59: Chapter 59 Innovation

After establishing a foothold in the Vietnam market, Chairman Wang Shunyi turned his attention to Indonesia. This country, with its population of 270 million, consumes 12 billion packs of instant noodles annually, ranking second globally only to China. However, the Indonesian instant noodle market has a distinct characteristic—it is cheap. A pack of Indomie sells for 3,000 Indonesian Rupiah, which is equivalent to less than 250 Korean Won. While Sunyi's price of 15,000 Vietnamese Dong in Vietnam was considered mid-to-high end, that same pricing in Indonesia would immediately scare consumers away.

Zhang Junhao returned from Jakarta with a dark tan and a shirt collar ringed with sweat stains. He spread the research report on the table and said, "President, Indonesians don't look at the brand; they look at the price."

He flipped open the report, which was filled with photos of store shelves. Indomie occupied the most prominent positions with its colorful packaging, and the price tags read 'Rp. 3,000.' A few smaller brands nearby were even cheaper, at 2,500 or 2,000. If Sunyi entered at the Vietnamese price point of 15,000, it would be five times the price of Indomie, and no one would buy it.

"We won't release Sunyi," Chairman Wang Shunyi said, flipping through the report. "We'll launch a sub-brand with a different name and different packaging, and we'll keep the price below 4,000 Rupiah. The quality just needs to be a bit better than Indomie, not significantly so. This market values cost-performance, not extreme quality."

"What will the brand be called?"

"Sunyi. It's easy to pronounce, easy to remember, and sounds like a local brand." He thought for a moment. "Use a packaging color Indomie hasn't used, like blue. It'll stand out among all the reds and yellows."

Lee Chang-ho's expression was sour when he was called in to develop the Indonesian version. He was used to making high-end noodles, and being asked to make a cheap product made him feel uncomfortable. "President, for 4,000 Rupiah, what good ingredients can I even put in? Tamarind? Fish sauce? We won't even recover the costs."

"You don't need to use those. Local spices are cheap, so use local spices. Chili, garlic, onion, and Palm sugar. The broth doesn't need to be too thick; just make the noodle cake a bit larger so people feel they're getting a substantial meal."

Lee Chang-ho locked himself in the kitchen for three days. When Zhang Junhao tasted the first sample, he said, "It's too much like Indomie." Lee Chang-ho adjusted it for two more versions. For the third version, Zhang Junhao said nothing; he just filled a bowl and brought it to Chairman Wang Shunyi.

Chairman Wang Shunyi tasted it. The noodles were chewier than Indomie's, and the broth had a direct spiciness without any sweet aftertaste, but Indonesians liked that kind of heat that made them sweat instantly. He put down the bowl and said one word: "Launch."

In July, Sunyi began trial sales in one hundred Indomaret convenience stores in Jakarta. It was priced at 3,500 Rupiah—500 more than Indomie and 1,000 more than the generic brands. In the first week, they sold 5,000 packs; the second week, 8,000; and the third week, 12,000. The growth rate was accelerating, but the absolute volume was still small.

Zhang Junhao stared at the data and said, "President, this volume isn't even a third of what we have in Vietnam."

"Vietnam's population is less than a quarter of Indonesia's, yet our sales there are three times higher. What does that tell you?" Chairman Wang Shunyi pointed at the chart. "It shows that the Indonesian market hasn't been cracked yet. It's not that the product isn't working; it's that our distribution hasn't expanded. How can we sell when a hundred stores don't even cover all of Jakarta?"

By the end of August, Sunyi signed a partnership agreement with Alfamart, Indonesia's largest convenience store chain, expanding distribution to two thousand stores. Simultaneously, they found a local influencer for promotion—someone famous for eating spicy noodles with over two million social media followers. He filmed a video doing a blind test between Sunyi and Indomie. He tried Indomie first, saying, "This is the taste of an old friend," then tried Sunyi, his eyes widening as he said, "This one has a more powerful kick." After the video was posted, Sunyi's daily sales jumped from 1,000 packs to 5,000 packs.

In early September, Nongshim Foods made a major move in Seoul. Park Jung-chul announced at a press conference that Nongshim would invest 50 billion Won to develop functional instant noodle products, including probiotic noodles, collagen noodles, and vitamin-fortified noodles. The product line was almost identical to Sunyi's functional series.

