Chapter 593: Public Apology

At 1:50 PM, at the Jiangzhou Winery, Gu Bing, Qian Zhen, Du Chun, and Man Hongshan walked into the Cultural Palace. The venue, which had been somewhat noisy, instantly fell silent.

Four of the seven directors of the Yugong Group had arrived. Although Zhou Andong did not appear, this was enough to prove that there must be something important to announce at this press conference.

Everyone's gaze followed the four as they moved onto the stage, but they did not sit down; instead, they bowed to the audience below.

The crowd below erupted in an uproar. Without saying a word, they had started by bowing—what was going on? Everyone was bewildered, but their hands were not idle; camera shutters clicked frantically, and flashbulbs flashed wildly.

Gu Bing, Qian Zhen, and Du Chun sat down, while Man Hongshan remained standing and picked up the microphone.

"Thank you all for coming, members of the media." Man Hongshan was the Vice Chairman and General Manager of Xurishi, so he had to be the one to make the announcement.

"First of all, as the Vice Chairman of Yugong Group and General Manager of Xurishi, I want to apologize to the people of the whole country and to the consumers of Xurishi Iced Black Tea."

The reporters below could no longer sit still. The questions in their hearts were growing, and they were certain that something big had happened—something definitely not small.

Man Hongshan continued: "Just this morning, we received a report from our Zhumadian office in Henan Province that a batch of iced black tea had quality issues; the water had an off-odor and contained flocculent sediment."

The reporters below were all stunned. The Jiangzhou Winery was the only nationally renowned enterprise in the province; it was not just the pride of the people of Jiangzhou, but for most of those present, it was also a source of great pride.

Especially after the seven major beverage factories were acquired by the two colas, Zhou Andong had shouldered the banner of national beverages single-handedly and declared war on the two colas. They had been helping Zhou Andong cheer and shout all along.

When the iced black tea was launched, they were the first to support it. When the iced black tea sold well, they were excited along with it. Before coming to the press conference, many of them had even bought iced black tea to drink on the way.

But now, Man Hongshan actually said that the iced black tea had quality issues, which made their hearts sink to the bottom, and expressions of disbelief appeared on their faces.

"The moment we received the report, we immediately reported it to the Chairman, Comrade Zhou Andong, and at the same time ordered the Xurishi office in Zhumadian, Henan Province, to immediately pull all problematic iced black tea from the shelves.

We also ordered the Quality Inspection and Patrol Team to launch an investigation, all to be completed under the public eye. We will investigate the beverage quality issues from the source and make the results and basis of the investigation public.

Secondly, we will find the root cause of the problem, immediately rectify it, seriously deal with the relevant responsible persons, and publicly destroy the existing unqualified products. We will provide compensation or subsidies to customers who have already consumed the product.

We will also strengthen corporate culture promotion and production system training for employees, vigorously rectify corporate management systems, and establish a responsibility system so that everyone assumes responsibility for food safety. We must never let problematic products leave the factory again."

Man Hongshan's words were sonorous and powerful. They made the hearts of the reporters below, which had sunk to the bottom, suddenly float back up, and they were once again full of confidence in the future of iced black tea.

"Vice Chairman Man!" Shang Hui raised her hand. "With such a major quality issue with the iced black tea, you did not avoid it or hide it; we have seen your sincerity. What will be your key work moving forward?"

Man Hongshan said: "In addition to investigating the root cause of the problem clearly, the next step is to compensate the consumers who purchased the problematic products."

Shang Hui asked again: "What is the compensation plan?"

Man Hongshan said: "We are already tracking down the problematic products that have been sold. All those that have not been consumed will be fully refunded. For those that have already been consumed, including complimentary drinks, we will compensate 200 yuan per bottle. In addition, we will provide an extra 500 yuan per person for medical check-ups and nutritional expenses."

This caused a sensation once again. 200 yuan compensation per bottle, plus an extra 500 yuan per person for medical and nutritional expenses—this was absolutely full of sincerity, something no other enterprise could achieve.

Immediately after, Man Hongshan answered a few more questions from reporters, and then Gu Bing, Qian Zhen, and Du Chun stood up and bowed to apologize again.

………………

Coca-Cola China Headquarters, conference room on the 15th floor of the Kaiyuan Building.

Zhao Hongxing and the others had been waiting all along, even eating their lunch in the conference room. It wasn't until 3:00 PM that the young man who went to investigate returned.

"Manager, except for Zhumadian, all offices in various regions have sent back messages that there are no problems with the iced black tea."

Zhao Hongxing was very disappointed, but he quickly pulled himself together: "It doesn't matter, this is already enough."

Jiang Yuping said: "Contact the media reporters who have a good relationship with us immediately. We will invite them to dinner."

The young man asked: "Where?"

Jiang Yuping said: "At the Cantonese restaurant across the street."

"Okay!" The young man left quickly.

At 5:30 PM, at the Cantonese restaurant across from the Kaiyuan Building, more than ten media reporters were sitting in the largest private room.

This was not the first time Coca-Cola had invited them, and there was no such thing as a free dinner in the world; inviting them naturally meant they had requests for them.

However, what they cared about was not what Coca-Cola wanted them to do, but how much "ink fee" (bribe) they could get this time.

Seeing that it was almost 6:00 PM, the door to the private room was pushed open, and Jiang Yuping walked in with two employees.

What surprised these "uncrowned kings" (reporters) was that one employee was holding a case of iced black tea, which they then placed on the table.

Jiang Yuping sat down with a smile and pointed at the iced black tea: "Is everyone wondering why I bought a case of iced black tea?"

A middle-aged man with thick glasses and stubble joked: "Indeed, Coca-Cola and Iced Black Tea are fighting tooth and nail. Manager Jiang, doing this is an act of aiding the enemy."

Jiang Yuping gave a wink to the two employees beside her. The two employees opened the case and handed a bottle of iced black tea to everyone.

"Everyone, open it and have a taste!"

These "uncrowned kings" were stunned. They had already drunk it when the iced black tea was launched, and several of them even liked it very much, buying it every day these past few days.

But these people were all sharp; Jiang Yuping asking them to drink it so solemnly must have a purpose.

The middle-aged man was the first to unscrew the cap, tilted his head, and took several gulps. Immediately after, his expression changed, and he spat out the last mouthful.

"This iced black tea has a problem. Could it be a counterfeit product?"

When the others heard this, they all opened theirs and tried a sip. Without exception, they all spat it out.

"What's going on?" One by one, they looked up at Jiang Yuping.

Jiang Yuping said with a smile: "This is not a counterfeit product; it is the genuine Xurishi Iced Black Tea. It's just that the product has serious quality issues."

Hearing Jiang Yuping say this, everyone's expressions changed.

One woman in her thirties said: "That's impossible. I bought a bottle this morning, and it was perfectly normal." ===== CHAPTER 594 =====