A month ago, the double standard gate incident caused a lot of controversy one day. Since the company issued its first statement on September 30, negative comments have increased instead of decreasing, and the market value fell by more than 10% within 12 days, evaporating 40 billion.
Just when the "Soy Sauce Leader" was deeply involved in public opinion, the "Oyster Sauce Big Boss" officially announced the change of coaches, and activated the former Alibaba deputy general manager Jingjie on October 10.
This old domestic brand with a history of 134 years can take advantage of the situation to pursue it, and take the lead in the seculars position in one fell swoop?
Behind the low-key inheritance, what kind of entrepreneurship glory and difficulties have the four generations of tribes experienced?
All of this has to start with a pot of baked oyster sauce. In the 1860s, the Qing Dynasty government was in internal and external troubles, grasping the last straw of the Westernization Movement, , and trying to revive the glory of China.
862, Empress Dowager Cixi listened to the strong recommendations of a number of Westernization representatives and set up the Beijing Tongwenguan in Beijing, and sent overseas students to study abroad and cultivate new talents.
In the same year, a business talent was born in Jiangmen, Guangdong and named Li Jinshang .
Bright clothes and gorgeous clothes, rooster clothes and feather clothes, which means beautiful, but unfortunately things went against your wishes.
Li Jinshang lost his father at a young age and depended on his mother since childhood, making a living by farming.
html When he was 118 years old, Li Jinshang was determined to serve the country, join the army as an exam, and ranked among the best in the results.
He returned home and was waiting for the recruitment of the army, but he did not want the disaster to come from the sky.
(Li Jinshang)
Because he was framed by jealousy, he was chased by local evil people and was almost dead.
In desperation, he and his family fled to Zhuhai Nanshui Ruins by boat and escaped.
There is no work and the fields, and Li Jinshang has nowhere to display his martial arts. He has to hide his name and open a small teahouse for fishermen who go out to sea for food and rest all year round, and can barely make a living.
People who practice martial arts are generous, and Li Jinshang's business methods are also not limited to trivial matters.
fishermen are not rich, and they often come to teahouses on credit to eat and drink, and then check out after they sell the fish.
Li Jinshang never urges him, and still serves him diligently, serving him with good rice and tea.
The end of 1 was the peak period for collection of accounts in all walks of life, but he tore up all the documents he received for the whole year.
Li Jinshang said to his son: Don’t let the bill become a burden to the next generation.
Later, the grandson realized the business philosophy from this story: to be profitable and others.
Xiao Xiao Tea Lao Although the profit of is small, the business is good under the care of the mother and son, and the fishermen in all villages like to deal with Li Jinshang.
However, not long after the good days, my mother passed away, leaving Li Jinshang alone to support the small business, which was really hard to do.
Arranged my mother, and at the suggestion of the villagers, Li Jinshang closed the teahouse and switched to boiled oysters and soybeans.
Nanshui Town is across the sea from Macau. The fishery is prosperous and oysters are abundant. The meat is plump. Many villagers make their fortune by helping people boil oysters and soybeans.
(Oyster fermented oysters)
Li Jinshang set up a big pot in the store, collecting oysters during the day and boiling them at night.
As the saying goes: A small wealth depends on hard work, and a great wealth depends on fate.
Li Jinshang is not only hardworking, but also has a good life.
885, when medical scientist John Pemberton was studying a drink that can make people replenish nutrition, he accidentally added a cup of soda water to the semi-finished syrup due to an assistant's operation error.
From then on, there was a bottle of medical syrup in the world and a can of Coca-Cola, which was popular all over the world.
, and Li Jinshang's story of creating wealth is similar.
One day, Li Jinshang turned on the fire as usual, first cooked the oysters, and then took them outside to dry.
, I was careless for a moment and forgot to turn off the fire, so I went to something else.
Wait for him to remember, and when he opened the pot, he saw a strong fragrance wafting out.
The oysters that should have been cooked and dried have been boiled into oyster sauce, rich and black, and a thick layer sinks to the bottom of the pot.
Li Jinshang reached out to dip it and it was salty, sweet and delicious, with endless aftertaste, and oyster sauce was born.
