Chapter 205 - 122: Impact
This was similar to Chinese cuisine in East Japan or the so-called "Chinese food" in Europe and America. Often, modifications were necessary to suit local tastes.
Of course, this wasn’t to say that Lingnan locals couldn’t handle spicy food. Rather, among the local population, those who could handle Sichuan, Hunan, or Jiangxi-style spiciness were a minority.
If one wasn’t concerned about customer traffic, they could certainly make an authentic Sichuan-style boiled fish. But if customer traffic was the goal, the spice level definitely had to be compromised.
Some of the relevant restaurants in Shanmei’s various towns were forced to make changes.
But not everyone had the determination to change.
Nor was everyone willing to play by the rules.
Soon, rumors began to spread that Jianghai Restaurant was using Egyptian Catfish that were raised next to toilets and fed with feces.
However, the Hailufeng Company had anticipated this reaction. The free tours of their farms and factories from the very beginning were meant to counter exactly these kinds of rumors.
Moreover, the people spreading these rumors had clearly underestimated the local authorities’ resolve, as well as the amount of attention the Hailufeng Company was receiving.
The rumors had been online for less than a day.
The local authorities had already traced their IP addresses and served them the full treatment: account suspension, a "friendly visit" from the community, a pair of silver bracelets, and an invitation for tea.
After all, this industry involved several thousand farming households in Shanmei, with potentially more to join in the future. It was a multi-billion-yuan industry and was also tied to the careers of many officials.
Spreading such rumors... they really had a death wish.
That very evening, Shanmei TV Station reported on the incident.
The fish farmers also came forward one after another to speak out.
Too many people’s interests were at stake. What was the loss of a few restaurants and grass carp farms in comparison?
Besides, it wasn’t as if the Hailufeng Company forbade others from purchasing Egyptian Catfish. Coupled with the expanding issuance of designated farming licenses, rapidly converting those grass carp farms into Egyptian Catfish farms didn’t result in significant financial losses for many.
After all, the Hailufeng Company’s Egyptian Catfish were currently only sold on a small scale in the Eastern Guangdong Region, so the impact wasn’t huge yet. There weren’t many local grass carp farmers to begin with, as local dietary habits leaned toward saltwater fish.
But this was only temporary. In the future, with the mass-market release of cheap fish balls and fish tofu from the Hailufeng Company and the Guotai Company, fish ball factories in other regions were probably going to be in for some bad luck.
But there was nothing to be done.
Market competition is just that ruthless.
If a product’s cost can’t be effectively lowered, or if it can’t compete through differentiation against cheaper alternatives, then the higher-cost product will naturally be eliminated by the market.
This is also why many companies nowadays are increasingly fond of "storytelling."
They want to use storytelling to give their products a higher "value," thereby "segmenting" them from other similar, cheaper products and ultimately achieving competitive differentiation.
A classic example is vitamin products.
Is there any fundamental difference in the Vitamin C between a bottle that costs a few bucks and a bottle of multivitamin tablets hyped to high heaven that costs over a hundred?
No.
So why the huge price difference? The reason is that some people are good at storytelling, while others stick to a conservative, old-school product philosophy.
The Hailufeng Company chose to do both.
They would master storytelling while also maintaining the best possible cost-performance ratio for their products.
「As time went on.」
The eight Jianghai Restaurants had been open for over a week.
The locals had gradually come to accept the presence of Egyptian Catfish on their dining tables.
It wasn’t just the boiled fish, pickled vegetable fish, and grilled fish restaurants that were purchasing premium-grade Egyptian Catfish. Even small, workshop-style Japanese restaurants discovered that Hailufeng’s Egyptian Catfish could be a perfect substitute for eel.
Of course, there was still a difference in flavor between Egyptian Catfish and eel, but unless you were a seasoned gourmand, you generally wouldn’t be able to tell, especially when the premium-grade Egyptian Catfish was used.
Similarly, some fish stalls in the local wet markets began to try wholesaling premium-grade Egyptian Catfish from the Hailufeng Company to sell to the public.
Although some people still had a negative perception of Egyptian Catfish, there were others willing to give it a try.
Furthermore, to prevent counterfeit products from ruining their reputation, the farm introduced a special system for giving the fish an "ID card."
A special tag with a QR code was attached to the Egyptian Catfish’s tail. Scanning the QR code revealed the fish’s code number, weight, processing date, and more.
Moreover, different colored tags were used to distinguish between the high-protein, firm-and-crisp, and fresh-and-sweet varieties.
These tags were the Egyptian Catfish’s ID cards.
Fortunately, the farm had made these preparations in advance.
After seeing how popular the Egyptian Catfish had become, quite a few local catfish farmers did get some clever ideas, planning to secretly pass off their own fish as the Hailufeng Company’s Egyptian Catfish.
However, when they saw the tags hanging from the tails of the Hailufeng Company’s Egyptian Catfish, their clever ideas faded considerably.
What’s more, the Hailufeng Company’s salespeople had already reminded the purchasing fish stall owners and restaurant owners that Hailufeng Company products were only sold through their one online store or for direct pickup at Jianghai Restaurant. There were no other sales channels.
If they found any counterfeits, they were asked to report them to the Hailufeng Company.
Any restaurant or fish stall owner with a bit of sense would know that purchasing inferior Egyptian Catfish would only lead to their own ruin.
After all, if a customer ate it once and found a problem, they would most likely never come back.
Even if they made a little extra money on one fish, without repeat customers, their shops and stalls would sooner or later go out of business.
This wasn’t like selling luxury goods such as antiques, jewelry, or designer bags. With those high-priced items, you could get away with duping one customer at a time, since the profit from a single sale could start in the tens of thousands.
Meanwhile, the Hailufeng Company’s market research department had already developed numerous corresponding strategies specifically to protect the company’s interests.
Just as the sales of Egyptian Catfish and its derivative products were becoming increasingly accepted by the market and consumers, the company received a special partnership proposal.