Chapter 119 Baked Desserts?
Luo Qianqian is never one to lose her head. Last night's emotions had been suppressed by the rigor of work, and she remembered her boyfriend constantly complaining about how the company food was becoming increasingly exquisite.
She also considered that her direct supervisor was in charge of the baking and dessert market, and Huai Tian's new low-sugar baking products were in need of a promoter. If she could introduce Su Yingxue's advertising company, her boyfriend's job could be steadily improved, and he might even be able to gain the boss's appreciation and advance further by making this connection.
Once she had made up her mind, she took out the company's promotional materials from her small bag and gently traced the words "low-sugar healthy baking" with her fingertips.
"Luo Qianqian, the chief graphic designer of Huai Tian, right?" Su Yingxue looked up and her gaze fell on the documents handed to her.
Luo Qianqian smiled with just the right amount of tact: "Hello, President Su. Our company is currently struggling with the promotion of our new baking products, and it just so happens that Ada is here with you. Although I'm not in charge of promotion, I can still help with internal referrals and build bridges for advertising collaborations."
Su Yingxue glanced at Ada, who was peeking out the window, a hint of a smile flashing in her eyes, and nodded, asking, "So what are your core requirements?"
"The budget must be saved, the event must be grand, and the plan must be practical." Luo Qianqian smiled helplessly, "Our CEO Hua has always been pragmatic, trying to make every penny count."
“This…” Su Yingxue was in a dilemma—to hold a large event with a low budget and a detailed plan, this was not like taking on an advertisement, it was practically doing charity work.
"Our new product focuses on low sugar and health, and it's still in the internal testing phase. It will be launched soon. However, the taste is still a bit lacking and is a bit dry."
Luo Qianqian took out a few loaves of bread from her bag and handed them over, "I brought some samples, you can try them. If you can come up with any advertising ideas, feel free to contact us anytime, the company would be happy to cooperate."
"Ada, I'm leaving now. Go home early after get off work tonight." With that, she turned and left.
"Boss, this..." Ada looked at his girlfriend's back, completely bewildered.
Su Yingxue picked up a piece of bread and pinched the firm crust with her fingertips: "Your girlfriend is quite thoughtful, she even took care of our afternoon tea."
She stared at the bread and muttered to herself: the user's pain point is too glaring - the common problem of low-sugar baking is that it is "healthy but not tasty". The low-calorie label always makes people think of bland "healthy meals", but people who buy bread still crave the soft and fragrant taste of carb bombs.
Choosing bread and then insisting on low sugar and low calories is inherently contradictory; on top of that, Huai Tian needs to hold a large event, keep the budget low, and find a large venue, making it even more difficult.
Unless... we get sponsorship? Or we connect people and link resources from all sides?
The more she thought about it, the more confused she became. Su Yingxue simply rolled up her sleeves and went into the kitchen—making the bread taste better was always a good idea. Glancing at the old sweet potatoes in the cupboard, she had an idea.
After searching the system for a while and asking around, Su Yingxue had a new idea.
She first sliced the sweet, low-sugar bread into thin slices. Although the wheat aroma was faint, the inside was dense and dry, which was indeed due to the lack of sugar to soften and ferment.
Turn around and peel off the hard skin of the sweet potato, cut it into small pieces and steam it until it can be easily pierced with chopsticks. When mashing it into a puree, I deliberately left some lumps to add layers of texture.
Take half of the sweet potato puree, add warm water and stir well. Pour it into the flour bowl, then mix in the chopped low-sugar breadcrumbs—use the ready-made bread aroma to save some fermentation time. Add half a spoonful of salt and knead in one direction until the dough is smooth and not sticky, just enough to stretch into a thin and elastic membrane.
After resting for 20 minutes, divide the dough into small portions, shape them into ovals, roll them with pre-roasted unsweetened white sesame seeds, pinch the ends to seal, and place them on a baking tray that has been lightly oiled. Let them rise a second time until they double in volume.
Preheat the oven to 180℃. While baking on the middle rack for 15 minutes, she mixed some warm water with the remaining sweet potato puree and gently brushed it onto the surface of the bread—this helped to brown the bread and lock in its moisture. After baking for another 5 minutes, the whole house was filled with a warm, sweet aroma.
Freshly baked sweet potato bread has a slightly crispy crust and a soft, chewy interior. When you bite into it, you can taste the sweetness of sweet potato chunks and the aroma of roasted sesame seeds—the sweetness is not the cloying sweetness of cane sugar, but the refreshing and lingering sweetness of the sweet potato itself.
It perfectly balances the dryness of the original bread, and since no extra sugar is added, it perfectly hits the core of "low-sugar and healthy".
Su Yingxue took a bite of her bread, her eyes suddenly lighting up—this was the key to breaking the deadlock!
Replacing cane sugar with the natural flavor of ingredients, and then upgrading the taste with texture and aroma, and advertising it as "healthy to eat and delicious to taste", wouldn't that win over consumers?
As for the venue and budget, she suddenly remembered Wang Datou—his relative had an organic farm. If they could work together, they could use the selling point of "food traceability" to exchange for free venues in the cultural and tourism district around the farm; after all, the district also needs traffic and exposure, so it would be a win-win situation.
Tapping her fingertips on the warm baking pan, Su Yingxue immediately sent a message to Manager Wang: "Ask him if his relative's organic farm can provide a traceability certificate for seasonal ingredients, especially for things like pumpkin, yam, and sweet potato that are suitable for baking. Be sure to bring the latest pesticide residue test report."
After sending the message, she picked up a piece of Huai Tian's original dough bread—Huai Tian's pain points are clear: the low-sugar formula cannot support the reputation of "delicious", and the low budget cannot support big events.
It's not enough for her to change the recipe; Huai Tian needs to make adjustments from the source.
She pulled out the phone number from the promotional materials, hesitated for two seconds, and then dialed it.
After connecting with the R&D manager, she got straight to the point: "I'm Su Yingxue. Luo Qianqian brought your low-sugar samples before. We used your whole germ and organic sweet potatoes to adjust the new taste and solve the problem of dryness."
“I would like to have a chat with you. Also, we can connect with traceable ingredients from organic farms, which perfectly matches your new product positioning of ‘low sugar and healthy’.”
After hanging up the phone, Su Yingxue looked at the sweet potato bread on the table and chuckled. Wang Datou's farm provided the endorsement of "health traceability," and her recipe made up for the shortcoming of "low sugar and delicious taste." With the three combined, Huai Tian's new product became differentiated, and her promotional activities could also solve the venue and budget issues by relying on "traceability + taste upgrade."
After finishing a plate of bread, the previously tangled problem suddenly had a clear solution.
Two days later
Huaitian Group
Hua Tianhuai, the CEO of Huaitian, was a stocky, chubby man. At that moment, he was poking heavily at the proposal that Luo Qianqian handed him, his impatience almost overflowing.
"Change the bread recipe?" He scoffed, spittle flying onto the paper. "Who does Su Yingxue think she is? A top baker?"
As Hua Tianhuai's fingertips swept over the words "low sugar and optimized taste," his brows furrowed even more—the new product was still in internal testing, and someone from an advertising company dared to criticize their core formula?
"Qianqian," he turned to look at Luo Qianqian, who had her head down, his tone full of reprimand, "You're a designer, just focus on your packaging and layout. What do you know about formulas? What are you meddling in?"
Luo Qianqian gripped the hem of her clothes with her fingertips, her lower lip pressed white, not daring to utter a single word in defense.
Someone nearby whispered a suggestion, "Perhaps you could listen to their advice."
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