When Ken received the news of the overcapacity of Old Liu's bakery, he suddenly get an idea. He wants to test Huang Yingwei about this problem. He is curious about what kind of answer he will get from Huang Yingwei. So yesterday he called Old Liu and
Huang Yingwei thinks for a bit before starting to answer the problem. "I think the most rational thing that Black Bamboo Café should do is to secure its supply. If La Reine Bakery cannot fulfill our needs, then we should start looking for other bakeries.
"But here comes a new problem. If the new supplier's bread quality is not as good as La Reine we might have a decline in profit.
"Customer is not stupid, if there is a change in quality they will notice. When they notice that, it is just a matter of time for them to not buy the bread anymore. That makes a reduced income.
"We can also do nothing and wait for La Reine to expand their production capacity. But this will makes matter worse in the future if we continue to expand. If we keep making a new branch but La Reine is not able to follow expanding, we will be forced to use another supplier.
"So in conclusion, it is better to just search for other suppliers now. Of course, we also need to check their quality." Huang Yingwei concluded her opinion.
"Okay, that is not a bad solution, but it will have the same problem in the future when we expand more. Someday, our new supplier will also reach the maximum capacity, what should we do at that time? Expand more?" Ken replied.
"Hmm, that is right. We can try to look at a bigger bakery to supply us. Or we can make our own bakery. But I don't think we have an expert in making bakery in Black Bamboo Café?" Huang Yingwei wanted to make sure that there is no baking experts in Black Bamboo Café.
"Yup, that is true. Most of the staff in Black Bamboo Cafe can bake the par-baked bread from La Reine. But at the end of the day, we only bake the par-baked bread." Ken asked Huang Yingwei, trying to bait her into thinking something. "Remember the reason why Old Liu can't expand. He doesn't have the time to make pastries and expand his business. So what should Old Liu do?"
"Old Liu should focus on one thing, and then delegate the other jobs to other people? But it has no connection to Black Bamboo Café… Hmm?? Black Bamboo Café should buy La Reine Bakery and take over the management so that La Reine can expand while Old Liu can still make the pastries?" Huang Yingwei tried to make an answer, but she is not sure about this herself.
Ken suddenly faced Old Liu and said, "You heard it, Old Liu, just sell your bakery to me and we will take care of the management."
"I have said it over and over already, but I will not sell this bakery. This has become a hobby of mine. Even when this shop is not profitable anymore, I will still not sell this bakery to anyone." Old Liu flatly rejected Ken on this matter. "The most I can do is to cooperate if you want to make a bakery for the café."
Ken then looked at Huang Yingwei and said, "That is how it is. I have tried to buy his bakery for a long time, but he always says the same thing. You know any way to break this?"
Chen Qiu has always thought that Black Bamboo Café needs to have its own bakery. So Chen Qiu has tried to buy this bakery many times before. Chen Qiu is not interested in other bakeries, only this bakery because only this bakery can satisfy Chen Qiu. But Old Liu is as stubborn as always, he always has the same answer. Then time passed and here we are when La Reine is almost at its maximum capacity.
Huang Yingwei thinks for a bit before opening her mouth to answer, "If Old Liu can cooperate in some places, maybe we can make some kind of Joint Venture between Black Bamboo Cafe and La Reine.
"Black Bamboo Café can offer to do the management of the Joint Venture and La Reine will offer the expertise in baking. The goal of the joint venture is to secure the production of par-baked pastries for Black Bamboo Café.
"This Joint Venture can solve all the problems we have now. Old Liu can focus on this La Reine, and Black Bamboo Café can secure the supply of par-baked pastries. I think this is the best way to go."
'As expected of someone that graduated from Business Administration Major. This kind of thing is trivial for her' Ken praised Huang Yingwei in his mind.
Old Liu is a little surprised about the suggestion. He thinks about this when Huang Yingwei said some more sentences.
"But, I don't think this Joint Venture is beneficial for La Reine. First La Reine will lose one of its customers, Black Bamboo Café. Second, the profit from the Joint Venture will be shared between Black Bamboo Café and La Reine. So in total, the profit that La Reine will get is less than what it gets now."
'Ah… You said too much.' Ken facepalmed when he hear the addition of Huang Yingwei's opinion.
"I think this joint venture is not a bad idea, but let me think for a few days about this." Old Liu said this after hearing Huang Yingwei's opinion.
"Well, I think it is time we go back," Ken said this while standing up. He then asked Huang Yingwei, "You want some bread, cookies, or some cake? I will buy it for you, good job."
"Can I get two? One cake is for Wu Siyi."
"Let's make it three, one other for Zhang Zhixin."
Huang Yingwei picks up three different cakes. Those cakes are not sold in Black Bamboo Café. She then takes a picture of the cakes and sends the picture to Wu Siyi and Zhang Zixin.
~~~
After visiting La Reine Bakery, they planned to visit the coffee bean supplier. But before that, they visited both branches of Black Bamboo Café to give the cakes for Wu Siyi and Zhang Zixin.
Then they continued to the coffee bean supplier, nothing special happened here, Ken just introduce the coffee supplier to Huang Yingwei.
Then the next day, they are circling the city looking for office equipment and PC for the new office. Just like when they visited the coffee supplier, there is nothing special here. They just order the desks, chairs, and PC to be delivered later.