Chapter 163 Franchise Store and House
"It tastes really good, but with so many types of fish, which one should we use?"

Huang Xu looked at the servings of pickled fish in front of him and was a little hesitant to make a decision.

Just now, when Huang Xu heard Zhang Rui say in the company that he was ready, he brought his uncle to the hotel to check the results of his work over this period of time.

Both of them were very satisfied with the result, but now they are in a dilemma.

That's because Zhang Rui did a great job in completing the task assigned by Huang Xu. The sauerkraut fish made from these kinds of fish that are common in the Korean market all tasted good, which made him a little unsure of what to choose.

So Huang Xu turned his head and looked at Huang Wenfu next to him.

"Uncle, what do you think we should choose?"

“It’s really difficult!”

Huang Wenfu put down his bowl and chopsticks, looked at the smiling Zhang Rui and the frowning Huang Xu, and felt a little worried.

"If we talk about taste, the best is still this eel, whether it is freshness, texture or taste, it is the most suitable."

"But the price of eels is so high. If we make it into pickled fish, the cost will be too high."

"The next one is pollack. The cost is lower, but the taste is not as strong as that of eel."

"But now the pollacks here are mostly dried or frozen, not live ones."

"Besides, eels are a precious ingredient here. If we use eels, it will probably be more talked about."

"But the cost is really too high!"

“And this.”

Huang Xu seemed even more conflicted as he listened to Huang Wenfu's chatter.

After all, according to his plan, this sauerkraut fish franchise store is somewhat different from the previous spicy hot pot. Although both need to become an instant hit, the difficulty this time will be greater.

After all, this time's pickled fish does not have as much technology and hard work as the previous spicy hot pot, it basically relies on conventional seasoning.

Moreover, if there are too many things that increase the flavor, it will also affect the taste.

After all, this thing is said to be strong in taste, but in fact it mainly relies on the flavor added by fish soup, sauerkraut, and various seasonings. The main feature is sour, spicy, refreshing and full of freshness.

Although you can use various additives to make the fish soup taste more delicious, but that's the problem.

If too much technology is added to it, then after eating, you will feel dry mouth and want to drink water.

If Huang Xu just wanted to open an Internet celebrity store and reap a wave of franchisees, then that wouldn’t be a big problem.

After all, this kind of novelty can indeed attract a wave of customers through publicity.
However, this kind of thing only attracts customers because of its novelty. After the novelty wears off, it is still unknown whether they can come back again.

And don’t forget that in this day and age, pickled fish is not some mysterious dish and many people can make it.

Unlike the previous spicy hot pot, the taste of the soup base and the secret sesame sauce are the keys to success.

But this time, the pickled fish does not have such a threshold. Even if seasonings are used to increase the flavor, others can use it as well.

In addition, there is already the precedent of Malatang. If they imitate Malatang again, then when it comes out, there will definitely be many people following suit.

If they don't do it well, their marketing expenses may end up wasting money on others.

So why can you get franchisees to pay money to join your store?

How can you make outside customers like your own brand of store?

When Huang Xu thought about this, he felt a headache.

After all, this is no longer a question of choosing the type of fish. It is related to future development and the upper limit of franchise stores.

Huang Xu, who had a headache, stood up, walked to the window and opened a crack.

Feeling the cold air outdoors, Huang Xu felt that his brain, which had been a little dizzy just now, seemed to be much clearer.

But I still haven't thought of a way to solve the problem at hand.

But it was at this moment that Huang Xu suddenly thought of the cost issue his uncle had just mentioned, and his mind began to work rapidly.

After thinking for two minutes, Huang Xu said to the two people who were still struggling:
“Let’s use pollack.”

"Why?"

When the two heard what Huang Xu said, they were confused for a moment. Why did Huang Xu choose pollack?

It's taste is obviously mediocre, and there are obviously better options, so why would you choose it?

Looking at the two people's puzzled expressions, Huang Xu did not keep them in suspense, but began his explanation.

"Uncle, Brother Rui, do you remember what I said before about the elements of a chain restaurant?"

However, although he was asking questions, he did not wait for the two to answer, and then began to talk to himself.

“That is, there must be a broad target customer base.”

Huang Xu then began to explain the reason why he chose pollack, which was because it was cheap.

Yes, the price is cheap.

Although Pollack is very famous in Korea and can even be said to be the national fish of Korea, that is also due to some special reasons.

In fact, Pollack is just the Korean name. Its correct name should be cod, yellowline haddock.

As for the origin of the name "Polka Dot Pollack", it was actually during the Joseon Dynasty that the Korean Peninsula suffered from natural disasters for three consecutive years, resulting in a significant reduction in crop yields and many farmers suffered a complete loss of harvest.