888, at the age of 26, he asked someone to write the three big words "Lee Kum Kee" and hang them on the door of his own store to open a century-old foundation.
(Oyster sauce)
original secret oyster sauce, and Li Jinshang is kind, so the business is booming.
For more than ten years, "Lee Kum Kee" has become famous and has walked out of the small Nanshui Town, attracting many merchants such as Jiangmen , Guangzhou, and Macau.
Li Jinshang became famous in one fell swoop, treating Nanshui as a blessing institution, and preparing to settle here for generations.
However, a natural disaster disrupted his plans.
902, a sudden fire broke out in Nanshui Town, burning half of the street.
Lee Kum Kee, who had just become famous, was not spared and was burned to death.
In his forties, Li Jinshang took his family with his family and walked away again just like 22 years ago, moving across the sea to Macau, 50 kilometers away, to make another way to make a living.
At No. 611, Xinma Road, Macau, Lee Kumshang once again hung up the sign of "Lee Kum Kee" and returned to his old career. After
, the three sons also joined in to help the father share the affairs.
The eldest son Li Zhaorong was in poor health and mainly stayed in the store to welcome and send him off;
second son Li Zhaodeng was responsible for opening up the market and pushing the oyster sauce brand from Macau to overseas;
third son Li Zhaonan was dedicated to purchasing and operating, focusing on the front line of production.
Father and son are united, and their strength is to cut off gold.
After two generations of efforts, the family's career has created another glory, its products are sold well in Southeast Asia, and are popular in major cities in Europe and America.
922, the founder Li Jinshang passed away, leaving behind dozens of huge foundations and descendants, as well as the disaster of the dispute over family property.
Ten years later, the brothers moved their headquarters from Macau to Hong Kong, laying a store on Queen's Avenue in Central, becoming the first food manufacturer in Hong Kong, and their business grew bigger and bigger.
The old saying goes: Wealth cannot last for three generations.
For wealthy families, the key to the continuation of family career is sometimes not how to operate, but whether future generations can unite and not defeat their family.
Land King Ho Ying-Tong After the death of his death, 13 children broke up in lawsuits for the inheritance, and the city was full of quarrels.
Gambling King When Stanley Ho was still alive, the wife of the fourth wife staged a palace drama, which was well known to everyone.
Li Ka-shing once said that if there are more than 3 sons from Hong Kong's wealthy families, there will be problems in the end.
Li Jinshang is not much, he happens to have 3 sons.
But these three sons are not rich second generations who enjoy their success, but the second generation who has worked hard all the way with their father, so there is no problem. When it comes to
to grandchildren Li Wenda generation, the situation becomes complicated.
1929, Li Wenda was born in Macau, one year younger than Li Ka-shing, and has a younger brother and six sisters.
As the eldest son of Li Zhaonan in the third room, Li Wenda was not a regular candidate to inherit the throne from the very beginning.
Moreover, in order to avoid family disputes, his father Li Zhaonan specially sent him away and encouraged him to find another way and start his own business.
(Li Zhaonan)
945, the smoke of war had not yet dissipated. After Li Wenda dropped out of high school, he went to Guangzhou alone and rode a bicycle to help his family branch deliver goods to restaurants.
At that time, oyster sauce was sold for 80 cents per bottle, while the monthly salary of an ordinary worker was only about 10 Hong Kong dollars.
Li Wenda said, "It's enough to buy five bottles of oyster sauce, it's really expensive." Although
has high price, it's high quality, so there's no need to worry about sales.No matter how much money you can make
, it has nothing to do with Li Wenda at that time.
A few years later, he returned to Macau and opened his own factory to do foreign trade in cosmetics, umbrellas, toys, wallets, etc., and developed in a very good way.
At the same time, my father's relationship with his two elder brothers in Hong Kong has become increasingly tense.
International and domestic wars continue, and the Li family's business will inevitably be affected.
Li Zhaorong and Li Zhaodeng advocate conservative strategies and oppose expansion and development;
Li Zhaonan, who is more businessman-oriented, believes that wealth and honor are in danger, and should take advantage of the situation to spread goods and occupy the market.
