Chapter 683: Wine Sea

Su Xinghui reached out his hand and said: "You are Factory Director Chen, right?"

The middle-aged man quickly reached out both hands, held Su Xinghui's hand and shook it: "Hello, Town Mayor Su, I am the factory director of the winery, Chen Xiangui."

This Chen Xiangui was the cousin of Discipline Inspection Secretary Chen Xianyi. However, in this situation, Su Xinghui naturally wouldn't say in public that he had a relationship with Chen Xianyi. Although Chen Xiangui also knew that Chen Xianyi supported Su Xinghui, he wouldn't say anything in public either.

Su Xinghui said: "Hello, I am here today to take a look at your winery."

Chen Xiangui said: "Good, good, then let's go to my office to sit for a while, and I will report the situation of our winery to the Town Mayor."

Su Xinghui nodded, followed Chen Xiangui and several other factory leaders with Liu Yongjun, and came to Chen Xiangui's factory director office.

Chen Xiangui personally poured tea for Su Xinghui and Liu Yongjun, invited them to sit down, and then said: "Town Mayor, you just took office and came to our winery. This is the importance you attach to our winery!"

Su Xinghui smiled: "Can I not attach importance to it? Your winery has always been the largest enterprise in Pengjiawanzhen, so I naturally have to come to you first to take a look."

Chen Xiangui shook his head: "Sigh, it's my incompetence. Now the situation of the winery is getting worse year by year."

Chen Xiangui introduced the current situation of the winery to Su Xinghui. Pengjiawan Winery was originally the most prosperous enterprise in Pengjiawanzhen. In the most prosperous years a few years ago, the annual output could reach more than 1,000 tons of Pengwan Shangjun Shangjun Daqu, and the output value reached 3 to 4 million, accounting for nearly 20% of the total output value of Pengjiawan.

At that time, Pengwan Shangjun Shangjun Daqu sold very well. It sold very well in the surrounding counties and cities, and even in Jiangcheng, because the taste of Pengwan Shangjun Shangjun Daqu was quite good. When many families held wedding banquets, they would put Pengwan Shangjun Shangjun Daqu on the table.

In recent years, the domestic white spirit market has become more and more popular, but the sales of Pengwan Shangjun Shangjun Daqu have been getting worse year by year. Although the sales of Pengjiawan Winery have not decreased due to price increases, due to the increasing backlog of products,

the profit margin of the winery is getting lower and lower. By last year, it was just breaking even. If it continues like this, I am afraid it will lose money.

Now the factory has to backlog at least 100 to 200 tons of products every year. In order to reduce costs, the factory has begun to reduce production. Fortunately, white spirit is something that won't deteriorate if it can't be sold, but it will only improve the quality of white spirit.

Su Xinghui asked: "Factory Director Chen, have you summarized what the reason for the sluggish sales of Pengwan Shangjun Shangjun Daqu is now? Or rather, what is the reason for Pengjiawan Winery falling into a predicament?"

Chen Xiangui said: "We have also thought about this reason. The two main reasons are: the first is the rise in costs, and the second is the decline in sales."

The two factors mentioned by Chen Xiangui are also factors encountered by all state-owned enterprises in the 1990s, which is a very common phenomenon. Su Xinghui nodded after listening.

Chen Xiangui said: "There are many reasons for the rise in costs: the rise in raw material prices, the rise in workers' wages, the decline in workers' labor productivity, the increase in retired workers leading to an increase in retirement wages, aging equipment, increasingly backward production technology and processes, etc., all can lead to a rise in costs."

"The reason for the decline in sales is mainly the intensification of market competition. Now there are more and more white spirit brands on the market, many of which are advertising on TV stations. The market competitiveness of our Pengwan Shangjun Shangjun Daqu is also declining day by day, and some old customers have also been lost."

"The problems in the factory are mainly these two. We have also thought of many ways to solve them, but the effect of these methods is very limited."

There are many unspoken meanings in Chen Xiangui's words. Su Xinghui also knows that in front of so many people, Chen Xiangui cannot say some things.

Before coming, Su Xinghui had done his homework and learned about some situations from the side. Pengjiawan Winery is the largest enterprise in the town, so naturally, the burden is the heaviest. The taxes and profits stipulated by the state are already heavy, and the town government and some units in the town often reach out to the winery. Some expenses that are not convenient for them to list are all listed by the winery. Every year, the expenses in this regard alone are not small.

Moreover, after the previous factory directors of the winery finished their terms, they all built buildings at home. This is the phenomenon of "poor temple, rich abbot." One of the factory directors is the current Executive Deputy Town Mayor, Yang Huakai.

Chen Xiangui came to be this factory director, also less than a year, and it was after the winery went downhill that he became this factory director. Originally, he was the workshop director of the factory.

In short, in the environment of Pengjiawanzhen, it is difficult for Chen Xiangui to reverse the decline of the winery.

Su Xinghui saw that while Chen Xiangui was talking, Liu Yongjun was recording in a notebook. In fact, Su Xinghui did not order him to do so. He could take the initiative to do so. This young man is still very intentional. Su Xinghui nodded secretly.

Su Xinghui didn't say anything in front of Chen Xiangui and others. He said to Chen Xiangui: "Factory Director Chen, then take me to the workshop to see."

Chen Xiangui took Su Xinghui and Liu Yongjun to the workshop. In the workshop, there was a strong aroma of steamed grain and the aroma of wine. The workers were carrying out the brewing process of wine: mixing, loading the steamer, spreading and drying, producing wine, receiving wine...

Su Xinghui was seeing the process of brewing wine for the first time. He looked curiously at the workers in the workshop who were shirtless, wearing only a pair of loincloths, as if they had taken him back to ancient times, stirring the wine mash rhythmically with wooden shovels, and looked curiously at the workers receiving the wine in jars and transporting them to the wine cellar. ===== CHAPTER 685 =====