Side Story: Mackerel Sandwich (2)
Side Story: Mackerel Sandwich (2)
"What, you're seriously going to do that?"
"Of course. But I'll sell other sandwiches too."
I took Jeong-hwan's mother's advice to heart — selling only mackerel sandwiches would likely be a recipe for flopping.
She meant the main menu should be mackerel sandwiches, but I ought to sell regular sandwiches alongside them.
"Well, yeah, you'd have to. Otherwise you'd obviously flop."
I shot a glare at Lee Min-ho for saying something so unlucky, but he didn't even flinch.
If he weren't my business partner, I wouldn't have called him at all.
Actually, back when I started the tempura shop, both of them had offered to invest.
But at the time I'd wanted to try doing it with just my own money, so I turned them down.
I told them then that if I ever started another business, we'd do it together.
This time it was a franchise business, so there'd be a lot to handle — better to tackle it together.
Opening a single restaurant versus running a franchise company — wasn't that the difference between heaven and earth?
We'd operate the main store ourselves, but the branches would be run by franchisees.
"So? How many locations are you thinking?"
"I'm going to expand overseas too."
"Wow... but if you're going that far, wouldn't a meat restaurant be better than sandwiches? That's what you're famous for."
"Hmm... then should I sell meat abroad too?"
After all, what I was famous for making was just pulled pork and Tomahawk steak.
Maybe adding both to the sandwich menu would be the better move.
"That's not bad. But Submarine Sandwich already sells pulled pork."
"Just raise the quality bar. Is our Seong-hwan short on money? Does he lack flair?"
"I've got money... but I don't know about the flair."
Whether I even had charisma... I didn't know anymore.
Wasn't I just a dad who shrank endlessly in front of his daughter?
"Hmm... sandwiches... fast food."
"You know you've got to price this stuff carefully, right? Dining out costs have shot up lately — it's chaos out there."
"I know. I'm thinking the mackerel sandwich combo with cola and fries — around 5,500 won."
Unlimited soft drink refills in-store.
I was planning to offer one free refill on the fries.
There should be some fun in coming and eating there, shouldn't there?
That's how a franchise grows, after all.
"Mm. Not bad."
"At that price, it'd be worth trying."
The two of them seemed to agree, nodding their heads.
"And I'll talk with the Director about including one random card with every sandwich purchase."
"......You've gotten way too shrewd. Are you dreaming of building something on MackDonale's scale?"
"Hey, no way."
If a mega-franchise like MackDonale's could be built just with some cards, the Director would have already done it.
Besides, cards are just a bonus — the main thing has to be the sandwich.
"But when it comes to sandwiches, Submarine Sandwich already has their system down perfectly. Can't you just copy that?"
"Well, I suppose..."
"Wouldn't they say something? Getting sued would be a disaster, wouldn't it?"
"Then we just won't make any in America."
In the heat of the moment, it was decided that the US would be excluded when we expanded overseas.
Because getting sued for being vaguely similar truly would be a disaster.
We're still in the planning stages and already counting our chickens before they hatch.
There's a route for crashing and burning completely, too, you know.
*
"Sweetie, how is it?"
I let my daughter try a sandwich with pulled pork and Tomahawk steak inside.
Our little girl had a better palate than I'd expected, so I often had her test new menu items for the tempura shop.
Arin chewed softly, swallowed, then nodded and beamed.
"It's good. Especially the mayonnaise."
"Right? I told you — sandwiches have to have mayonnaise."
It was just my personal taste, but I believed sandwiches absolutely needed mayonnaise and mustard.
Those two flavors balanced the sandwich perfectly.
Yeah, beef and mayonnaise really do go together.
Was the first person to come up with this combination some kind of culinary god?
"But it's a little rich."
"Oh? Should I put some kimchi in, then?"
My daughter shook her head from side to side vigorously — she said that would flop.
I'd need to add pickles or jalapeños to cut the richness.
"Seong-hwan-ah. Is there some for noona too?"
"Of course there is. I made four of each, just in case."
Eight in total, including some for our glutton A-ra and the younger siblings.
A lot of the siblings had moved out over the last six years, but I was planning to hand them out first-come, first-served.
A-ra examined the sandwiches and picked up the biggest one.
It was the one with the most meat inside — made with the large size in mind.
Even so, copying Submarine Sandwich's 15cm and 30cm sizes seemed risky, so I'd set the sizes differently.
