66: Chapter 66 Food Industry

Seoul in July was as hot as a steamer. Chairman Wang Shunyi stood in the factory workshop, watching the new production line being unloaded from a truck. Lee Jae-hoon stood nearby wearing a hard hat, shouting into a walkie-talkie, "Left, left, slow down." The machine touched down, making the concrete floor tremor and the hard hats of several nearby workers wobble.

"President, this production line is domestic. It's forty percent cheaper than the imported one, but fifteen percent less efficient. You get what you pay for. Are you sure you want it?"

"I'm sure. The delivery time for the imported line is six months; I can't wait that long. The domestic line goes online in two months, and we need to push production volume first. We'll replace it next year once capacity stabilizes."

Lee Jae-hoon clipped the walkie-talkie back to his waist, took off his gloves, and rubbed the dust off his hands. "President, there's something I'm not sure if I should say."

"Say it."

"The workers at Kims have heard that the Alliance's market share is rising, so morale is high. But they're also tired. Since the old factory area was converted into a logistics center, night shifts have increased from one to two, and we're shorthanded. Choi Seong-sik has mentioned hiring more people to me several times. I'm thinking of renting a plot of land next to the old Kims factory to build a new warehouse. The workers won't have to travel so far, and efficiency could increase by twenty percent."

Chairman Wang Shunyi looked at him. "Have Choi Seong-sik submit a report. Budget, timeline, and staffing—make it clear. I'll approve it."

In August, Nongshim's new strategy ran into trouble. After Lee Jae-il slashed the R&D budget, a third of Nongshim's core R&D team left. Most of those who left were key personnel in their thirties and forties, headhunted by Samyang and CJ Foods. Samyang's Park Jun-ho snapped up four of them with impressive resumes in one go, placing one in the Functional Noodle R&D Team and three in the Overseas Marketing Department.

Park Jun-ho laughed loudly when he called to share the good news. "President, Lee Jae-il is practically delivering talent to our doorstep. Nongshim-trained talent working for Samyang—that's not poaching, that's resource optimization."

"Be careful not to let them catch you and sue."

"Sue for what? They changed jobs on their own; I didn't give any kickbacks."

In late August, Shunyi Foods' market share surpassed forty percent for the first time. This was the highest point since the Alliance was formed. When Park Min-ji reported this at the board meeting, the directors below all looked delighted.

"Everyone, Nongshim Foods' market share has dropped to forty-four percent. The gap is four to five percentage points. This is the smallest gap in history."

Choi Jae-won slowly stood up after listening. He looked at Chairman Wang Shunyi without speaking, then clapped his hands. The applause was slow, one beat at a time, but each clap was heavy. Others followed suit, starting sporadically and growing into a wave, until the applause filled the room and made the meeting room windows hum. Zhang Junhao joined via video link from Singapore, clapping through the camera. He shouted from the other end, "President, we won!" Chairman Wang Shunyi didn't correct him. They hadn't won yet, they were still a few points short, but he didn't interrupt.

After the applause died down, Chairman Wang Shunyi walked to the front. "Four to five points is a gap, but it's also a threshold. Once we cross this threshold, we'll be number one. Everyone, before the end of the year, I want to stand here and say—Sunyi is number one in South Korea."

In September, Park Jung-chul came out of retirement. Nongshim's board called Lee Jae-il back for a three-day meeting, and the conclusion was to replace the CEO. The consultant from McKinsey had worked for less than four months and left with a severance agreement. On his first day back as acting CEO, Park Jung-chul sent an internal letter to all employees: 'Nongshim will not lose. We haven't lost in fifty years, and we won't lose in the future.' He cut half of the product lines Lee Jae-il had cut and restored half of the R&D budget, calling back the R&D mainstays who had left one by one. Some returned, some didn't. Those who returned said, 'Chairman Park called personally; it's hard to refuse.'

Word of this reached Chairman Wang Shunyi. He remained silent for a few seconds after hearing it. "I don't like Park Jung-chul, but I respect him as a tough character. It's not easy for him to step up personally when the company has reached this point."

"President, what do we do then?" Zhang Junhao asked over the phone.

