I See through Everything

The office building at Nanhu Farm.

Li Wenna skillfully boiled water, retrieved tea leaves, and warmed the teacups.

Meanwhile, Lin Shuya and Lü Weibin, who were sitting to the side, discussed the production plan for the White Truffles.

"...All five of these soil types are necessary, and they’re all available locally. I’ve already marked their source locations. Purchase 500 cubic meters of each." Lin Shuya sent a soil distribution map of Shanmei City to Lü Weibin’s WeChat, telling him to coordinate with the purchasing department.

Lin Shuya continued, "Additionally, purchase pine needles and pinecones directly from the nearby villagers. Talk it over with the purchasing department and set a reasonable acquisition price. As for the pine shavings, don’t buy them from lumber mills. Instead, buy Masson’s pine branches directly from the villagers, but not the trunks. This will prevent them from secretly going up the mountain to chop down trees."

Lü Weibin nodded. "Researcher Lin, your considerations are very thorough. If we were to buy the trunks directly, some villagers would definitely take the risk and cut down trees."

"The branches work just as well anyway. This way, we can protect the forest and reduce our legal risks." Lin Shuya added, "When purchasing, remind the villagers not to cut too many branches. We need to ensure the trees can survive."

There were, indeed, certain legal risks involved.

Although Masson’s pine trees are resilient, they can’t withstand being stripped bare. Generally, as long as no more than 30% of the branches are harvested each year, it shouldn’t be a major issue. As long as the Masson’s pines don’t die, it won’t constitute illegal logging or destruction of the forest.

Besides, the raw materials we’re acquiring this time also include pine needles and pinecones. If they kill the trees, there won’t be any more pine needles or pinecones to gather.

"Researcher Lin, what’s the potential yield per mu for the White Truffles?"

Lin Shuya did a quick calculation. "We can fit four standard substrate bags per square meter. Factoring in walkways and the layout for other auxiliary pipes, one mu can hold 1,200 bags. Stacked five layers high, that’s 6,000 bags. Each bag can produce around 100 to 200 grams of White Truffle. Including indoor sterilization, ingredient mixing, inoculation, and growth, the entire cultivation cycle is about 105 days."

"In other words, the yield is 600 to 1,200 kilograms per mu? With a three-and-a-half-month cycle?" Lü Weibin’s eyes widened.

"That’s right." Lin Shuya nodded.

Lü Weibin quickly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Researcher Lin, do you have any idea what the current annual global production of White Truffles is?"

Lin Shuya frowned. "A few dozen tons, I suppose?"

Hearing this, Lü Weibin gave a wry smile. "The annual production is less than three tons. That’s the global total. Last year, the wild White Truffles harvested in China amounted to less than two tons."

Lin Shuya finally understood. Her technology was clearly a revolutionary breakthrough. At this yield, just two or three mu could match the entire world’s annual harvest.

If all one hundred and fifty mu of intelligent greenhouses were put into production, with three harvests a year, the annual output would reach 270 to 540 tons.

That level of production could completely crash the entire White Truffle market.

Snapping back to reality, Lin Shuya tossed the problem to Lü Weibin. "In that case, Manager Lü, how many mu of production do you think would be appropriate to control it at?"

Lü Weibin rubbed the stubble on his chin and fell into deep thought. After a moment, he said, "The domestic market can probably absorb about twenty tons. The international market can also handle about twenty tons. If our production exceeds that, we’ll most likely have to lower the price to move the product, but a promotional price drop is obviously not a wise move."

"What’s the basis for your judgment, Manager Lü?" Lin Shuya still didn’t quite grasp market dynamics or the relationship between production capacity and price.

"This is how I see it. First, the three major core production regions for White Truffles are currently: Europe’s Italian Peninsula and Balkan Peninsula; Asia’s Yun-Gui Plateau; and North America’s Rocky Mountains." Lü Weibin had clearly done his homework. He continued to elaborate:

"These regions share a common characteristic: they are all in the Northern Hemisphere. The harvesting season for White Truffles is from November to January each year. Considering that truffles have an optimal window for flavor, this means fresh truffles are only available in November, December, January, and February."

Hearing this, Lin Shuya understood. "In other words, we need to capture the market during the time when wild truffles can’t be harvested."

Lü Weibin nodded. "Exactly. That way, we’ll have an eight-month monopoly on the market. For the remaining four months, when wild truffles are available, we can appropriately reduce our production to maintain the market price."

In reality, the global consumer demand is definitely more than just three tons a year. It’s just that the annual yield of wild White Truffles is so low that even if people want to buy them, they might not be able to.

After comprehensive consideration, producing 40 to 50 tons of White Truffles annually would allow them to maintain the current market price.

Based on this demand, Lin Shuya instantly calculated the number of intelligent greenhouses required. "We’d need about 15 to 30 mu, which would produce around 27 to 108 tons per year."

"That should be more than enough."

In fact, 27 to 108 tons was already a massive production capacity.

If calculated based on the current lowest market price of 1,000 yuan per kilogram for fresh White Truffle, each ton would be worth one million yuan.

However, Lü Weibin had no intention of selling at a low price of 1,000 yuan per kilogram. After all, judging from the samples Lin Shuya had provided, each White Truffle produced in the intelligent greenhouses weighed around 100 to 200 grams. Moreover, their appearance and flavor were up to standard. Selling them for less than 3,000 yuan per kilogram would be an insult to the technology.

As for a higher price, that would be pushing it.

After all, the higher the price, the smaller the potential consumer base.