their jobs.

Shanghai had the same considerations, so there wasn't much fierce competition.

Everyone wants the company to grow, not decline.

Thanks to the young man's assurance, the guests thoroughly enjoyed the dinner.

At this time, both parties had high expectations for the new joint venture, hoping it could achieve the same success as the Shanghai Luggage Factory.

The next morning, Masato Takeshita arrived at Guanshengyuan early.

This is to demonstrate Xinghai Group's emphasis on Guanshengyuan.

Besides himself, those who came with him included Hiroaki Kobayashi, President of Seikai Lifestyle; John Sculley, President of Seikai Foods; Nobutaka Kurashige, President of Seikai Group China Region; Shigeo Nagashima, President of Seikai Lifestyle China Region; and Yoshihiko Yoshimura, President of Seikai Foods China Region.

If we only look at output value, Guanshengyuan is not worth Xinghai Group doing this for.

John Sculley alone is sufficient to represent the company in collaboration.

But many things cannot be measured by output value. White Rabbit candy is a national brand. As long as there are still people who love their country, even if it experiences a brief decline, it will recover quickly.

Xinghai Foods must firmly bind this brand to the company in order to remain invincible in the Chinese market.

After a brief greeting, Takeshita Masato said politely and gently, "General Manager Weng, I'm so sorry for the sudden arrival of so many people. I'll have to trouble you with the rest."

"President, you're too kind. We'd love for you to come and bother us every day. Um, it's just that the meeting room is a bit run-down, we hope you won't mind."

Weng Mao felt very embarrassed because Guanshengyuan's conference room was really not presentable.

Unfortunately, neither the Shanghai government nor Guanshengyuan had the funds. They couldn't even afford to buy machines, let alone renovate the factory.

"It's nothing. Everyone has been poor before."

After exchanging polite pleasantries, the two entered the Guanshengyuan conference room.

It was indeed very dilapidated; even the conference table had cracks.

However, the young man was already used to it; when he was a child, the desks and chairs at school were sometimes even more dilapidated than these. Seeing his chairman naturally take the seat at the head of the table, Weng Mao breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, our president isn't the picky type."

Since Masato Takeshita didn't complain, those below naturally didn't utter a sound either, and quickly found their seats.

After everyone was seated, Takeshita Masato, as usual, got straight to the point without any preamble.

"The new company has limited funds, so it will prioritize the development of White Rabbit milk candy, which is the Aimin Candy Factory led by Factory Director Zhang Mingyuan."

Does anyone have any different opinions?

Faced with the young man's direct question, the Xinghai Group representatives, accustomed to such behavior, readily expressed their no objection.

The leaders at Guanshengyuan were somewhat dumbfounded. Although they had heard that the young man was usually decisive, they hadn't expected him to be so swift.

Masato Takeshita was used to being treated this way by employees he was meeting for the first time, and he looked gently toward Guanshengyuan.

"General Manager Weng, what kind of development model do you think is more reasonable?"

Before the young man could ask again, Weng Mao had already come to his senses. Hearing the chairman ask this question, he quickly smiled and agreed.

“I also think the company should focus its efforts on major projects. Didn’t we acquire a new piece of land at the junction of Huangpu and Xuhui districts? It’s perfect for building a new factory.”

The Shanghai government wants to expand Guanshengyuan's scale, so it naturally won't hold the new company back on land.

With a stroke of the pen, the relevant leaders allocated 200 acres of land to the Shencheng Food Factory, a joint venture established by both parties, which can be considered a significant investment.

"Alright, it's decided then. Let's focus our efforts on developing the White Rabbit brand."

After finalizing the overall work plan, Masato Takeshita continued.

"Since the decision has been made to build a new factory, there is no need to keep the old factory."

"Once the new factory is completed, this area will be leveled and converted into a laboratory to develop candies that are more suitable for Chinese tastes."

Masato Takeshita originally wanted to build a high-end residential building, but when he thought about the housing allocation problem, he decisively gave up on the idea.

Because the number of houses is limited, no matter how they are allocated, some people will be dissatisfied in the end, so it's better to choose another option.

"This is good, researchers can conduct research and development in a quiet environment."

Weng Mao had long had similar ideas, but lacked the funds to implement them. Now that Xinghai Group has arrived, he can finally carry out modernization reforms.