After several arguments, Li Zhaonan took into account the brotherly relationship and said no more, but the seeds of the rift between the two sides had been planted.
954, Li Zhaonan recalled Li Wenda, who had been out for many years, to return to Hong Kong and officially join the family group.
Li Wenda was a filial son. He obeyed his father's orders again and gave up his prosperous business in Macau. He waved his sleeves and left no leaves, but only took away a beautiful woman.
(Li Wenda and Cai Meiling)
This beauty has a surname, named Cai, and is from a famous family. She still retains the imperial edict issued by the Qing Dynasty emperor to the Cai family, and is rich and noble.
How did Li Wenda, a civilian, get into the eyes of a wealthy family, and how did he embrace the beautiful woman?
Outsiders believe that it is just based on two simple words: fate.
Cai Meiling is 5 days older than Li Wenda, and both of them are from the same midwife.
At their prime, they were studying in the same school and gradually became familiar with each other.
However, Li Wenda believes that he is more in his work and praises himself for his courage to pursue him, so he will be happy to have a good marriage.
After marriage, they gave birth to four sons and one daughter, and they have been in love for decades.
Li Wenda's boldness is not only reflected in love, but also in career choices.
He inherited his father's enterprising spirit, vigorously advocated further development of overseas trade, proposed to open up a market for medium and low-priced oyster sauce, develop new products, and blossom on all sides.
, but my uncle was indifferent to the advice of the young boy, and thought it was good to eat the old man while lying down.
different things and do not plan for each other, and the battle to split up is about to break out.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Hong Kong's social turmoil was turbulent, riots continued, the real estate market stock prices plummeted, and the economic situation was bleak.
Everyone in the business world is in danger, fearing that if you don’t pay attention, you will become the target of the gang, and you will lose both your money and your wealth.
Li's big house and second house had the idea of immigration, intending to sell all the property in Hong Kong and Macao and retire and take refuge.
So, they proposed to split the family with their third brother Li Zhaonan. Either he paid for the two brothers to buy the shares, or they would break up the ancestral property one or two or three, and each would be safe.
At that time, the company's valuation was 6.9 million Hong Kong dollars. If Li Zhaonan wanted to take over the shares of the other two companies, he would have to pay out 4.6 million.
Li Zhaonan couldn't afford so much money for the moment, and he really couldn't bear to lose his family business that his father had built.
He was raising money everywhere while begging his brothers, but it was useless.
After half a year of stalemate, because the two houses were in a hurry to cash out and went abroad, they reluctantly agreed to let Li Zhaonan pay in installments and finally handed over all the shares.
972, members of the three-bedroom house signed a separation agreement.
At this time, Li Zhaonan was old and authorized his eldest son to independently undertake all equity .
3-year-old Li Wenda officially entered a high position and took over the household business.
He had seen his father's brothers turn against each other and deeply realized the hard-earned family business, so he was very fond of family affection.
But unfortunately, I failed to learn from my lessons, so I repeated the same mistakes in the future.
Let the relationship aside in advance. The most urgent task at the moment is to engage in production and seek development.
Li Wenda's first big move after taking power was related to the US president.
This year, Nixon visited China and received two giant pandas, which gave Li Wenda the inspiration to expand the US market.
National Treasure One Time to reach Washington National Zoo , which attracted the attention of countless foreigners, setting a record of the highest number of visitors since its establishment. The American public has designated this year as the "Year of Pandas".
Before this, Americans had never seen giant pandas, nor had the habit of eating oyster sauce. Since the charm of "black and white dumplings" is so great, why not take advantage of the IP and take advantage of the momentum?
is very creative, but few people understand it.
family members almost unanimously opposed it. Firstly, because their products have been on a high-end route, and now they need to develop medium- and low-priced brands, which is contrary to their original intention.
Secondly, naming food with animals is unhygienic and afraid of affecting sales.
Li Wenda recalled: "They all said that your cat brand is not good, how can animals make food signatures?"
After he explained with great thoughts, "This is a panda, not a cat", many people still shook their heads.