When a reporter asked if he was following Sunyi's lead, he smiled and said, "Functional food is a global trend. Nongshim is simply adapting to that trend."

After watching the live broadcast, Zhang Junhao tossed his phone onto the sofa and cursed, "50 billion... they really have money to burn."

Chairman Wang Shunyi wasn't angry. Instead, he smiled. "Jun-ho, if Nongshim releases probiotic noodles, what can we release?"

"We already have probiotic noodles."

"Then we release double probiotics. If he does collagen, we do collagen plus Vitamin C. If he does vitamins, we do minerals. If his products are always a step behind, ours will always be a step ahead. If he wants to follow, he won't be able to keep up."

At the October board meeting, Park Min-ji reported the third-quarter results. The combined revenue of Sunyi and Kims was 210 billion, with a net profit of 16 billion. The overseas market contributed 60 billion, accounting for nearly 30% of the total. This figure was more than double what it was during the same period last year.

The institutional investor representative on the board—the man sent by Mirae Asset Securities, surnamed Ryu, who was in his early forties, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and spoke with calculated precision—asked, "President Wang, overseas expansion is rapid, but the profit margins are lower than domestic ones. As the share of overseas revenue increases, won't it drag down the overall profit margin?"

"It will," Chairman Wang Shunyi said. "But the overseas market represents incremental growth. The domestic market is saturated; if we don't go out, growth will stop. Even if the profit margin is a bit lower, as the total volume grows, the absolute value of the net profit will still rise. Next year's goal is a net profit of 50 billion, with overseas contributions accounting for 40%."

Representative Ryu nodded and didn't press further.

In December, Zhang Junhao submitted the entry plan for the Thailand market. The landscape of the instant noodle market in Thailand was somewhat similar to Vietnam's, with Mama Noodles being the dominant force, holding over 50% of the market share. However, Thai consumers were even more discerning about flavor than the Vietnamese; the balance of sour, sweet, spicy, salty, and savory had to be perfect—missing even one wouldn't do.

"President, we can't simply copy the Vietnamese formula for Thai products. The Vietnamese like sour-spicy, but the Thais prefer sweet-spicy. For our sour-spicy noodles to work in Thailand, we need to change the recipe by adding Palm sugar and reducing the Tamarind."

"Leave the recipe adjustments to Lee Chang-ho. You focus on securing the distribution channels first."

Zhang Junhao nodded, then hesitated before saying, "President, there's one more thing. Nongshim has also been making big moves in Southeast Asia recently. They signed an exclusive agreement with Indonesia's second-largest distributor, and our Sunyi was pushed out of several stores."

"An exclusive agreement? For how long?"

"One year."

"And after a year?"

"After a year, they can renew it."

Chairman Wang Shunyi was silent for a few seconds. "Then bypass them. If they won't let us into convenience stores, we'll go into supermarkets; if they won't let us into supermarkets, we'll do e-commerce. There isn't just one road."

On December 31st, Chairman Wang Shunyi sat alone in his office. It was snowing outside, and Seongdong-gu was covered in a thin layer of white, under the dim yellow glow of the streetlights. He scrolled through his text messages and saw one from Kim Dong-hyun: "Happy New Year. Kims turned a profit this year."

He took a sip of his drink and replied: "Congratulations. Next year will be even better. (Still sad as ever, your orchid fingers~)"

He thought back to this day two years ago, when he was in a semi-basement cooking a pack of the cheapest ramen, with no side dishes, only a single seasoning packet. When the noodles were done, he sat by the bed to eat, and halfway through, he heard someone upstairs setting off firecrackers. The loud boom made the windows rattle. He thought he had misheard, but later realized those were New Year's fireworks.

Now, he had an entire building before him. His car was parked downstairs, and the company's delivery trucks were in the garage. His employees, over a hundred of them, sat upstairs. Nearly 200 billion from the IPO lay in his accounts. Yet, sitting in his office, he still felt uneasy. It wasn't because he was afraid of losing, but because he knew that winning once wasn't hard; the hard part was winning many times.

He stood up and walked to the window. The snow was still falling, and the lights of Namsan Tower were faintly visible through the snowy mist. He watched for a long while, then turned off the lights and walked out. The sensor lights in the hallway flickered on and then off. His footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, one after another, very steady.