When Liu Weiping was selling spicy strips,
the oldest group of people born in the 1990s were less than 10 years old.
People’s lives have just improved,
but the types of snack products for children on the market are still very limited.
Therefore, spicy strips that stimulate taste buds are children’s favorite.
Prior to this, there were already various spicy strips produced by various small workshops in the small shops at the entrance of various schools.
As an "intruder", Liu Weiping first established himself as a small workshop owner.
Four years later, the production of spicy strips surged, and Weilong was born.
Eighteen years later, two brothers, Liu Weiping and Liu Fuping,
were listed on the Hurun Report, becoming the second billionaire in Henan and the first in Luohe.
People say that the success of brothers Liu Weiping and Liu Fuping is a model of grassroots counterattack.
Some people also say that although Liu Weiping is a young man from a small town, he single-handedly created his own spicy strips empire.
Liu Weiping was born in Pingjiang, Hunan in 1978.
After graduating from high school in his early years, he went south to Guangdong to work hard.
But Liu Weiping soon discovered that working in Shenzhen was just a "human battery" for his boss.
I heard that a fellow from Hunan started a business, and this young man was eager to try it.
But what should we do?
At that time, Liu Weiping might not have thought that a special food from
's hometown would become his biggest fuel in the future.
Pingjiang is located on the bank of Miluo River. Although it was a poor county in its early years,
the local area has a long history of making soybean products.
It is said that during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, Pingjiang dried soybean paste was once a tribute.
So in Pingjiang, almost every household can make dried sauce.
Liu Weiping followed his mother since he was a child and also learned a good skill.
Nowadays, when talking about the history of Liu Weiping's fortune, the great flood of 1998 will be mentioned.
The floods once reduced the soybean harvest in the south.
The necessary raw material for making dried sauce is soybeans.
The reduction in production caused the price of soybeans to skyrocket from more than 70 cents per catty to 1.51 catties that year.
The raw materials are twice as expensive, and small workshops that make dried sauce cannot afford them.
For this reason, some master craftsmen who make dried sauce thought of using flour instead of soybeans.
Flour can be made into gluten, and after slight changes,
can be made into almost the same dried soybean products.
There is sufficient supply of flour on the market, and production costs have dropped significantly.
In addition, the newly made products taste good,
so this new product that replaces soybeans quickly spread in the Pingjiang area.
But soon the locals realized that wheat was not produced in the Pingjiang area.
Even if there was an adequate supply of flour, it had to be purchased from other places.
The transportation link in the middle would also increase unnecessary costs. What to do with
? Naturally, we go to the place where the raw materials are produced.
As a result, many people from Pingjiang began to move northward, and soon set their sights on Henan.
Henan is not only rich in wheat, but also has convenient transportation and sufficient human resources.
Just like that, a snack made of wheat. After being made by Pingjiang people,
quickly appeared on the market like a prairie fire.
There are rumors in the world that more than 90% of the operators of this new food are from Pingjiang.
At that time, the product was still produced in the form of small workshops.
has no unified packaging, no trademark, or even an official name.
So, people called it spicy strips based on its taste and shape.
There is also a saying that the product produced at that time was not the spicy strips that were common on the market later.
The common spicy strip product styles on the market were gradually improved and formed after Liu Weiping started his business.
No matter which way you say it, one thing is for sure, Liu Weiping is not the inventor of spicy strips.
However, he is definitely the one who will carry forward the spicy strips and create a large market.
It was against this background that at the age of 21, Liu Weiping also planned to start a business in the field of spicy noodles.
He also went north to Henan and set his sights on Luohe.
The reason why it is Luohe is because many domestic food companies have built factories in Luohe.
The industrial chain here is complete, and raw materials and labor are very cheap.
Of course, Liu Weiping, who had just started his own business, naturally had not thought about benchmarking against large food companies and companies.
At that time, he only thought that he would be satisfied if he could open a profitable workshop.
At first, Liu Weiping and his younger brother Liu Fuping,
produced and sold a series of soy products such as spicy strips, tofu skin, artificial meat and so on.
has a unique taste and has received a very good response from the market.
But starting a business can never be smooth sailing. Initially, he lost money because of lax cost accounting.
For this reason, his family strongly opposed him and his younger brother "acting" outside.
But Liu Weiping persisted.
In the blink of an eye, in 2001, Liu Weiping improved beef tendon noodles ,
added a new production process, and thus produced the spicy style that was later common on the market.
This was the real turning point in Liu Weiping's entrepreneurial career.
At this time, there are many spicy strip manufacturers, but they are basically in the form of small workshops.
From an initial perspective, Liu Weiping's goal has been achieved.
But he is not satisfied with this. What he wants is to put spicy strips on the production line.
To this end, Liu Weiping founded a food processing factory,
and launched new production lines and equipment in 2002,
, which also caused his production volume to surge.
Then in 2003, Liu Weiping officially registered the Weilong trademark.
In this way, Weilong Spicy Tiao was born.