When many people were facing famine, a fisherman named Park Myeong-tae took everyone out to sea to fish. In the end, he survived the famine by relying on a full warehouse of yellowtail haddock.

Later generations called this life-saving fish "Pollard Pollack", which is homophonic to "Min Tai Fish", implying peace and prosperity for the country and the people.

Therefore, yellowtail pollock, also known as pollack, occupies a very high position in Korean life.

In addition to these historical reasons, this fish is also produced in large quantities and is relatively cheap.

In Korea, where material resources are relatively scarce, how could anyone not like this kind of fish that is so filling and tastes so good?
Huang Xu chose Pollack fish because of its low price.

At the same time, there is another thing, that is, the current production of pollack in South Korea is actually not very high. In fact, relying solely on their own catch is not enough for their consumption.

In the past, or in the 1950s and 1960s, pollack was just an unknown marine fish.

The main fishing country was South Korea, and their annual fishing capacity reached 27 tons at that time.

The remaining countries, only Japan and Russia, will catch some, but these two countries do not have the habit of eating pollack.

So there is not a lot of enthusiasm.

But after 1970, things changed. Not only Japan and Russia, but even the United States began to pay attention to the fishing of pollack.

In addition, as all countries increased their offshore fishing, the annual catch of pollack reached a staggering 1971 million tons in 370.

In the two years from 1988 to 1989, the production of pollack reached its peak, with the output exceeding 600 million tons for two consecutive years.

Even in the 90s, the average annual catch was between 400 and 600 million tons.

But it is precisely because of this huge output that more countries have participated in the business of catching pollack.

As a result, the resources of pollack have dropped sharply within a few years and are even facing depletion.

Of course, the reason for this situation is not only this, there is another reason, that is, the meat of fish such as pollack is actually not very valuable. The really valuable thing is the roe in its belly. The caviar made from it is called "Mentaiko".

This resulted in many people at the time directly killing the pollack caught on ocean-going fishing boats and leaving only the roe.

It is precisely because of this that wild pollack resources are depleting more rapidly.

Later, in order to protect the pollack resources and ensure the long-term development of the pollack industry, countries began to restrict fishing after consultation.

Of course, the decline in South Korea's pollack production is actually due to global warming and rising sea temperatures, and the number of pollacks in their original fishing grounds continues to decline.

As a result, South Korea, a major pollack fishing country, gradually reduced the number of pollacks it caught. According to Huang Xu's memory, after a few years, South Korea even stopped fishing for pollacks.

However, South Korea has a huge demand for pollack, so now South Korea's pollack is basically imported. However, the reason why Huang Xu chose it is because it is imported.

Although China is not a strong country in the fishing of pollack, the annual fishing quota is only 20,000 to 40,000 tons.

But China’s processing capabilities are strong.

As the country with the largest catch of pollack in the world, Russia has extremely strong deep-sea fishing capabilities, but its domestic light industry for processing these fish is not very strong.

Therefore, most of the pollacks caught in Russia are entrusted to China for processing.

Now 80% of the pollacks on the Korean market actually come from the Yanbian region of China.

Huang Xu wanted to use this to promote Pollock and Pickled Fish, and even wanted to occupy the Korean market with it.

Because China has a large-scale pollack processing factory, Huang Xu can customize the required fish fillets directly in the factory.

The sauerkraut for sauerkraut fish can actually be customized directly in the factory and made into semi-finished products and sent to Korea.

When the restaurant opens, you just need to open the cooking bag, heat it up, stir the oil and it can be served directly.

Although the taste is not the best, this kind of factory directly producing semi-finished dishes can minimize costs.

Huang Xu wanted to directly open up the Seoul market, or the entire Korean market, by offering low prices.

Although its taste is not the best, what if a sauerkraut fish set meal only costs a few thousand won, or even only four or five thousand won?
In Korea, you can't eat much with a normal 4,000 to 5,000 won. You can even say that apart from kimchi and rice, you can hardly see any meat.

But if you only need a few thousand won per person to enjoy a sauerkraut fish meal for two people, either choice is a suitable option.

And don’t forget, you can also add instant noodles to this sauerkraut fish, which is more suitable for the Korean eating habit of staple food plus staple food.

By the time Huang Xu finished speaking, Huang Wenfu and Zhang Rui were already stunned.

They never thought that they could play like this.

It is indeed as Huang Xu said, if all are made into prefabricated semi-finished products, although the taste is not as good as fresh ones, the texture is not very good either.

But the price is so cheap.

In fact, Huang Xu got this idea because he remembered that he had planned to invest but failed, which he learned from Snow King.

While many milk tea shops were raising their prices, Snow King was the only one that insisted on keeping its prices low.

It also attracted more customers by virtue of its low prices.