Fortunately, he is the butler of the matter and can make decisions on his own. The "Panda brand oyster sauce" launched by
was indeed difficult to sell at the beginning.
is not because consumers don’t like it, but because dealers are worried and dare not buy goods.
Li Wenda personally made a move and promised the middlemen: get the goods first, sell them out, and then check out.
Others want one box, but he sends two boxes; if he asks five boxes, he gives ten boxes.
Anyway, there are no worries, and the dealers are happy to receive the goods.
One by one, the containers covered with panda label oyster sauce set sail from the port freight and enter the US market.
The next situation is as Li Wenda expected: the
product quickly won a warm response, sales soared, and successfully took root in foreign countries.
(Li Wenda)
Once the order is available, production must also keep up.
975, Li Wenda bought the land in Huangzhukeng, Hong Kong, built a factory, expanded the scale, and provided logistical support for the subsequent research and development of a series of new products.
980, Li Wenda had passed the year of knowing destiny and it was time to cultivate the next generation of successors.
Li Wenda's four sons and one daughter were selected during his studies, including food science and technology, chemical engineering, corporate management and finance, etc.
did not interfere or make a decision on the choice of children. He only said one sentence:
It is good to read anything, and come back to be a helper after reading it.
Without saying much, click on it and understand everything.
The eldest son Li Huimin came back first and became the first fourth generation to participate in the family business.
-son Li Huixiong followed closely, tailoring a marketing and publicity system for the company, greatly improving the penetration rate of the product in the North American market .
Then, daughter Li Meiyu and two youngest sons Li Huizhong and Li Huisen joined one after another, and the family's power and ability became increasingly powerful.
(Li Wenda and his sons)
people have many people and are most afraid of being a split.
Li Wenda has experienced it once, but she doesn't want her children to act for him again.
However, he can control the younger generation, but he can't control the peers.
984, Li Wenle, the younger brother who has always been diligent, suddenly proposed to split up.
Li Wenda was not panicked and was confused: Why?
Speaking of his younger brother who is 15 years younger than him, he consciously has a clear conscience and has no debts.
When Li Wenda was still running his foreign trade factory in Macau, Li Wenle, who was studying in elementary school, came to the factory to eat and live with each other, and the two had a good relationship.
After Li Wenle graduated from high school, under the recommendation of his sister-in-law Cai Meiling, he joined Hang Seng Bank and, under the help of Cai, married the daughter of the big boss of Macau Cake Ji as his wife.
Back then, when my parents split up for the first time, Li Wenle took out all his savings to help him redeem his shares in order to support his elder brother.
Although the money is not much, it is rare to have a heart.
Later, with the sincerity of Li Wenda, Li Wenle quit his stable work in the bank and went to the company to help his eldest brother manage the home business.
Li Wenda never thought that his younger brother would suddenly "turn his face".
Perhaps, this is a dangerous move that Li Wenle took for fear that his life would not last long.
Because two years ago, he was found to have nasopharyngeal cancer , and his life and death are uncertain.
In order to arrange the future life of his wife and children, Li Wenle did not hesitate to break up with his closeest family.
(Li Wenda)
The palms and backs of hands are all flesh. After his father Li Zhaonan's persuasion with tears in his eyes, he proposed to split the family:
The elder brother Li Wenda accounts for 60%, and the younger brother Li Wenle accounts for 40%.
Reasonablely, as an absolute manager, Li Wenda made an indispensable contribution and could completely hold more shares;
Although Li Wenle is diligent in doing things, he did not take on major responsibilities and gave too much.
Li Wenda had no objection to his father's arrangements. He just hoped that the whole family would handle the matter well. However, Li Wenle was not happy and asked that it must be divided equally.
is a 10% battle, and the Li family once again went to court.
Li Wenle is unkind and abides by the law. He follows the lawyer's advice and threatens to liquidate the company, slandering a number of decisions, making things more and more turbulent.
even caused the factory to be unsustainable due to equity disputes and was shut down for half a year.
7-year-old Li Wenda was exhausted and fell ill for a while, but still refused to give in.
In the end, this two-year dispute was reached under mediation by multiple parties. Li Wenle accepted the plan for the 64th share and asked for 80 million yuan to transfer the equity.
