Gears of the Beverage Empire
◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ Beverage Business Meeting ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇
After exchanging greetings with the two Chairmen, Director Park hurriedly excused himself and rushed out of the office, as though something urgent had come up.
There was still a good twenty minutes to spare before the meeting.
Showing up early would only stress out the staff for no reason, so Young-hoon deliberately timed his arrival to the minute.
"So Chairman Choi's physical age came out as early fifties too?"
"That's what I'm telling you. That old rascal Jang over there tested as early fifties, so why wouldn't I?"
"Well, that's good news. You two will be working with me for a long time to come, after all."
"Hmm, and just how long do you plan on working with us, CEO Kim?"
"Mm～ I'd say we should all work together until about a hundred, don't you think?"
Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi both knew perfectly well that Young-hoon was joking.
No one stays active in the field at a hundred years old.
What Young-hoon really meant, of course, was that they should live long, healthy lives well past their hundredth birthdays.
And who doesn't want to live a long, healthy life for their age? With Young-hoon's help, their bodies had already grown years younger—living past a hundred was no longer some pie-in-the-sky dream.
That was precisely why they found themselves all the more grateful for the way he looked after even the smallest details on their behalf.
While Young-hoon and the two Chairmen traded small talk, Executive Director Kim Sang-ho came to inform them that preparations for the meeting were complete.
Young-hoon pulled the Magic Seasoning (herb powder) from his bag and headed into the conference room.
Inside, roughly twenty people assigned to the coffee and tea divisions were already gathered.
True to form, it was Chairman Choi who opened the floor first.
"As you all know, the staffing for the beverage team—a business we are responsible for seeing through—is nearly complete. That being the case, we've judged it time to start moving in earnest, which is why we've called this meeting. Director Kim, as our representative, give us a status report. How far along are the preparations?"
"Yes, sir. We've decided to structure the organization around two divisions: coffee and tea. The coffee division will be led by Team Leader Kim Gi-hyun, and the tea division by Team Leader Yoon Jong-ho. The coffee manufacturing plant will be built on the land owned by Chairman Choi in Anjung, Pyeongtaek, and we are currently awaiting business permits from the relevant authorities. Plant design plans are being drawn up so we can begin the moment approval comes through. As for the tea manufacturing plant, we've decided to build it alongside the coffee facility, but the site falls slightly short of our needs, so we will likely have to purchase additional land."
Young-hoon had been listening quietly to Executive Director Kim's report when a question occurred to him, and he cut in.
"Ah—Executive Director Kim, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'd like to share a few thoughts about the coffee and tea business. With coffee, since we'll be importing all of our beans from overseas, processing them, and selling the finished product, I don't expect us to have much impact on the domestic coffee industry. Tea, however, is a different matter—there we could significantly affect the domestic market. We are not bulls trampling whatever happens to be in our path. So I'd like you to look for a way for us to coexist with Korea's tea industry."
At this completely unexpected proposal, every eye in the conference room turned toward Young-hoon.
Pay them no mind, Young-hoon pressed on.
"For example, I think it would work well for us to source domestically grown tea through OEM—original equipment manufacturing—arrangements. My original idea for the tea business was to import the raw materials ourselves, process them, and then re-export the finished product back to the country of origin. Take China, for instance: if we imported Pu-erh tea as raw material, blended it with the herb powder, and exported it back to China under a new brand, I expect we'd see excellent results. I'd like to apply the same approach in tea-loving countries like Japan and Britain as well."
Chairman Choi picked up where Young-hoon had left off.
"I had no idea you'd thought it through that far, CEO Kim. If I'm hearing you right, you're saying we should build a foundation that lets the domestic tea companies survive, while we carve out new overseas markets to grow the pie for everyone. Am I correct?"
Truly, no one climbs to the chairman's seat through a game of rock-paper-scissors. Chairman Choi's observation had cut straight to the heart of the matter.
"Exactly. With the whole wide world market out there, why on earth would we fight over a cramped little corner of Korea? Since we're on the subject, let me share a bit more of my thinking. For coffee, I plan to segment the product line into premium, mid-tier, and budget lines. To put it more concretely: coffee made with top-quality beans like Ethiopia's Yirgacheffe will follow the premium strategy; coffee made with inferior beans like Robusta will follow the budget strategy; and coffee using mid-grade beans will take the mid-tier approach. On top of that, we'll run plus-products as well—in other words, gift-set concepts, say, a coffee mug set bundled with the beans—to diversify the lineup. The same framework applies to tea, so I'd like each division to build its strategy accordingly."
"I agree with CEO Kim's thinking one hundred percent, so build your strategies around it."
Just then, Chairman Jang—who had been deep in thought for some while—posed a question that had clearly been gnawing at him.
"CEO Kim, I understand your reasoning well enough. But how exactly do you plan to reach consumers around the world?"
"An excellent question, Chairman. When I first laid out our four business pillars, I mentioned that everything had to interlock and turn together like the gears of a machine. The first of those gears is the culture and entertainment business."
Young-hoon paused for a beat, gathered his breath, and continued his explanation with calm composure.
"If you look at the drama script I wrote, Love Met Again, you'll notice an unusual number of scenes featuring coffee, tea, and wine. That's by design—I intend to build exposure gradually through product placement. It's precisely why this drama must be a smash hit. The more overseas broadcasting rights we sell, the higher the exposure climbs. As for the rest, I'll explain when the opportunity arises."