"That's right, a quiet environment is conducive to research and development work."

The young man smiled and nodded; he thought so too.

However, he quickly added, "But right now the company is in dire need of rebuilding, so the food researchers can't be idle either."

"The company's product line is too limited, and we need to research more categories of candy. For example, milk hard candy and lollipops would be excellent choices."

"In addition, we also need to enrich the flavors."

"For example, banana-flavored milk candy, apple-flavored milk candy, lychee-flavored milk candy... we need to develop them one by one."

The Shanghai Food Factory is not very large at the moment, so Masato Takeshita has not assigned it too many tasks.

After the company has developed for a period of time, he will also arrange for the company to develop ordinary fruit-based hard and soft candies, as well as chocolate-related products.

In short, Shencheng Food Factory must have any product related to candy, and it must achieve a top-three position in the Chinese market.

If it develops to a certain stage in the future, it may even be able to enter related industries such as cold drinks, beverages, and milk.

Others may not know, but if he saw White Rabbit ice cream, he would definitely be unable to resist spending money to buy one.

If it tastes good, then I will be a loyal customer of White Rabbit next time.

This is the intangible power of a brand, and it is also White Rabbit's most valuable asset.

After arranging the expansion plan for the White Rabbit brand, Masato Takeshita once again visited the Shanghai Municipal Government meeting room.

Today he will sign a second cooperation agreement with the other party in order to better develop Xinghai's food and beverage industry.

However, this contract does not offer the same preferential treatment as White Rabbit Milk Candy. Xinghai Food will fully acquire Zheng Guanghe Soft Drink Factory in Shanghai.

Zheng Guanghe Soft Drink Factory also had its glory days, at its peak occupying 90% of the market share in Shanghai.

However, as the degree of opening up to the outside world continues to deepen, Zheng Guanghe has suffered repeated defeats under the attack of foreign giants.

Not only have large food factories disappeared from major commercial streets such as Jinling Road and Huaihai Road, but they have also disappeared from many small shops, teetering on the brink of production shutdown and rectification.

The company was poorly managed, and its brand was limited to the local area, so the Shanghai government did not try to negotiate better terms with Xinghai Group.

Of course, it was no use for the Shanghai government to try.

Xinghai Foods has its own beverage products. The acquisition of Zhengguanghe is more about expanding production scale and deepening its market channels in Shanghai. It will not offer particularly favorable conditions for the acquisition.

Of course, Xinghai Group will not follow the example of Coca-Cola and abandon its local brand; on the contrary, it will vigorously develop it.

After all, following this acquisition, the Zheng Guanghe brand will belong to Xinghai Foods, so the company will naturally treat it well. The goal is to develop Zheng Guanghe into China's leading brand of soda, mineral water, and purified water.

Although Masato Takeshita values ​​White Rabbit more, he wouldn't be foolish enough to show it directly.

The next morning, the young man led the same group to Zheng Guanghe.

After some pleasantries, Masato Takeshita went straight to the point about his plans for the new company.

"Does the chairman mean that we should vigorously develop mineral water and purified water?"

"That's right. Not everyone likes drinking beverages, and beverages are far less effective at quenching thirst than mineral water and purified water."

"As long as Zhengguanghe can gain a foothold in the water industry, there is no need to worry about the company's growth."

Drinks in the 90s were too sweet; sometimes the more you drank, the thirstier you became, and you couldn't replenish your water intake at all.

In addition, businesses and governments have a huge demand for mineral water and purified water.

Putting everything else aside, if a meeting is held for visitors, the large table will almost certainly only have these two types of drinks.

"Understood, please rest assured, Chairman, we will develop well."

Li Mingyang, the person in charge of Zhengguanghe, was excited, feeling a sense of finally being recognized.

He had long ago proposed to his superiors to develop a purified water business, but had never received approval. Now, he finally has the opportunity to put his plans into action.

Yes, Li Mingyang is a long-time employee of Zheng Guanghe Soft Drink Factory.

However, he couldn't bear to leave Zheng Guanghe Company, so he voluntarily gave up his public office and chose to stay.

Masato Takeshita admired courageous people. After briefly learning about his character, he promoted him directly to the top position in the company.

This will give the employees of Zheng Guanghe Soft Drink Factory more peace of mind and prevent unexpected situations from occurring.

(End of this chapter)