After all, who can resist a two-dollar ice cream cone and a four-dollar lemonade?

Huang Xu was thinking of making the pickled fish into a product with a lower price.

After all, the price of pollack is actually not expensive, and the cost of sauerkraut is also very low. The cost of each serving may be reduced to less than ten yuan.

Even if the products are shipped to South Korea, after paying the customs duties and adding the restaurant's operating costs, as long as sales can be guaranteed, the price can be extremely low.

Would you refuse pickled fish for less than 5,000 won?
You know, although South Korea is a developed country, it does not mean that there are no poor people here.

According to Huang Xu's understanding of this place, the largest proportion of the population in South Korea is still made up of "poor people" with relatively low incomes.

In fact, their daily life depends on various pickles mixed with rice.

Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many TV dramas and movies showing poor Korean people eating delicious food. Basically, they are all a group of people eating army pot or instant noodles.

Huang Xu was thinking that if he could allow them to have a proper meal of pickled fish at a price slightly more than instant noodles, would these people refuse?

Although this pickled fish is a pre-made semi-finished product, it is a frozen product.

But will these people refuse because of this?
Huang Wenfu looked at Huang Xu with a face full of satisfaction and couldn't help but praise him.

"Sure, Xiaoxu, if we can really achieve this price, then the market will definitely be huge."

"It's just like what uncle said. If we can really achieve the price you mentioned, I believe there will be a good market even in China."

At this moment, Zhang Rui was very impressed by Huang Xu's suggestion.

He was still struggling at the beginning, wondering which kind of fish to choose.

We always consider the taste and rarely consider market issues.

Even considering the high price of eel, I have never considered using the cheapest pollack as the main ingredient.

I never thought that Huang Xu would eventually adopt a low-price strategy.

Huang Xu looked at the two people in front of him and seemed quite proud.

After all, he didn't rely on his memory to cheat this time. He had no memory of the development of delicacies like sauerkraut fish in Korea. It was all his imagination that made it up.

Although Huang Xu is still unsure whether the modified sauerkraut fish franchise store can open up the market in South Korea and recreate the miracle of the last spicy hot pot franchise store.

But Huang Xu believes that with the low-price strategy, the results this time should not be too bad.

At least it can occupy a certain market.

Seeing that the sauerkraut fish franchise store matter had been finalized, Huang Xu did not delay any further and directly sent Zhang Rui back to China.

He asked him to find his cousin Huang Chao and Song Yiming, who had been working in the supply chain for many years, and asked the three of them to start looking for a suitable processing plant in the country together.

In addition to finding pollack processing factories and asking them to customize suitable fish fillets, you also need to find sauerkraut processing factories and factories that can stir-fry sauerkraut seasoning.

It would be best if the seasoning for the sauerkraut fish is already prepared. You just need to add water to heat it, then blanch the fish fillets, stir-fry them and serve it on the table.

However, if you want to realize Huang Xu's idea and maintain a certain taste, things are not that simple.

It can even be said to be very troublesome.

That's why Huang Xu was so anxious to send Zhang Rui back, and also asked Huang Chao, Song Yiming and the other two to work on this matter together.

Huang Xu's uncle Huang Wenfu was sent by Huang Xu to prepare for the early stages of the sauerkraut fish franchise stores, as well as the finishing work for the second batch of Malatang franchise stores.

As for Huang Xu himself, he started to get busy with the affairs of his agency and software company.

The agency is related to the subsequent affiliation of Tara and other members, as well as subsequent fan economic issues.

The software company was an attempt by Huang Xu.

He planned to give an Internet company a try to see if he could build a well-known Internet company based on an idea and the vast female market.

After all, whether it is the ability to attract money or the speed of wealth growth, Internet companies cannot be compared with the real economy.

Therefore, Huang Xu was very busy in the next few days.

I don’t even have much time to spend with Sunny, let alone Kim Jong Kook’s invitation.

Two days ago, Kim Jong Kook called him and wanted to invite him to dinner and also introduced him to his friends.

But Huang Xu decisively refused, or rather postponed the matter.

After all, for him, time is money now. If the sauerkraut fish franchise store can be successful sooner, then things will start making money one day earlier.

Moreover, the economic company and software company will be his next most important career.

Compared with these plans, his barbecue restaurant with Kim Jong Kook and Haha is basically incomparable.

In short, his time these days was very busy and fulfilling.

Just when he thought he would be busy for the rest of the time until the work was completed.

He was busy all day and when he returned home, he saw Sunny, whom he hadn't seen for two or three days, appearing in his house.

Before he could say anything to Sunny, he was pulled out of the house by Sunny.

"Huang Xu, the house has been confirmed, do you want to come and take a look?"

(End of this chapter)