Witty Wife, Better Life-Chapter 840 - 830 Moving Forward Side by Side

In the free discussion phase, Sun Dawei and Zhao Dabao, being the direct managers of fresh produce, were heartbroken to see the vegetables they had worked so hard to grow rotting abroad. Therefore, they proposed at the meeting to shift back to the domestic market.

However, Li Tuo had a different opinion. "It hasn’t been easy for us to get to this step, and I believe everyone still remembers the initial hardships. The success of our bagged snacks is evident to all, and I am confident that as long as we stay the course, we will eventually triumph in the fresh produce sector as well." Li Tuo didn’t want to give up the international market that had been so difficult to penetrate.

Both sides held firm to their views and a heated debate ensued. In the end, no one could persuade the other, and the decision-making power was passed on to the boss.

Shen Yunfang saw everyone looking towards her and smiled, "There’s no need to be so nervous; we haven’t reached a dead end yet."

"I’ve heard what both sides have said, and I think there’s merit in all your points."

Everyone looked at her, puzzled. If both sides had merit, whose advice should she take in the end?

"I think this way: since we haven’t opened up the situation for fresh produce in international markets yet, let’s continue to make breakthroughs in the domestic market. The farms that wage price wars against us might manage it in the beginning, but if they continue at these prices in the long run, they won’t need anyone else to step in; they will surely go bankrupt."

Thinking about the boss’s words, everyone found them logical and nodded in agreement. It was indeed true. Those almost at-cost wholesale prices could be used to undercut competitors once or twice, but couldn’t be sustained in the long term. No one had that kind of financial backing—not to the point of essentially paying workers out of their own pocket for nothing. So as long as they could persevere, there would still be a market.

"Boss, shall we then give up on the international market?" Li Tuo asked, somewhat unwillingly. He had run around so much to set up the exports, not to mention how many red envelopes he’d handed out. If they gave up now, it would be very disappointing.

"Of course not. We’ve invested so much in this venture; how could we give up before we’ve made a profit? I’m quite a thrifty boss," Shen Yunfang said with a mysterious smile.

"So, what are you suggesting?" asked Li Tuo, somewhat puzzled.

"Actually, developing the domestic market doesn’t conflict with continuing our efforts in the international market at all. We can certainly do both."

Everyone thought about Shen Yunfang’s words and had an epiphany; they had fallen into the fallacy of thinking that they had to choose one market over the other—why not advance on both fronts simultaneously?

"Of course, I won’t discuss the domestic market right now because our salespeople are already experienced in it. Although our performance hasn’t been great over the past two years, I expect we’ll see a new improvement starting this year. However, if we want to continue in the international market, we can’t keep doing things the old way. We must come up with new ideas to make foreigners recognize our country and thereby approve of our products," Shen Yunfang proposed a new approach.

Those below started a new round of discussion based on her words.

Shen Yunfang didn’t say anything more, just listened to the various ideas that sprouted wildly from everyone. Her left hand tapped on the office desk rhythmically.

When the discussion came to a lull, and everyone unanimously turned their attention to the boss, who had been silent throughout.

Shen Yunfang sat up straight and looked at her subordinates seriously. "I agree with what most of you have said. The main reason our vegetables and meat don’t attract attention abroad is the lack of brand recognition. People don’t know the Feiyang brand, aren’t familiar with Feiyang Farm, and even lesser so, they have a minimal understanding of ZG. That’s why they are reluctant or unable to accept ’Made in ZG’ products. If we want Feiyang to gain a foothold internationally, we need to boost our brand recognition and make the world aware of Feiyang’s existence," Shen Yunfang said with conviction.

"But advertising is even more expensive internationally than domestically, isn’t it? The money we make from selling crops won’t even cover the advertising costs. In my opinion, we should just sell cheaper. We’ll earn less, but there are always foreigners looking for a bargain."

Shen Yunfang didn’t quite accept this suggestion, shaking her head as she was about to speak when Li Tuo intervened: "That’s not feasible. If we lower the price now, we’ll only attract a low-income demographic, and the position of Feiyang in customers’ minds will be set. It would be even more difficult to change that perception later."

Originally, Shen Yunfang and Li Tuo had decided to go for a mid-to-high-end market strategy. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

"We can’t even sell our products, so why bother about positioning?" murmured someone, but when they saw the boss nodding in agreement, they swallowed their rebuttal. Better to follow the boss’s lead.

Seeing that everyone had fallen silent, Shen Yunfang continued with the topic at hand: "There are many ways to advertise, and shooting commercials is certainly the most convenient, but I believe that commercials are not yet suitable for Feiyang."

"It seems the boss has something in mind," Li Tuo noticed Shen Yunfang’s certainty and realized the boss must have a strategy already planned.

"Indeed, after listening to your discussion, I have a concept, although it’s not yet fully formed," Shen Yunfang admitted openly and shared her long-considered idea.

Her idea was actually simple: to imitate a reality show from the future, selecting a house near the foot of a mountain at Feiyang Farm, choosing a host with good culinary skills, and inviting a few moderately famous actors or singers from overseas to record an episode exploring the idyllic scenery and cuisine. They would also present the viewers with a vision of "self-reliance, self-sufficiency, warmth towards guests, and a perfect ecological lifestyle."

The people around her were stunned, "Sis-in-law, Are you sure this will work? Inviting foreigners over... how will we communicate? They speak a foreign language, and we won’t understand them."

Shen Yunfang admitted, "That’s indeed a problem, and we need to think of a solution."

"Moreover, the house at the foot of our mountain, although it’s much better than the average rural house, is still just a bungalow—a farmer’s yard. Isn’t it a bit improper to host foreign guests there?" This person feared that after watching the program, foreigners would have an even lower opinion of Feiyang.

"No, that’s exactly the effect I want. We’ll pick one of the courtyard houses by the fields, surrounded on three sides by cornfields, rice paddies, and watermelon plots, facing the mountains full of dazzling honeysuckle. To you, this scenery might seem ordinary because you see it every day. But to those who spend their days in skyscrapers, it’s an exceptionally beautiful rural landscape," Shen Yunfang was confident in this, as in her previous life, she had been an old lady who pursued nature.

After Shen Yunfang finished presenting her concept, few of those present could fully comprehend it. But fortunately, they all knew their place and, even without fully agreeing, they didn’t voice any objections—the farm was the boss’s, and whatever the boss felt was right would be done.

The meeting went on from morning to afternoon and didn’t end until past three o’clock. Finally, it was decided to follow the boss’s idea: find a farmhouse, invite a few celebrities over, shoot a reality show, and spread Feiyang’s name across the world.