When Su Yan and Su Lei arrived home, Yu Dahai was also there.
Su Yan suddenly remembered what she had said to Yu Dafei, and immediately said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Uncle Dahai, something happened at my home, and I accidentally forgot about you."
Yu Dahai waved his hand dismissively, "It's nothing. I just heard your grandma mention it. You go about your business. My matter isn't urgent. We can talk when you have time."
“I brought my brother back. Since you’re here, let’s go to the tea room and chat,” Su Yan said.
She had just remembered that she was supposed to go to Lanshi today to teach Yunxiang's chef how to make honey-glazed roast duck. Feng Caixia hadn't arrived yet, so she made sure to finalize the cooperation with Yu Dahai so as not to postpone it and forget about it later, which would be too embarrassing.
Upon arriving at the tea room, Yu Dahai took the initiative to talk about the factory.
“My food factory is doing worse and worse. Anping Town is a small place and can't develop much. If this trend continues, it will go bankrupt sooner or later. But I have been in this factory for decades and I can't bear to leave. But there is nothing I can do. The other day when I was drunk, I mentioned to my older brother at the dinner table that your braised food tastes good and I was thinking about whether we could cooperate. I forgot about it afterward, but I didn't expect him to remember it and even contacted you privately. I feel quite embarrassed.”
"Mr. Su, we've known each other for quite some time now, so I won't beat around the bush. If you're not interested in cooperating with me and just want to appease my brother, you can tell me, and I'll make up some excuse. Please don't force it."
Yu Dahai's chubby face showed a solemn expression, which looked quite festive.
Su Yan smiled. "Of course it's not that I'm embarrassed to refuse Director Yu. I'll definitely take any opportunity to make money; I don't mind earning more. But I have a question. I remember you're the deputy director of the food factory, right? Doesn't cooperation require the director's approval?"
"That's no problem. The factory manager is my dad. Once he retires, I'll be the official manager. My only fear is that the factory will go bankrupt after he retires." Yu Dahai said with a worried look, "What can I do at my age if I don't have a job?"
Is he sponging off his parents? He might feel comfortable doing it for a while, but how can he do it for over a decade? Wouldn't people laugh at him to death?
Su Yan: "..." You don't look worried at all.
"Uncle Dahai, to be honest with you, if you turn braised food into snacks to sell, the first problem is the shelf life, and the second is that the taste won't be as good as the freshly sold ones. If you add additives, it will definitely affect the taste. It might sell better at first, but I can't guarantee it will sell better later."
Yu Dahai understood what she meant. "Since you don't recommend selling braised food, do you have anything else?"
Su Yan thought for a moment and slowly said, "What is Anping County or Lan City most famous for? It's their unique characteristics."
“This…” Yu Dahai frowned and hesitated, “Our province doesn’t have any special features. Does it count as being a major fruit-producing province? The climate here is such that anything can grow.”
Their area is located between the north and the south, so it's neither as humid and rainy as the south nor as arid as the north.
Abundant in fruit production?
The first thing Su Yan thought of was canned fruit.
There aren't many canned fruits on the market now, and if there are, they're very expensive and not something the average family can afford.
"What do you think of the canned fruit, Uncle Dahai?" she asked.
Yu Dahai frowned and said, "This thing is scarce, but preservation is a problem. If we want to sell it nationwide, we have to consider whether it will spoil."
The fruit in Lanzhou is the cheapest in the country, and there is also a very large wholesale market. People from other provinces who want to sell fruit basically come here to buy wholesale.
However, because there was too much fruit in the area, and they were afraid it would spoil, they couldn't fetch a good price.
“Other factories used to make canned fruit, but they went out of business after only six months because they couldn’t preserve it properly. If we’re going to do this, we need to be prepared.”
What kind of mental preparation? Of course, it's about the costs and benefits.
Su Yan: "That's because they don't know how to preserve them. If this problem is solved, do you think canned fruit will sell well?"
“That’s for sure, this stuff is a rare commodity, but…” Yu Dahai thought of something and his face fell again: “Canned fruit is expensive, and it doesn’t seem to sell well.”
"No, I want to take the route of low profit and high volume. The reason why the price of canned fruit on the market is so high is because most of their money is spent on preservation, but I have a way to solve this problem."
Lanzhou is rich in fruit, and by saving on transportation and fuel costs, we can lower our expenses and set more affordable prices.
Yu Dahai was astonished, "Boss Su, how come you know so much at such a young age?"
Preserving canned fruit is a skill in itself.
He had to re-evaluate Su Yan.
"This is nothing! I know more than you think," Su Yan replied jokingly, then brought up another issue, "I have the technology to preserve canned fruit, but I need sealing machines, sterilizers, and glass jars for canning. Can the factory get those?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Dahai was troubled again. "The glass bottle container and the sterilizer are not a big problem. It's just that the factory doesn't have a sterilizer. We need to find a way to get one. You don't need to worry about these things. You just need to provide technical guidance."
At most, it involves pulling strings and spending some money.
"We can solve all the concerns. Now let's decide what kind of canned fruit we want to make."
Yu Dahai: "You have a sharper eye than me, what do you think will be a good selling point?"
"Yellow peaches, mixed vegetables, oranges, and grapes." Su Yan gave four ingredients directly, and explained, "I can guarantee that the taste won't be sour, and it will suit the tastes of the masses."
Oranges and grapes are naturally a bit sour, and if they're not cooked properly, they'll only become more sour.
If the food is too sour or too sweet, it won't sell for long; this is where the details matter in the preparation process.
“Okay, I’ll do as you say and try these four methods first.” Yu Dahai asked her, “As for the money, how would you like it to be split? If possible, I’ll try my best to accommodate you.”
Su Yan smiled and said without hesitation, "Let's make it 46, I'll take 40% and your factory 60%, but I have one request: you have to write 'Jointly Produced by Su's Shop' on the label."
She wanted to register a trademark. At first, she thought "Su's Braised Food" was a good name, but now she thought it was a bit too monotonous, so she simply changed it to "Su's Little Shop" because her future business would definitely not be limited to braised food, and "little shop" could just encompass many things.
Yu Dahai weighed the options and realized that adding a sentence wouldn't hurt him, and a 40/60 split was acceptable. He had thought Su Yan would ask for the extra portion, but she hadn't expected her to give in to him.
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