The regular size was standard sandwich bread, but the large size had bread 1.5 times bigger, with 1.5 times the fillings too.
The price difference was about 1,000 won.
The potato and drink sizes would change as well, so it'd land as a value-packed item.
"How is it? Good, right?"
"Yeah. Having it with this mayonnaise makes it really delicious."
"Heh heh... just so you know, this isn't ordinary mayonnaise. It's a mayonnaise that franchise fast food places couldn't even dream of."
This was also shaving years off my life.
Better to think of it as a secret sauce.
"Mm... a secret sauce, huh..."
A-ra dissected the sandwich, dipped some of the white sauce on its own, and put it in her mouth.
Sweet and savory, with no vinegar smell — she took in the deliciousness of the mayonnaise and looked a bit surprised.
"This is really good. How did you make it?"
"Heh heh... curious?"
"Yeah. It's way better than any mayonnaise I've ever had."
To be precise, this mayonnaise sauce wasn't actually mayonnaise sauce at all.
It was my own sauce, similarly made by mixing eggs, olive oil, and a few other things.
When I first made it, it felt pretty far from mayonnaise, but after repeated trial and error, a truly delicious sauce was born.
"No, this is genuinely sellable. The sandwich is one thing, but..."
"It's at that level, yeah. Should I sell the sauce separately, like Chipotle does?"
"Yeah. We should definitely include this. At the tempura shop too."
The reaction was better than I'd thought.
Should I give it a try?
If we do that, would it be better to remove the existing mayonnaise?
Or would it be better to just use both?
Hmm... that's a dilemma too.
Now this is the kind of worry that's truly a happy one.
***
About a week had passed since we started manufacturing and selling the sauce from the factory.
I'd planned to do something like a collaboration product, but looking at the current situation, I started thinking that if I did, I might end up getting stabbed later.
"Ah. I hadn't even asked them to do anything yet."
I was planning to properly promote it after opening the main sandwich store...
The Director was already advertising it.
And on a massive scale, at that.
On top of that, they'd restricted the supply and caused a situation like the honey butter and Pukimeon bread crazes.
I'd wondered why they hadn't included photo cards, but... they'd created a situation even more extreme than photo cards.
I didn't know how much they'd put into PPL, but there was sauce sitting on variety show tables instead of water.
No, seriously — not joking, for real.
It was almost unbelievable that something like that could happen.
Online communities were plastered with talk about the mayonnaise sauce I'd made.
People who normally hated mayonnaise were saying the one I'd released was delicious.
I wondered if it was viral marketing, but that didn't seem to be the case either.
People genuinely loved it.
"Sigh....."
Still, the relief was that the people around me hadn't asked me to get sauce for them or anything.
We did have a few boxes at home, and maybe that was because my business partners Jeong-hwan and Lee Min-ho had each taken a box too.
They might have already distributed it on their end.
"What am I going to do about this."
I was happy it was selling well, but the Director's methods were too ruthless.
Hadn't they deliberately reduced the distribution volume to create this situation?
Doing that for no reason seemed like it would only make public opinion worse.
I should call and ask, just in case.
- The call cannot be connected. After the beep, you will be forwarded to voicemail.........
"Ah... Director, seriously..."
It seemed they'd really made up their mind.
Should I just enjoy it too?
"Hmm... yeah, just handing out the sauce freely is probably the best move."
If I just left the boxes sitting there, some people would take more than one, so I'd hand them out one at a time.
Once they were all given out, they'd vanish without a trace.
Pretty decent idea, wasn't it?
*
I was insane.
I'd brought three of the ten sauce boxes from home and gone outside.
I'd definitely meant to hand them out quietly, but the first person who got one broadcast the location, and now... this situation had unfolded.
And then?
People didn't just gather — it turned into utter chaos.
This park, normally nothing but quiet, was packed full of people, and joy and sorrow split cleanly between those who got sauce and those who didn't.
Naturally so — one box held 20 bottles... meaning I'd only brought 60 at most.
Still, if there was a silver lining... at least no one was getting angry or anything?
They were just walking away with expressions that said, well, if it's gone, it's gone.
Seeing that, I felt bad for no reason.
Just in case, I sent a text to the Director.
- Director. For the event, bring over all the sauce you've got.
No matter how much the Director ignored me, they'd at least be reading it.
Considering who the sender was.