24. Negotiation
“Hello.”
“Yes. Welcome.”
A slightly portly man with a bit of a belly offered us seats. He looked to be in his mid-thirties.
“Well…… First, thank you for taking the time to come here. However, even though you have come, there is nothing we can do on our end.”
Hardly any time had passed since we sat down and exchanged a few words before the man showed signs of distress.
How should I describe this man?
Hmm. A typical stickler for the rules? He was that type of person.
He wasn’t a bad person, but he lacked flexibility and had clear standards.
Thanks to Chief Researcher Hong Seong-u’s introduction, the initial atmosphere had been very good. But when we spoke of not paying the Holstein purchase price with milk, he only talked about regulations and showed visible discomfort.
“Isn’t the powdered milk business more urgent than milk?”
“I know that too, but there are principles. I saw what you said about the powdered milk business, but honestly, I have trouble believing that the powdered milk business will be properly implemented as things stand.”
The official continued.
“I looked into it as well. It was a request from Senior Hong, after all. But I heard it usually takes about eight times that amount of milk to make powdered milk. Is that correct?”
“…Yes.”
Choe Hui answered in my stead.
The official certainly didn’t have bad intentions. He was simply the type to strictly adhere to principles, and we just hadn’t presented an alternative.
“Furthermore, powdered milk has never been properly produced in Korea before. I want to help you too, but I have no justification for it. Otherwise, I might be able to adjust the price somewhat if you pay in advance.”
Looking at Choe Hui’s dejected face, I thought that while he had seemed like a jack-of-all-trades, today he felt surprisingly human.
Normally, he would accomplish whatever he was told smoothly and efficiently, but in matters like this, his authority was limited and his perspective was still narrow.
I looked at the official and spoke.
“I understand that Gyeonggi Dairy is currently supporting milk meals on a trial basis at some national schools in Seoul.”
“Yes. What of it?”
Curiosity appeared on the face of the official, who had been wearing an apologetic expression the whole time.
“We are focusing our efforts on powdered milk production, but not all raw milk is going toward powdered milk manufacturing. Naturally, we will also produce fluid milk. It is just that we are still insufficient as a business to sell it, which is why we were trying to avoid the method of paying the price with milk.”
We could have sold it to Nonghyup or Gyeonggi Dairy as raw milk, but that wasn’t the picture I wanted.
I could also see Choe Hui’s face, wondering what I was getting at.
“The number of national schools that Gyeonggi Dairy supports free of charge is six. And government subsidies account for 80 percent of that free support. The government subsidy rate is the same, 80 percent. We, too, will provide free support.”
“Hmm… You’ll provide free support… So you’re saying you’ll offset the cow purchase price against that. Why is it that you can’t sell it, but you can support it? If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to just sell it only in the vicinity?”
“We still lack the distribution network for sales. We have no plans to establish one in the near future. But when we have ranches and factories in Gyeonggi Province, supporting a limited number of schools is perfectly possible.”
It was similar to distribution, but slightly different.
Because it was simply a matter of sending the produced milk to a set number of schools within a certain range.
Since it wasn’t a sale, we only needed to send exactly as much as the number of students, so there was none of the inventory risk that came with sales.
Above all, this wasn’t something where I took a loss entirely.
Rather, the gains were far greater.
“How many schools are you thinking of supporting?”
That’s right.
That was the question that mattered now.
“Twenty. We will support free meals at twenty national schools.”
The official couldn’t hide his surprise.
This man likely didn’t have all the decision-making authority, but this would help his career as well, and since I had presented a far more reasonable alternative to this stickler for the rules, he would move things along for me.
“The selection of schools for the milk meal support will be left entirely to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Office of Education, or the relevant authorities. In exchange, I will select exactly one school.”
*
“Chief. Why did you do that?”
From the very beginning, Choe Hui had still called me Chief. As I was about to start the Sibal, Choe Hui spoke to me.
“What do you mean?”
“The free meal program.”
“Are you starting to resemble Director Park too, Choe Hui?”
When I said this with a slight smile, Choe Hui’s eyes narrowed.
“It’s something that helps us. No, rather, we’ve seized an opportunity.”
“The free meal program?”
“Yes.”
“How so?”
His expression said he still couldn’t understand.
“Choe Hui. What do you think is the difference between the instant noodle business and the milk or powdered milk business?”
When Choe Hui couldn’t answer, I continued.
“It’s whether we captured the market first, or whether we are latecomers.”
Instant noodles are clearly the market leader in Korea.
What we do becomes the standard, the brand, and the history of instant noodles.
Of course, countless efforts, development, and improvements must be made along the way, but that brand cannot be ignored. For a latecomer to catch up, they must put in far more advertising costs and effort into raising awareness than us.
But in milk, there is already Gyeonggi Dairy, a company boasting history and tradition.
As time passes, this creates an ever-greater gap.
The value of the brand pulls further apart as time goes on.
Of course, we will be the ones to start the powdered milk business. But even if powdered milk successfully establishes itself later, in the milk industry as a whole we are still latecomers. That is an unchanging fact. Free school meals are good in intention, but they are also a kind of advertisement.
The advertising effect may not be great now, but there will definitely come a time when we see results. We can’t catch Gyeonggi Dairy all at once, but it will be excellent marketing that gradually narrows the gap.
Milk will be produced anyway, and until powdered milk production is properly underway, there will inevitably be surplus.
“Advertising…… I don’t quite understand, but very well.”
Choe Hui returned to his expressionless face and nodded slightly.
“Yes. We’ll do a good deed with the surplus milk, and trade for the dairy cows on deferred payment. However, make sure to include a contract clause stating that if the government reduces or discontinues the government subsidy, the contract terms will change.”
Right now the government is enthusiastically supporting it, but the subsidy support ends in ’64, and Gyeonggi Dairy’s free school meal program also ends then.
Thinking of the children, I want to provide unconditional free support, but that ultimately becomes a short-term endeavor that ends when my funds run dry. When government assistance ends, we must repay the amount in a lump sum then. It will have sufficient advertising effect, and it may be possible to request a discount on the repayment amount through negotiations with the government.
“But why did you say you would select one of the schools, Chief?”
Only then did Choe Hui ask about that part.
“Isn’t it obvious? Of course we have to support our younger sister’s school.”
It was almost surprising that he had even asked.
Choe Hui was certainly a bit dull in this regard. Park Minseok would have known without me saying a word.
“The official said he would contact us within a few days, so in the meantime, look into where to select the site and let me know the candidate areas.”
“Understood.”
Choe Hui still had much to learn.
It was unexpected. Park Minseok seemed rather clumsy, but when actually put to work, there was nothing to teach him. Choe Hui did what he was told smoothly, but once blocked, he floundered. Perhaps it was because the environments they had grown up in or their personalities were different.
‘Still, that gaze and passion are the real deal.’
-Vroom
Smiling so that Choe Hui wouldn’t notice, I started the Sibal.
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