This summer, due to the continuous high temperature, the ice factory business is particularly good, and multiple ice factories have ice cubes and in short supply. Some time ago, a news report that "a young man in Sichuan sold ice cubes at high temperatures and earned more than 10,000 yuan a day" caused heated discussion. The reporter asked several ice factory owners to verify that the reply was: Such income is entirely possible, even more than that.
A layman is jealous, but Suzhou Bao Baichuan (pseudonym), the owner of an ice factory in Suzhou, thinks to change his career. After earning money this summer, he planned to transfer the ice factory at a low price. The transfer information was posted for half a month. Many people have consulted and asked about the factory's operating conditions and profit model in detail, but they all backed down and those who are willing to take over have not appeared for a long time.
This makes people wonder, is the ice factory considered a good business?
Business is booming, high temperatures
51-year-old Yu Ganghong has invested in two ice factories in Songjiang, Shanghai. The ice factory started construction in early July this year. Within two days of construction, the ice orders flew over like snowflakes and suddenly the orders broke. The machine that originally needed to stop the heat dissipation every 10 hours could only operate 24 hours, and the workers worked in three shifts. Yu Ganghong installed 3 air conditioners for the ice factory to help the machine cool down. Even so, the orders were still not available, so he could only refuse to drop a batch.
During the hottest days, Yu Ganghong "moved" ice emergency from Yancheng, Jiangsu Province. The freezer truck was transported here, and the transportation cost of each piece of ice was 40 yuan. The business in Baobaichuan factory was also booming. When the production capacity could not keep up, he looked for ice from Wenzhou and Taizhou in Zhejiang, transported using refrigerated truck , drove for 7 hours, and transported the ice to Suzhou. The freight averaged, and the cost of each piece of ice ex-factory increased by 10 yuan.
is in short supply, so the price of ice cubes will naturally be high. Generally speaking, the specifications of ice cubes produced by ice making factories are relatively uniform, with 50 kilograms per piece. The production cost in summer is less than 10 yuan, and the lower in winter is 5 yuan per piece, and the ex-factory price is 20 yuan. This year is quite special, with the price rising to 30 yuan. When the temperature is at its highest, the market retail price can be sold for 50 yuan or even 60 yuan. By this calculation, even if Yu Ganghong and Bao Baichuan transport ice from other places to sell, they can still make money.
Where does the market demand come from? Yu Ganghong remembers that he initially felt the strong market demand. Before this year's Shanghai college entrance examination, in order to cope with sudden power outages and other situations, it was a routine operation to prepare some ice cubes in major examination halls. However, the exam time this year was delayed and the weather was particularly hot, and the amount of ice cubes increased by seven or eight times compared with previous years. Later, due to the need for epidemic prevention and control, some farmers' markets were not open. The stall owners were doing business on the roadside and had to purchase additional ice to prevent heat from themselves, and also keep fresh agricultural and sideline products such as vegetables and meat. In addition, after the normalization of epidemic prevention and control in Shanghai, ice is also needed at each nucleic acid sampling point, which mainly cools down outdoor staff. These are all new special needs this year.
The regular ice scene still exists. For example, in order to reduce costs, the vegetable base does not require a refrigerated truck to transport vegetables, but breaks ice and sprinkle it on the vegetable leaves. In this way, even if it is transported in a conventional van, the leaves will not turn yellow. There are also factories with large factory areas and large labor, such as glass factories, machinery factories, mold factories, etc. After the temperature rises to 38 degrees, the air conditioner and refrigeration cup will drop in the bucket. Almost only workers who are directly blown by the cold wind can feel the cold. The factory will also purchase ice cubes every day and rely on physical methods to cool down.
has a hot sales and a large profit margin. This summer, all ice manufacturers have made a lot of money. Baobaichuan's ice factory is only open for one season a year. Only in July and August can the machine run its full strength, producing 1,000 ice cubes a day, making more than 300,000 yuan in the past two months. Yu Ganghong's ice factory produces more and earns more. One of them can produce more than 13,000 pieces of ice every day, with a total of about 320 tons, and its monthly income may reach 8 million yuan. Because the operating conditions in the summer are very good, excluding various expenses, he expects to make an annual surplus of more than 3 million yuan.
is not a good business
ice factory has never received as much attention as this year. When the reporter found Yu Ganghong, he had accepted more than 20 interviews. In addition to the news media, there are also many businessmen who consulted him about the ice making industry. "But after careful investigation, they were all persuaded to withdraw." Bao Baichuan had already posted the transfer information of the ice making factory on his social platform, and had not yet waited for the person who was willing to take over.
