Chapter 312 - 158: Tasting Session

Chapter 312: Chapter 158: Tasting Session

"Old Wang, what do you think?" Zhang Lili, the head of purchasing for Five Rams, put down her fork and looked at Master Wang, who was in charge of ice cream R&D.

Master Wang shook his head with a wry smile. "At their tasting station, all these pastries and drinks use vanilla paste, and in high concentrations. It’s obvious that the product Hailufeng Company is launching this time is something like vanilla paste."

"Vanilla paste?" Zhang Lili’s brow furrowed.

This was because her company didn’t use natural vanilla in any of its ice cream or frozen treat products. After all, their products were positioned in the low-to-mid price range, and using vanilla paste would be too extravagant. They had to use cheap vanillin flavoring to maintain their low prices.

Kudou Inoue, the purchasing manager for Meiji Ice Cream Company, however, looked thoughtfully at the tasting samples before him. He turned and quietly gave a few instructions to his assistant and translator.

「A moment later.」

His assistant returned with two employees from Hailufeng Company.

One of them was Watanabe Kenjiro, whom Jiang Miao had taken in before. The other was Wang Zhixue, one of the deputy managers of the sales department.

"Hello, Mr. Kudou. I’m Wang Zhixue, Deputy Sales Manager for Hailufeng Company. This is Watanabe Kenjiro, a translator from our international trade office."

Hearing the name Watanabe Kenjiro, a flash of surprise crossed Kudou Inoue’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed his curiosity. He extended a hand to shake Wang Zhixue’s. "Hello, Wang Sang. I am Kudou Inoue, purchasing manager for Meiji Ice Cream Company. I’d like to learn more about the vanilla product your company is about to launch."

"Of course. Let’s go to the private business room on the fourth floor to discuss this in detail." Wang Zhixue smiled and led the way.

Once inside the private room, Kudou Inoue looked curiously at the large metal box on the table, then raised his head and asked, "Is this your company’s vanilla product?"

Wang Zhixue nodded. He then pried open the lid, opened the sealed bag inside, and used a small spoon to scoop out a fingernail-sized amount of Vanilla Strawberry Powder.

Looking at the pale pink powder, Kudou Inoue had a strange expression on his face, though his nose caught the scent of highly concentrated vanilla. "It certainly smells like vanilla, and it’s very complex. But why is it in powder form? Shouldn’t it be a paste?"

"Because our company uses another natural raw material: strawberries." Wang Zhixue took out another sealed container. Inside were frozen Vanilla Strawberries.

"Strawberries? Wang Sang, are you saying this is made from strawberries?" Kudou Inoue’s eyes widened.

As Wang Zhixue opened the sealed container, an even stronger vanilla aroma filled the room. Fortunately, it was just a single berry, so the smell wasn’t too overpowering.

If this were in a greenhouse, the simultaneous ripening of a large number of Vanilla Strawberries in an enclosed space would cause the vanilla scent to become excessive, leading to an off-putting, foul smell.

Kudou Inoue leaned closer to the Vanilla Strawberry. Wafting the air with his hand, he caught a natural yet intense vanilla fragrance—a scent that could not be easily replicated by artificial flavorings.

"Is this a new variety? Was it created using genetic modification?"

Wang Zhixue shook his head. "No. Here is the genetic testing report. Our company’s raw material is not genetically modified strawberries."

Kudou Inoue only glanced at the report. It was full of technical jargon he didn’t quite understand, but he wasn’t too worried. Since they dared to bring it to market, they obviously weren’t afraid of other companies running their own genetic tests on the product.

"I have full confidence in your company’s products, of course."

Wang Zhixue poured the powder onto a small dish. As it spread out, the vanilla scent became even more pronounced. He then began his introduction.

"Currently, this product comes in a 5-kilogram package. Its concentration is equivalent to that of vanilla seeds and is about ten times the concentration of a typical high-strength vanilla paste."

"Ten times the concentration?" Kudou Inoue stared intently at the pale pink powder on the small dish. "What’s the price?"

Wang Zhixue smiled and quoted a price. "3,500 yuan per kilogram."

"3,500 yuan per kilogram? Based on the concentration, that’s equivalent to 350 yuan per kilogram of vanilla paste." Kudou Inoue fell into thought. From a cost-effectiveness standpoint, the price was 50% cheaper. And in terms of effect, he had just tried various pastries and drinks made with this strawberry powder. Even after he and his colleagues tasted them carefully multiple times, they still couldn’t detect any significant difference. This was enough to prove that the strawberry powder could successfully replace vanilla paste. ’And since it’s produced from strawberries,’ he mused, ’the production process must be far simpler than that for Vanilla Pods, making large-scale production highly probable.’

Therefore, after some consideration, Kudou Inoue took the opportunity to start haggling. "3,500 is too high. This strawberry powder of yours should be suitable for mass production, right?"

However, Wang Zhixue just smiled and shook his head. "Our company has no plans for mass production. Currently, we only produce about 100 tons of Vanilla Strawberry Powder per month. Therefore, the price of 3,500 yuan per kilogram is non-negotiable."

Hailufeng Company’s market research department had already conducted the relevant studies.

The current production process for vanilla paste was as follows: 1 kilogram of vanilla seeds produces 10 kilograms of vanilla paste, and 1 kilogram of vanilla seeds requires about 3.5 kilograms of Vanilla Pods.

The cheapest Vanilla Pods cost around 1,600 yuan per kilogram. This meant the cost for 1 kilogram of vanilla seeds was about 5,600 yuan. After adding processing fees, the cost came to 5,700 yuan per kilogram.

When the vanilla seeds are further processed into vanilla paste, the production cost is about 600 yuan per kilogram.

For vanilla pastes that sell for 700 to 800 yuan per kilogram, the gross profit is only a little over 100 yuan per kilogram.