At that time, the company had just signed a large factory in Dapu, Guangdong, and expanded rapidly, with a shortage of money;
In the US market, due to the implementation of credit sales, funds were recovered slowly.
In short, it just doesn’t have much money.
At this moment, Li Wenda suddenly took so much money to protect the family business, which was really difficult.
The eldest son Li Huimin recalled that his father "was hit a big blow at that time. His main energy was to deal with the matter of dividing the family and he could not do any business."
Finally, the old story repeated, and Li Wenda repurchased Li Wenle's equity in the form of installments and left behind the ancestral property.
Li Wenle's family immigrated to Canada and from then on both sides of the Qing Dynasty.
It is said that during the two years of entanglement in the lawsuit, Li Wenle regretted it and asked someone to admit his mistake to his elder brother.
But Li Wenda was heartbroken and ignored it: "Since the cup has been cracked, it's boring to come back."
After two disasters, Li Wenda made up his mind and decided to make family rules himself.
986, under the leadership of Li Wenda, the company has survived many crises and ushered in a brighter spring.
1988, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Lijia Jiye, its headquarters moved to Dapu Industrial Village, covering an area of 33,000 square meters and employing more than 400 people.
994, the product won the " Governor-General Industrial Award - Quality Award of the Industrial Department" from Hong Kong Industry Association .
In the same year, according to the Hong Kong retail survey report, the market share of Li Ji oyster sauce reached 88%, convenient sauce accounted for 70%, and chili sauce accounted for 37%, both of which were the first market share.
From 1996, 90% of the products were sold overseas, distributed on 5 continents and more than 60 countries, becoming a world-renowned national enterprise.
In 2012, Lijia products helped Shenzhou Nine Flying Space and became the designated sauce supplier for Astronaut .
Next year, a number of seasonings were taken on the spacecraft again to participate in the meal mission of Shenzhou 10 , and won the title of "Aerospace Partner" and the "China Aerospace Industry Contribution Award".
For more than 20 years, Lee Kum Kee has maintained a stable growth rate of 25% and has never suffered a loss.
Its share in the domestic condiment industry ranks second, closely behind Haitian, and has a strong future.
The biggest contributor to all these achievements is Li Wenda.
The family management system he founded is just like the company team, relaxed and righteous, and emphasizes three rules.
As early as 2003, Li Wenda prepared for the family committee, with seven core members: himself, his wife, and five children.
The committee holds a meeting every three months, each meeting lasts for five days, not talking about official affairs, only talking about feelings.
He believes that everything will prosper. If the family and business want to develop in the long term, he must formulate a family constitution and make a century-old enterprise more and more spiritual in terms of system.
He has three special regulations on the child's private life: do not get married late, do not divorce, and do not have extramarital affairs.
will automatically exit the board of directors once it is violated.
If some other bigwig families allocate equity or property according to this standard, there will probably be many second-generation losers who will be eliminated in dismay.
Li Wenda not only arranged clearly for the next generation, but also had clear requirements for the fifth generation:
Family members must first work in an outside company for 3-5 years before they can enter the internal position, apply for and assessment procedures, just like job seekers who are not relatives or bad.
At the same time, "educated" and learned profound lessons from the two separations. Li Wenda stipulated that
Group must be controlled by the family . If someone withdraws from the company for some reason, he must hand over all shares.
He once said: This family law can ensure that the descendants can enjoy the joy of family while working hard to create value in life.
In July 2021, Hong Kong oyster sauce king Li Wenda, after arranging everything he could do for the company and his tribe, passed away safely with the company of his family at the age of 91.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam issued a condolences, calling him a "successful businessman and outstanding industrialist".
After Li Wenda's death, the Li family, represented by his wife Li Cai Meiling, had a wealth of 120 billion yuan last year.
Nowadays, Li's family has handed over the baton to the fourth generation, running well and moving forward steadily.
Li Wenda's entrepreneurial spirit of "Sili and others" will lay a solid foundation for this century-old enterprise and benefit generations of future generations.
Author: Zhu Xiaolu & Wenshan
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