Chapter 174 Food Industry Independence
January 13, 1869.
Vienna.
As soon as the end of the year came, Ernst immediately set off for Austria. It was still very cold in Austria in January, and the snow in Vienna looked unique.
Hechingen Foundation Office in Vienna.
“This place is about two miles away from the city of Vienna. The surrounding area is basically farmland, and due to the terrain restrictions, the land is not very fertile, so the price is not high.
The most valuable thing is that this is one of the few large tracts of open space around Vienna. Its owner is Viscount Lexton of Austria. We have already negotiated a price with him. If we buy the whole piece, the price can be even cheaper. "Bun, the head of the Hechingen Consortium in Vienna, pointed to a piece of land on the outskirts of Vienna on the map and reported the situation to Ernst.
"How big is the area?" Ernst asked.
"The total area is 1,642 acres, which is enough to build several factories, so there is absolutely no problem with the size," said Boone.
"Well, what are the transportation conditions like?" Ernst asked.
"It's less than 20 minutes away from the train station and the Danube River. If the road can be renovated, it will definitely be faster, so it is very convenient to gather and distribute supplies from here." Boone answered in detail.
"Very good, you go and negotiate the price with Viscount Laxton! By the way, ask the people around here if they are interested in selling their land, and try to make this place bigger. Of course, the prerequisite is that the land must be connected." Ernst made the final decision, basically announcing that the ownership of this land fell into the hands of the Hechingen royal family.
In the new year, Ernst plans to separate food production from the daily necessities group under the Hechingen Consortium and establish a dedicated food group.
Previously, because the food processing manufacturing industry controlled by the Heixinggen Group was relatively small in scale, it was placed under the trusteeship of the Daily Necessities Group.
By 1869, after three years of development, the East African colonies had completely changed and could provide sufficient agricultural raw materials for the Hexingen Consortium.
Most importantly, in 1869, the East African immigration mission was reduced, which saved a large amount of surplus food for export.
In the first three years, East Africa accepted as many immigrants as possible, and food was needed to settle the new immigrants. In order to feed the new immigrants, the food rations needed by the early immigrants were jointly paid by the East African colonies and the Hexingen Consortium, which continued until the land was developed and harvested.
Fortunately, the temperature in East Africa remains the same throughout the year, so immigrants can quickly get back into production. However, during the dry season, immigrants will be arranged to move to locations near rivers and lakes first.
This year, East Africa will be able to export more food by no longer pursuing a maximum number of immigrants.
Directly exporting grain is certainly not very profitable, especially now that the whole of Europe is prosperous and peaceful, production is in order, and Britain, France, Russia, Austria and Prussia are all focusing on development.
So in order to improve the competitiveness of East African food, Ernst strives to establish a modern food enterprise group in Europe.
Unlike in the past, this time Ernst placed the headquarters of the new company within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, implementing for the first time the Hechingen Consortium's integrated German, Austrian and African development model.
Food is an industry that is no less important than the production of daily necessities. If it can be developed, it will definitely be a heavyweight industry in the territory of the Heixinggen Group.
The Heixingen Group has natural advantages in developing the food industry. Backed by the East African colonies, it has sufficient raw materials, and this year it has more funds. The funds that were used to expand immigration in the past can now be invested in new industries.
Coupled with Austria's superior geographical location and stable social order, building a food company in Austria has natural advantages.
Of course, the most important point is that it can better utilize the resources of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire itself is a major agricultural country. The raw materials for the Hechingen Company's wine are provided by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At the same time, the Hechingen Consortium often sells grain from Hungary throughout Europe with the help of the supermarket system.
The two sides have a natural basis for cooperation. Politically, the Hechingen royal family has close relations with the Austrian royal family. Ernst has the right time, place and people.
The German region also has the above conditions, but Austria has an advantage that Germany cannot match, that is, Austria is on the Mediterranean coast.
Once the Suez Canal opens at the end of the year, the products from the East African colonies will be able to go directly to Trieste through the Suez Canal. At that time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be the center connecting Germany and the East African colonies.
Moreover, the German region has a high level of industrialization, and this is also true in the field of food processing. Relatively speaking, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has a large gap in this regard, and the Hechingen Consortium just fills this gap and avoids competition.
Moreover, it can be said that it was very subtle that Ernst chose this time period to come to Vienna to arrange the construction of the food company.
It will take at least several months from land acquisition to factory construction and production. This is only the Vienna area, and a factory will definitely be built in Trieste later.
Vienna can make full use of the agricultural resources of Austria and Hungary, while Trieste just connects to the agricultural resources of East Africa.
In this way, the company has both internal and external strengths and its ability to resist risks is greatly enhanced. At the same time, the construction of the Trieste factory is scheduled for the second half of the year, which coincides with the opening of the Suez Canal.
The Vienna factory will be built in the first half of the year, and the Trieste factory in the second half of the year. There is no need to rush the construction schedule, as it will be just a natural process once the Suez Canal is opened.
Ernst sat at the table and circled cities such as Hamburg, Berlin, Hechingen, Vienna, Trieste, etc. on the map with a red pencil.
These cities and regions will become the fulcrum of Hechingen food companies in Europe, just taking into account the entire European region.
The competition in the European food industry is absolutely fierce. In addition to Europe, there is also competition from overseas colonies.
Therefore, Ernst did not have much illusion about profits. Huge profits were certainly too possible, so he just wanted to make steady profits. Moreover, East African products are mainly large in quantity, and with sufficient quantity, he could also generate considerable income.
At the same time, it can also pave the way for the market for East Africa's future agricultural products. The food output that can be provided by two million people is definitely considerable.
After all, in this era, most countries still rely on agricultural taxes to support their finances. There is no agricultural tax in East Africa, but more than 90% of the profits from agricultural production are in the hands of the Heixingen Group.
It’s just that in the first three years, the investment in the East African colonies was also huge, so the money obtained by the Heixingen Consortium was basically reinvested in the construction of East Africa. Moreover, in the first two years, the Heixingen Consortium was completely doing a loss-making business, subsidizing a large amount of funds for the construction of East Africa, which led to slow development of its companies in Europe.
Moreover, East Africa's current population is close to two million. Only when these two million people engage in production activities at the same time can its agricultural profits be high. That is to say, only a few months later can East Africa really produce the agricultural value of a population of two million. After all, agriculture has cycles and crops need time to grow.
(End of this chapter)
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