Chapter 323 - 162: Selection

Chapter 323: Chapter 162: Selection

The drought in Southern East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia continued to worsen.

Meanwhile, South America was experiencing frequent floods.

As May approached, high temperatures arrived earlier than usual on the South Asian Subcontinent, but the rainy season did not.

Extreme weather events around the globe were becoming more pronounced and frequent.

Although the ongoing drought had suppressed the scale of domestic Egyptian Catfish farming, Hailufeng Company’s timely intervention prevented any serious impact overall.

In April, the domestic market prices for aquatic products and various meat products were about the same as in March.

However, with summer approaching, it wasn’t just electricity bills from air conditioning that were climbing; sales of cold drinks and ice cream products were also soaring.

April 27th.

The first mass-produced vanilla ice cream using Vanilla Strawberry as a raw material was officially launched.

However, the manufacturer of this product wasn’t Five Rams Ice Cream, Meiji Ice Cream, or even a brand under the three major dairy corporations. Instead, it was launched by Yuebao of Lingnan Province.

Compared to the sluggish pace of large corporations, smaller companies prefer unconventional approaches and value speed.

Just over twenty days after receiving the Vanilla Strawberry Powder, they had already launched a brand-new version of vanilla ice cream. Yuebao’s vanilla ice cream was priced at an average of 32 yuan per kilogram, and its vanilla concentration was nearly double that of Haagen-Dazs.

Inside the new product R&D department of Five Rams Ice Cream.

Lin Yaoyang, the vice general manager in charge of this matter, was fuming. "Stop dragging your feet, R&D! Yuebao’s new vanilla ice cream is already on the market! What time do you think it is? What the hell is there to keep studying so slowly?"

The head of the R&D department wasn’t about to take the blame for this. "But the formula ratios are crucial! It’s the only way to ensure the best possible flavor, which is what the general manager demanded."

"By the time you’ve researched the perfect taste, the first wave of market profits will be long gone! I need a formula that can go into production immediately. As long as the flavor isn’t bad, it’ll do," Lin Yaoyang said, suppressing the urge to lash out again.

The R&D department supervisors looked at each other for a moment.

"What are you hesitating for?"

"Alright! Formula No. 8 is the best one we have so far."

"Give me a sample. I’ll try it," Lin Yaoyang ordered directly.

A few minutes later, the No. 8 vanilla ice cream was taken from the sample freezer and presented to Lin Yaoyang. He turned to his assistant and the head of the production department and instructed, "Each of you get a scoop and try it."

He was the first to act, scooping up a ball of ice cream and tasting it carefully. The moment it entered his mouth, a rich vanilla flavor exploded, immediately followed by a complex, fragrant aroma. It was more aromatic than Haagen-Dazs’s vanilla ice cream, and its complex layers were even more distinct.

The others also thought this version was excellent.

"Vice General Manager Lin, I think this version is great. We can launch it."

"It has the flavor of a top-tier vanilla ice cream."

Lin Yaoyang nodded. "Use this formula. Start production. The R&D department can continue to make improvements."

"Okay."

As Yuebao Ice Cream took the lead by releasing its new product, it was as if the entire market had heard a starting gun. One after another, companies began releasing new vanilla ice creams.

This caused Hailufeng Company’s inventory of nearly eighty tons of Vanilla Strawberry Powder to be snapped up by major ice cream manufacturers in just one week.

Even Haagen-Dazs was forced to follow suit.

Especially against the backdrop of frequent extreme weather in recent years, the production of natural Vanilla Pods in Madagascar and Java had fluctuated dramatically, which further increased market demand for Hailufeng Company’s Vanilla Strawberry Powder.

「At the same time.」

While the Vanilla Strawberry Powder was being snapped up, the Hailufeng Specialty Store app began its second phase of closed beta testing, this time expanding the number of testers to around 30,000.

Although it was a closed beta, people could actually buy things. The prices for all products were slightly cheaper than on other shopping apps, by about 1-3%, because as Hailufeng Company’s own platform, the combined service fees and other charges amounted to only about 1% of the product’s selling price.

And don’t think 1% is a small amount.

Take the strawberries Hailufeng Company sells online, for example. Monthly online sales are around 3.5 million yuan, and one percent of that is 35,000 yuan.

And strawberries are just one of Hailufeng Company’s more inconspicuous products. The core of their business is White Truffle, Morchella, eel fry, and specialty feeds. Although online sales only account for about 20-30% of the total for these products, their monthly online revenue still reaches as high as 200 to 300 million yuan.

With sales of two to three hundred million, every one percent is two to three million yuan.

The e-commerce division calculated that the combined service fee costs from various online shopping platforms were about 3.76%, which meant a monthly expenditure of 7 to 10 million yuan on technical service fees.

As Hailufeng Company’s product categories continued to expand, this sales volume would only grow. The 7 to 10 million yuan in monthly fees this year could become tens of millions next year, and potentially break one hundred million the year after that.

Wouldn’t it be better to use that money to operate their own shopping app? Why just hand over money to other platforms?

Moreover, the e-commerce division was sick of the various traffic-boosting services offered by the major shopping platforms. If you didn’t pay for traffic, you didn’t get much traffic, and they would even promote stores selling counterfeit Hailufeng Company products to the front page.

Despite repeatedly reporting them to the various shopping platforms and sending cease-and-desist letters to the counterfeit sellers, they still couldn’t suppress the problem. It was obvious the platforms were condoning these counterfeit shops, which made Zhang Xinyi, the head of the e-commerce division, increasingly furious.