Chapter 102 - 88: The Emperor of Oils
Chapter 102: Chapter 88: The Emperor of Oils
Brown Company had also placed an order with Hailufeng Company, purchasing 500 kilograms of glass eels each month to be air-freighted directly back to Western Europe for sale.
However, since the production expansion wasn’t completed in the preceding months, the order had not been fully executed. They only started to truly ramp up in June.
Jiang Miao knew that more companies from Europe and America would soon be approaching them to order eel fry.
This slightly eased the concerns of his brother-in-law, who had been worried about overcapacity, allowing him to relax and continue focusing on expanding production.
Setting down the market research report, Jiang Miao knew the domestic market was nearing saturation. He looked up and instructed, "Jiahao, your international trade office needs to be proactive. Focus on Europe and America. As for the Southeast Asian market, don’t worry too much about it for now."
"Yes, Boss," Huang Jiahao said, agreeing with Jiang Miao’s assessment. "We’ve already hired a group of salespeople who speak English, French, and Spanish, and we’re figuring out how to break into the markets in Europe and America."
Although the Southeast Asia region had eel farms, they primarily purchased wild-caught eel fry or caught their own. Moreover, their scale was less than a tenth of China’s domestic market. A market like that was simply not worth the effort.
A subsidiary of South Korea’s West Faraway Group had sent someone to inquire about prices, but as soon as they heard Hailufeng Company was unwilling to cut its prices, they turned right around and left. They’d rather buy wild eel fry on the international market than purchase from Hailufeng Company.
It was as if they thought Hailufeng Company would go bankrupt just from losing their business.
Truthfully, Jiang Miao looked down on the Korean market as well. South Korea’s aquaculture industry was limited, only about one percent of China’s. They wouldn’t even purchase a ton of eel fry in a year. A piddling little market like that, still deluding themselves into thinking they’d get a special price... What a joke.
The thought of the West Faraway Group reminded Jiang Miao of something else.
Anye Aquatic Products Co., Ltd.—the company that had recently tried to bribe his brother-in-law to steal the "confidential feed formula"—seemed to be closely connected with the president of the West Faraway Group.
He only knew about their close ties because he had found a hidden folder on Jiang Anye’s phone that explained the nature of their relationship.
Jiang Anye had once saved the president’s son’s life. That, combined with many years of business cooperation, had maintained their relationship.
At this thought, Jiang Miao decided he would investigate the West Faraway Group tonight. After all, they also had advanced indoor eel farms and maintained a close relationship with Jiang Anye. There might be some connection between them.
...
He chatted with Huang Jiahao for a little while longer before his phone rang.
"You seem busy, Boss. I’ll head out now."
"Mm."
Jiang Miao picked up his phone and glanced at the caller ID. It was a familiar, yet somewhat distant number. A flood of long-buried memories washed over him as he hit ’accept.’
"Hey, Mouse."
"Sanshui, I’m not bothering you, am I?"
"Not at all! But man, you haven’t called in ages. How’ve you been?" Jiang Miao asked with a smile.
His friend laughed on the other end. "Same old, same old. Still working as an ag-tech for the Bureau of Agriculture back home."
"You’re calling me out of the blue. Are you in some kind of trouble? How much do you need?" Jiang Miao asked bluntly.
They were incredibly close—bosom buddies back in college. During Jiang Miao’s sophomore year, he’d been knocked unconscious by a falling object. It was this friend who had rushed him to the hospital, fronted the medical fees, and then looked after him for over a week.
"Hahaha, look at you, you’ve really made it big," his friend laughed. After a moment, he added, "I am calling you about something, but it’s not about money."
"Oh? Then what is it? Are you getting married?"
"You’re one to talk. You got married and didn’t even invite me to the reception."
"Shuya didn’t want to bother everyone, since you’re all scattered across the country."
"Okay, okay, let’s get down to business."
"I’m listening..."
"So, here’s the thing. A while back, you sent me a few boxes of strawberries, right?"
"That’s right."
"I’ve been thinking about quitting my government job recently. I want to go out and start my own business."
"Are you sure? Have you discussed it with your family?"
"Not yet."
"So what are you planning to do? Don’t tell me it’s something in agriculture?"
"What else besides agriculture? Agronomy was my major, after all!"
"And what’s the focus?"
"Growing strawberries. You developed three new strawberry varieties, didn’t you? You must be selling the seedlings, right?"
"Strawberries? You aren’t planning to grow strawberries in your hometown of Lianhua County, are you?"
"Yeah? Is there a problem?"
"I wouldn’t really recommend it. My strawberries are a premium, high-priced product, and the core consumer base is in the Pearl River Delta Region. Your hometown doesn’t have that kind of market. You’d have to rely on e-commerce, and that’s tough to get going in the beginning."
"Ah... I guess I’ll have to rethink it, then."
"Actually, I do have a suggestion, if you’re interested."
"Sanshui, don’t leave me hanging."
"Grow oil-tea camellias!"
"What’s that? Oil-tea camellia? Nobody would touch that stuff!" Mouse’s voice was full of disgust.
You couldn’t really blame Mouse for trashing oil-tea camellia like that.
The main reason was that oil-tea camellia did indeed have a whole host of drawbacks.
To be precise, both its pros and cons were extremely pronounced.
The upside was that the tea seed oil pressed from its seeds was a premium vegetable oil, considered even better than olive oil. It was nutritious, relatively shelf-stable, had a high smoke point, and possessed a favorable oleic acid profile.
Long-term consumption of tea seed oil could help prevent or improve cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
The downsides, however, were just as stark: oil-tea camellias had a long growth cycle, crop yields were extremely low, and the oil yield from the seeds was also poor.