Volume 1: Reborn in the 1980s, selling lunch boxes with my mother Chapter 122: Prepare the bacon pot
After winter, Sister Fang’s lunch box business is not as good as in summer.
When the weather gets cold, dry food is not easy to go bad. Many people who travel by car are accustomed to bringing their own dry food to save money.
People living nearby are also reluctant to go out to buy boxed lunches. During this season, every household starts to pickle bacon and salted fish, cook a pot of rice, steam a plate of salted duck or salted fish, and then take the freshly pickled bacon and stew some tofu or something. Isn’t it more comfortable to eat the hot food in a small pot at home than eating a boxed lunch?
The hotel's turnover has dropped from one or two thousand yuan a day to four or five hundred yuan now. Every night when Hu Qiongfang counted the accounts, she couldn't help but sigh.
I'm used to making so much money every day, and my business suddenly plummets. How can I not be upset?
My aunt angrily cursed, "It's all those people's fault! They saw that our lunch box business was doing well, so they copied ours and sold them at a lower price than ours. I think those who rented cars all went there to eat."
There is no way, this is how business is done. Once an industry becomes popular, countless people will follow suit.
What's more, selling boxed lunches is not a technical job. The reason why Fang Jie's boxed lunches became popular all of a sudden is mainly because of Jiang Tian's plug-in. The variety of boxed lunches, the layout and furnishings in the store, and the hygiene are all better than those of the previous roadside stalls.
It is right between roadside stalls and small restaurants, providing a third option for passing travelers.
The hygiene conditions and taste are better than the boxed lunches at roadside stalls, and the price is cheaper than ordering food in a restaurant. Travelers who have some money in their pockets and are willing to spend it on themselves, of course, like to eat at Hu Qiongfang's restaurant.
As business was good, other small restaurants nearby that were not making any money simply changed their styles and made their food similar to Hu Qiongfang's, while setting their prices a little cheaper. Even if a lunch box was only five cents cheaper, people were still willing to go there.
The lunch boxes are all the same, so it’s fine as long as you can eat enough. If you save five cents, you can buy some fruit candies for your kids.
Recently the whole family has been worrying about what to do.
Hu Qiongfang also thought about whether she should follow those companies and lower the prices. At most, she would make less money, but by selling more products at a lower profit margin, she could win back the customers first.
Jiang Tian, however, opposed the price reduction.
Once they lower their prices, those other companies will definitely follow suit. After lowering their prices over and over again, they will definitely be the ones who get ruined in the end.
In the catering industry, you really get what you pay for. Especially in this era, there are no so-called "Internet celebrity restaurants" that specifically allow customers to check in. In such restaurants, it is not important whether the food is delicious or not. The most important thing is that the environment has a sense of atmosphere and the dishes are exquisitely presented.
Nowadays, when people go to a restaurant, they eat for the taste.
The price of boxed lunches has dropped. In order to reduce costs, we must purchase cheaper ingredients. When cooking, we dare not add too much oil and water. Then, can the food be delicious?
If they destroy their biggest selling point - "delicious food" in order to attract customers, they would be digging their own grave.
However, it is not a solution to keep doing business like this.
Many restaurants serving specialty food will encounter this situation. For example, those that sell spicy crayfish in later generations will only have the best business in the summer and autumn. If there is no crayfish in the season, they will have to close down.
Their lunch box restaurant is not so bad that it has to close down. At most, it doesn't make as much money as before, but after maintaining the restaurant's daily expenses, it still makes a profit of more than 100 yuan a day.
But would Jiang Tian be satisfied with earning just this little money a day?
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
The weather is getting cold, so fast food lunch boxes are not selling well, right?
We can sell something else.
…
Ever since Jiang Huihui was taken back by her parents, Tong Zhiyuan resumed his habit of going to Fangjie's restaurant to get meals every day.
However, at noon that day, as soon as I stepped in, I smelled a different aroma of food.
"Eh? Sister Fangfang, your family has also started pickling bacon?"
Hu Qiongfang pointed to the menu hanging above the cash register with a smile.
Jiang Cheng's calligraphy has improved again, and the menu he wrote is also particularly beautiful. However, what is even more amazing is the new dishes on it.
"Salted pork and tofu hotpot? Salted pork and soybean hotpot? Pork belly and kelp hotpot?"
"Are you changing your business and not selling boxed lunches?"
Looking at the small casseroles placed on the coal stove, Tong Zhiyuan curiously leaned over to take a look.
There's quite a lot of stuff in this little casserole.
It is said to be a bacon and tofu hotpot. In addition to bacon and tofu, it also contains garlic sprouts, cabbage, white radish and other dishes, making it a rich dish.
The most important thing is that after the ingredients in this small casserole are boiled, they can be taken out and placed on the table to keep them warm for a period of time. The dishes inside are hot and will not get cold easily when eaten in winter.
There are five kinds of pots in the store, the cheapest is 1.5 yuan a pot, and the most expensive is only 3 yuan. Although it is a little more expensive than the box lunch, it contains a lot of things.
If you have a smaller appetite, you can buy a pot and add a plate of kimchi, and the couple can have a meal.
Tong Zhiyuan was immediately happy: "This is good! But the lunch box I brought is too small , it's not easy to take it home."
After the divorce, Tong Zhiyuan hired two more people to help look after the store and do physical work. Although he had to pay them wages every month, when he checked the accounts at the end of the month, he was amused to find that the wages of the two people were not even as much as his ex-wife's previous monthly expenses.
Therefore, it is not only girls who are reborn after getting married. If a boy marries the wrong wife, he will have to take many more detours.
If he had used his brain when looking for a partner and married a wife like Hu Qiongfang who knew how to manage a life, how could he have only opened a gas station?
Putting aside his regrets, Boss Tong turned his grief into appetite and ordered three pots in one go: a pot of cabbage and tofu stewed with lard, a pot of bacon and soybeans, and a pot of pork belly and kelp. When he paid the bill, he only spent five dollars and fifty cents.
Hu Qiongfang smiled and explained to him in a low voice:
"We have changed the way we eat at home. We will give rice to those who come to eat from the hot pot. If you don't want rice, we will give you three white steamed buns instead."
"There are also sauerkraut, kimchi, and chili sauce from the store. They are all free. I packed some extra for you in a plastic bag. If you can't finish them, you can cook some sweet potato porridge in the evening and eat them with them."
Hu Qiongfang wanted to persuade him not to spend money so lavishly and eat out every day. But when she thought about Jiang Huihui going to the gas station to seduce Boss Tong, she felt that as a widow, it would be best for her to keep a distance from the divorced Boss Tong. After thinking about it, she decided not to say anything else.
Even so, as he walked on the road carrying a tin bucket, Boss Tong's mouth corners were always raised.
Sister Fangfang really treats herself differently !