"So that's why there were so many drinking scenes. Then the drama absolutely has to be a blockbuster, doesn't it?"
"Yes, sir. It does."
This time it was Chairman Choi who raised his hand.
"CEO Kim, but shouldn't the product research come first, before we launch anything?"
"A perfectly fair point. Unlike the wine, coffee and tea don't appear to carry any special supernatural effects. All we've discovered so far is that they leave the body feeling energized and vigorous. I'd like Researcher Park Myung-ho to take charge of studying that further. In the meantime, I'll be distributing some of this herb powder here, so please also focus on finding the optimal flavor ratios. For reference, with coffee and tea, we intend to win on taste alone."
The moment Young-hoon set the herb powder out on the table, eyes lit up all around the room.
Everyone had already experienced the powder's effects firsthand, so they understood its value perfectly.
Besides, the thought of enjoying delicious tea and coffee under the banner of "testing" had every face practically glowing.
"From my own experiments, even a very small amount dramatically improved the flavor of both coffee and tea. However, the amount of herb powder I can supply at the moment is limited, so the research on the perfect golden ratio must be completed before the plant is built."
"Whew, you all are in for some busy days. Research the products, build the factories, draw up the raw material supply plans, develop the plus-products… Work is piling up like a mountain."
"Still, don't rush yourselves. Take it one careful step at a time."
From there, the group plunged into heated debate, refining the business plans right up until dinnertime.
Even over dinner, Young-hoon kept exchanging ideas with the others, stoking his own determination to make the business a success.
The moment dinner ended, Chairman Jang and Chairman Choi bolted for the door like dogs with their tails on fire.
It was barely nine o'clock… With all the napping they did, it surely wasn't to go to bed. No—they'd no doubt scurried off to a match with their young lady friends.
Astonishing stamina, the pair of them.
And yet a wave of self-pity washed over Young-hoon.
Even men that age had someone in their lives—so what did that make him? He resolved, once again, to win her heart as soon as humanly possible.
When Young-hoon got home, the place was empty.
Su-jin seemed to have gone out somewhere. On a whim, he called her, and it turned out she was downstairs.
Having a drink with Hee-joo and her husband, apparently—come down if you can.
He quickly changed into something comfortable and went down to the third floor. The three of them had clearly been at it for a while, their faces already flushed, so Young-hoon only savored a sip or two of the mood before heading back up.
He decided to transcribe Part 2 of the fifty-part series tonight, then sleep.
Today, Young-hoon deliberately strolled into the office late.
By his estimate, he had about a week left at LK Electronics.
The moment the audit results were finalized, he would resign on the spot. He could quit any time he liked, of course, but he'd pushed his schedule back a week for fear of word spreading that he'd been forced out under a cloud. Since there was no telling when or where he might cross paths with his colleagues again, it was best to leave behind the best possible impression.
Today was the scheduled Supply Audit. Judging by the order of the schedule, Marketing Team 3 would most likely be audited in the afternoon.
Before long, a message arrived from President Lee Jae-man.
Girin Entertainment was growing by the day, and with Manager Kim, Park Dae-ri, and now even Jin-man crossing over from LK Electronics, there was no longer any need for Young-hoon to exchange texts with President Lee to share updates on the work. From here on out, the staff could simply report to him directly.
Just then, Park Dae-ri walked into the office with a coffee cup in each hand.
"You text back and forth with the President?"
"Yeah. Heard you're doing the business reports starting next week? Don't bother. It's a waste of time."
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
"I've given President Lee full autonomy over the management side. So you and Manager Kim back him up well, and let's turn Girin into a world-class entertainment company."
"Okay, got it. That's the mission. So tell me—how long do we have to keep living this bat life, hanging between two caves?"
"I'll need to talk it over with Manager Kim, but I figure we quit the moment the audit results come out… Cleaner for everyone that way, don't you think?"
"That's my read too. Results should drop sometime next week, so let's call it quits then. Oh, and you met my older brother and my father yesterday, right?"
"I did. Your brother looks exactly like you. He's married, I take it?"
"Two kids already. He's taking over my father's hospital. So—what did you make of my father?"
"Hm? Well… seemed like a perfectly nice gentleman, I suppose……"
"You only say that because you don't know my father's true colors yet. My grandmother tells me he was an absolutely incorrigible womanizer back in the day. I'd bet he's still sneaking around behind my mother's back even now."
As expected, Park Dae-ri's instincts were just a notch sharper than everyone else's.
Young-hoon knew perfectly well that Director Park was having an affair—but the two men had made a promise to each other, so he was simply playing dumb. For now, the smart move was to hum along to Park Dae-ri's tune.
"Is that so? And your mother just lets it slide?"
"There's no evidence, is there. She suspects, but there's nothing she can prove. You know how it is."
If the conversation went much further, there was a real chance the suspicion would come curling back toward him. He needed to steer it somewhere else, and fast.
"Anyway—clear your evening tomorrow, you and Manager Kim both. We're going to the drama preview screening."
"So I get to see Hallyu stars in the flesh tomorrow? I'm getting autographs."
By then the staff had begun trickling in, one by one.
Today, even that scoundrel Deputy Hong would be showing up on time. Unless he was a complete lunatic, no one showed up late or skipped work on the day of an audit.
Then again… you never really could rule it out. A lunatic was a lunatic, after all.
Manager Kim convened one final meeting to prepare the team for the audit.