Amidst the industry-wide uproar, this decisive battle was launched in full swing. In the following days, the production capacity of Jiaming Foods' seven factories was like a wild horse unleashed.
It swept through the market like a flood, with sales increasing by 1,900 percent in just a few days, and some places even experiencing shortages.
The huge impact not only affected Wahaha, but also some local small workshops. The total market size remained unchanged, but the increase in Jiaming Foods' market share meant that other brands could not survive.
The latest data shows that Jiaming Foods has a total of nine beverage products, accounting for 11% of the market share in the beverage category, ranking first.
This data is chilling; the beverage categories include orange juice, milk, milk powder, and some locally produced soft drinks.
Beyond beverages, the small canned food has officially entered the banquet market, launching banquet versions, nutritional versions, and children's versions. With the introduction of free gifts, sales have skyrocketed.
After several days, the marketing manager, Gao Zhiwei, Zhang Fengxia and the others had become somewhat numb and had no feeling for the data, especially when they heard that sales had increased by 1,900 percent, they felt it was nothing special.
As long as Lu Feng is around, there's nothing he can't do. However, after several days of market pressure, Wahaha couldn't hold on any longer and launched a "buy one get one free" promotion. At the same time, they launched six new beverages, many of which are very similar to those from Jiamai Foods.
The legal team filed a lawsuit immediately, escalating the legal battle between the two sides. Gao Zhiwei held several press conferences, which led to another round of verbal sparring.
Starting in April, Lu Feng began inspecting various factories. Within a month, he had visited all of them. As for the negotiating teams that made exorbitant demands, Lu Feng simply settled the bills for them and left.
Of the original sixteen factories, twelve were negotiated. Apart from the Taiyuan factory, which was originally planned, the remaining three small factories will not be negotiated for the time being.
Money was being burned quickly. Workers were being paid wages, suppliers were settling accounts, and products were selling like hotcakes. Now, Jiaming Foods' advertisements all say that Jiaming Foods sold one billion bottles this year.
By offering substantial discounts to distributors and retailers, coupled with buy-one-get-one-free promotions, Jiaming Foods has pushed its profit margins close to zero, or even resulted in losses.
Fourteen million seems like a lot, but spread across seven factories, it would only last for two months at most. However, under these circumstances, ten million has already been burned, and the remaining four million can only last until the end of May at most.
As the biggest market competition under the free market commercial competition after the reform and opening up, some financial institutions in Hong Kong and other places are also keeping an eye on the two companies, and even know more about their status than the domestic media.
The Hong Kong Financial Times published an interview with Tiantuo Financial, and the headline was quite sensational: "Jiaming Foods, which looks strong on the outside but is weak on the inside, will collapse in a month."
The content is all practical information. Wahaha has a strong foundation. In the three years since its establishment, it has gradually built up a very solid foundation. All of its factories were purchased. If things get really bad, it can sell the factories or mortgage them to the bank to get some breathing room.
Jiaming Foods is different. It is entirely leased and has no physical capital. It grew too fast and lacked subsequent funding. It has been able to get to where it is today entirely by relying on a series of shady operations.
This report was reprinted in newspapers in the Pearl River Delta region, with the headline changed to: "Jiaming Foods is burning its last drop of blood."
Too many financial institutions and professionals have seen the vulnerability of Jiaming Foods, and some tabloids have even used disgusting headlines such as "Jiaming Foods with Kidney Deficiency."
It was already May, and the air was somewhat dry and hot. The grass was lush and green, and the trees provided ample shade. Lu Feng had been back from the factory in Zhengzhou for a few days, and he had read the newspaper on the table several times over.
Manager Li had approached him several times, saying that if the funding problem couldn't be resolved by the end of the month, Jiaming Foods' collapse was inevitable. The factory's employees were very excited because they saw their products everywhere and advertisements all over the place.
However, only a few people, including Manager Li, Lu Feng, Gao Zhiwei, and Zhang Fengxia, knew that the factory was on the verge of collapse and could no longer afford to continue this money-burning war.
With Wahaha launching the "One More Bottle" promotion, market expansion has become more difficult.
Zhang Fengxia walked in carrying the documents and said, "Manager Li said that if things can't be resolved, he'll leave at the end of the month. His suggestion is that you go to the southern market to raise funds, and the special funds can no longer be used. We're on the front page every day, and some major newspapers have already publicly criticized us—not us, but those local tyrants."
At such a critical time, the other party would definitely ask for an exorbitant amount of money. Lu Feng's original plan was to get through this wave and raise a sum of money. Whether he could go public depended on Gao Zhiwei, Du Qifeng and his group.
“Raising funds now is too unprofitable. Based on the valuation, the other party won’t buy it. Based on the market value, we’re losing too much.” Lu Feng crossed his legs, lit a cigarette, and remained silent.
Zhang Fengxia looked at him and asked, "You've run out of ideas?"
"Hmm, I'm out of ideas. Can you give me some suggestions?"
She absolutely refused to believe such nonsense. Ever since Lu Feng devised a marketing campaign of this caliber, he had an inexplicable aura about him in Zhang Fengxia's eyes.
Even her teacher, Pete, called her excitedly, talking non-stop about this marketing event.
“I have to go again. All I do every day is look for money. What’s the status of our original team in Taiyuan?” Lu Feng asked.
"You're still trying to take advantage of investment attraction policies?" Zhang Fengxia reminded her, "We're already a deadbeat in investment attraction. Everyone in the country knows that we're trying to get preferential treatment in various provinces. The people in the investment promotion offices say we're policy beggars."
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