"Nothing. He'll play his game, and we'll play ours. His noodles aren't as tasty as they used to be, and that's not something a change of CEO can fix."

In mid-October, Shunyi Foods' monthly sales exceeded Nongshim's for the first time. It was for a single month, not the annual total, but it was the first time since Sunyi's founding that its sales surpassed Nongshim's. Once the news broke, media headlines were everywhere: 'Shunyi Foods' Monthly Sales Surpass Nongshim, Industry Landscape Shifts,' 'Nongshim's Fifty-Year Dominance Shaken,' 'Has the Chairman Wang Shunyi Era Arrived?' Chairman Wang Shunyi read a few reports and turned off his phone. He didn't care about the headlines; he cared about whether the market share could rise a bit more next month.

Park Min-ji pushed the sales forecast for next month to him. Her forecasting model showed that the Alliance's share would reach forty-two point five percent next month, while Nongshim's would drop to forty-two percent, resulting in a tie. If they tied next month, there would be a chance to overtake them by the end of the year.

"Minji, do you believe in this model?"

"The model is a tool. Tools don't make mistakes, but human assumptions do."

"Then what is your assumption?"

"The assumption is that Nongshim's consumers won't return just because Park Jung-chul is back. Once they're gone, they're gone; they won't come back. Unless something goes wrong with our products. But our products won't have problems."

"They won't," Chairman Wang Shunyi said firmly. He didn't often make such absolute statements, but he did this time.

In November, a minor accident occurred at the Shunyi Foods factory. The sealing temperature of a packaging machine on one production line was too high, resulting in three hundred bags of fire chicken noodles being improperly sealed. A quality inspector discovered the issue during a spot check, and the production line was halted for two hours to investigate. Finally, it was discovered that a sensor wire was loose. Lee Jae-hoon slammed the table during a meeting and scolded the Production Section Chief for ten minutes.

Chairman Wang Shunyi called Lee Jae-hoon after learning about it. "Brother Jae-hoon, now that you're done scolding, is the problem solved?"

"It's solved. We changed sensor suppliers. The original one had unstable product batches."

"What about the three hundred bags of noodles?"

"All the improperly sealed ones were destroyed; not a single bag was left. We checked the entire process from raw materials to finished products, and no other batches had issues."

"Well done."

This accident was not leaked. Consumers didn't know, distributors didn't know, and the media certainly didn't know. But Chairman Wang Shunyi knew, Lee Jae-hoon knew, and everyone on the production line knew. Shunyi Foods' quality system was reinforced through this minor accident.

On December 15th, Park Min-ji reported the year-end data at the board meeting. When the PPT flipped to the last page, she herself was momentarily stunned. The screen displayed a line of bold numbers: Market Share: Sunyi Alliance forty-four percent, Nongshim Foods forty-three percent. Other brands combined: thirteen percent.

No one spoke in the meeting room. It was so quiet that the ticking of the wall clock could be heard. Then Choi Jae-won stood up. He didn't applaud, and he didn't speak; he just looked at Chairman Wang Shunyi. After a few seconds, he reached out and shook Chairman Wang Shunyi's hand. "President, you won."

Zhang Junhao called in from Singapore, his voice so loud it was distorted. "President, we've reached the top!" Chairman Wang Shunyi said into the camera, "It's not the top; we've just reached the foot of the mountain," and then hung up.

After the meeting adjourned, Chairman Wang Shunyi stood alone by his office window. The Seoul night sky was hazy, with no stars visible. He stood there for a long time, until his legs went numb and he still didn't move.

Park Min-ji pushed the door open, holding a cup of hot Americano, and placed it on his desk. "President, it's time to go home."

"You go first. I'll stay a bit longer."

She stood at the door and didn't move. "Three years ago, when you said you'd become the largest food group in South Korea, everyone thought you were bragging. Today you did it. But you're not smiling."

"It's not that I'm not smiling, I just can't. Now that I've reached the top, I've found there's nothing here."

She walked to his side and also looked out the window. "It's not that there's nothing at the top; it's that this isn't your top."

He turned his head to look at her. The LED lights behind her were so bright they didn't seem real.

"Let's go, home," he said.