At first glance, the ice factory business is very attractive. Ice cubes costing 10 yuan can also be sold for 20 yuan in off-season, which has a lot of profit margin. In addition, customers who need to supply ice cubes are generally factories or fresh food wholesalers, with relatively stable customer sources and no worries about not having business. Furthermore, ice cubes are in high demand in summer and factory orders are small in winter. As long as you are busy for two or three months, the annual revenue will be settled. But surprisingly, after chatting with the ice factory owner, they complained.
In the past two months, Wang Haifang, the owner of another ice making factory in Suzhou, worked almost 20 hours a day. "It's too hard and tiring." Wang Haifang said that the market is booming, the machines are constantly stopping 24 hours a day, and the pace is too fast. "The previous batch of ice cubes has just been transported onto the vehicle, and the next batch of ice cubes will leave the factory again." The workers work in three shifts, and the boss almost has to keep watching in the factory to ensure the smooth delivery of the order. The main reason why
is that the investment in building a factory is too large. Wang Haifang started the ice making business in 2012, with an investment of about 3 million yuan in start-up capital, and subsequently, the annual factory rent is hundreds of thousands and the electricity bill is more than 1 million yuan. He simply calculated the calculations and found that the factory was built for 10 years and the cost had not been recovered. Even so, he still insisted and was reluctant to let go. "The machine is scrap iron when it is removed. I invested so much money, so I am so unwilling to accept it." Wang Haifang said that in order to support the factory, he opened up side jobs, and when he was not busy, he did logistics and distribution of agricultural and sideline products.
In April 2019, Yu Ganghong entered the ice making industry, but has lost more than 20 million yuan. Where did the money be spent? Yu Ganghong listed it to reporters one by one: about 800,000 yuan in purchase and placement of transformers, more than 2 million yuan in 4 cables as thick as thighs, more than 3 million yuan in 6 ice making equipment, as well as calcium chloride , ice buckets, steel plates, insulation cotton , cranes... The business was good in the first year, and he earned nearly 2 million yuan. Yu Ganghong suddenly became confident and took out 8.7 million yuan to acquire an ice making factory with a larger output, and then spent millions of dollars to update the equipment. Unexpectedly, due to the impact of the epidemic, sales continued to decline, and in the most difficult time, his house was sold.
Baobaichuan established an ice factory in 2017. It has been 5 years since he said that this is the first time he has made money this year. "This industry is purely about the weather." Bao Baichuan repeatedly emphasized to reporters the impact of temperature on business. In the summer of 2021, there are few high temperature days, only about 10 days, and ice cubes cannot be sold. But what is more embarrassing is that in high temperature days, because the temperature is too high, the power of the compressor has dropped significantly and the output has shrunk significantly. "When you can sell it, you can't make it."
From November of that year to May of the following year, ice factories were doing money-lossing transactions. The market demand is very small, and there is a surplus in each batch of ice cubes. However, in order to retain workers and stabilize customers, many ice factories still choose to continue production. "Workers who can move 100 kilograms of ice and keep the ice intact while rolling are difficult to find are both physical and technical jobs." Yu Ganghong said that in this way, workers' wages, factory rents, and electricity bills incurred by machine operation are all quite expenses. After transferring the current factory, Baichuan may choose to change his career, and may purchase a batch of ice making equipment with higher automation and then open an ice making factory. Yu Ganghong also hesitated whether to close an ice factory. Later, he heard that Shanghai Songjiang might build a comprehensive large wholesale market. By then, the demand for ice cubes will be close to 20,000 pieces per day. When the market is built, it may have stable income all year round. However, no matter how hot the business is, they don’t want to encounter it again, as it continues to be hot as this year.
Workers are carrying ice cubes.
Workers are moving ice cubes to transport vehicles.
column editor: Kong Lingjun Text editor: Kong Lingjun Title source: Visual China Picture editor: Shao Jing
Source: Author: Gong Jiping Shao Lisha
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