It can be seen from this series of operations that Liu Weiping came with confidence and preparation. This combination of skills in the early days of
was not only reflected in production,
also did an outstanding job in marketing and promotion.
First of all, he hired a large number of local people and engaged in mass promotion tactics.
Supermarkets, schools, shopping malls, small shops...
As long as there are people, you will definitely see the posters of Weilong Spicy Tiao.
Secondly, Liu Weiping also accurately controlled the consumer groups of spicy noodles.
He knows very well that those who eat spicy strips on a daily basis are all primary school students.
costs 50 cents a pack, cheap and delicious.
Parents and teachers are almost like enemies to La Tiao.
Therefore, most of the time, when children eat spicy strips, they have to sneak them.
So, Liu Weiping started from the perspective of a child,
changed the original spicy strips, which were about ten centimeters, to a smaller size.
In this way, it is convenient for children to hide the spicy strips in their pockets.
In this way, through the expansion of production and marketing promotion, Weilong has firmly established a foothold in the market.
The next step for Liu Weiping was to lie down and count money.
However, the entire industry has faced the first wave of tests.
Previously, this market was full of blood, just due to fierce competition among peers.
Starting around 2004,
consumers’ distrust and doubts cast a shadow over the development of the entire industry.
At that time, some media exposed the illegal use of additives by some spicy noodle companies.
The rumors surrounding La Tiao gradually fermented, and even formed various unbelievable rumors for a time.
Many people born in the 80s and 90s must have heard such a legend.
The spicy strips are made of rat meat, and they are even full of corpse oil...
The resistance of parents, coupled with the distrust of many people,
resulted in the collapse of countless workshop-style enterprises.
Fortunately, Liu Weiping made arrangements in advance, and all the money he earned before was spent on transformation and upgrading.
While other factories still produce spicy strips manually or semi-automatically,
Liu Weiping's factory has purchased fully automatic equipment from Europe.
The output is guaranteed, and food safety is not afraid of external doubts and criticism.
Moreover, the company later established a quality inspection team,
specifically responsible for product quality monitoring and management.
So, while countless small workshops have collapsed,
Liu Weiping's spicy strips continue to be produced and are getting bigger and bigger.
Under the cruel competition, there were more than 2,000 spicy strip companies in their peak period.
After that, only more than 500 companies survived.
Some people say that Liu Weiping is a marketing master, but in fact, he is more far-sighted.
While the company is becoming bigger and stronger, Liu Weiping is not simply sticking to his roots.
What he especially knows is that in order to capture the mouths and stomachs of consumers at all times,
the company itself must also continue to innovate and change.
If Weilong before was just making a fortune in silence,
then with the advent of the Internet era,
Weilong has experienced another famous transformation.
In 2014, with the establishment of the company's new factory,
Liu Weiping invited a professional filming team to shoot a promotional video for the workshop's production.
People have eaten spicy strips for so many years, but they have never seen how spicy strips are produced.
When the promotional video was posted online, it immediately attracted a large number of onlookers.
So Liu Weiping struck while the iron was hot and invited Internet celebrities to the workshop to visit the live broadcast and experience it.
In 2015, Weilong Spicy Tiao went from offline to online.
The steady increase in online sales since then fully demonstrates that the company has broadened its consumer base.
Because for a long time, spicy strips have always been a snack for primary and middle school students.
Therefore, retailing spicy strips in small shops near the school seems to be the only way out.
After all, few adults would take the initiative to buy spicy strips.
The success of online marketing allowed Weilong to successfully win over the post-80s and post-90s generations.
In the past, these people ate spicy strips and were not happy eating them without telling their parents.
At this time, they have gradually become adults and are financially independent.
Originally, if Weilong did not carry out large-scale marketing on the Internet,
these former consumers would gradually drift away.
The far-sighted Liu Weiping not only successfully attracted them through the Internet, but the opening of
's online flagship store also allowed these young people who grew up eating spicy strips to continue to eat spicy strips.
So, this series of operations is so perfect.
In this way, Weilong Spicy Tiao stood out from hundreds of peers, and
gradually became known as an internet celebrity snack.
Today, Weilong’s spicy strips have become popular all over the country.
In the world of spicy noodles, no one can challenge Liu Weiping’s status as the boss.
According to market survey data,
more than 95% of Weilong’s consumers are under the age of 35.
Among them, 55% of consumers are under the age of 25.
Relying on a small spicy stick,
Liu Weiping, who started from scratch, not only made his younger brother Liu Fuping rich, but also made the entire family rich.
Within the company, the two brothers Liu Weiping and Liu Fuping rank first and second respectively.
The other core executives are also family members. Liu Zhongsi, executive director of
, is Liu Weiping’s cousin.
is mainly responsible for the overall research and development of the group.
Liu Zhongsi’s cousin Peng Hongzhi is responsible for the group’s financial and information technology management.
Chen Linsheng, another cousin of Liu Zhongsi, is responsible for supply chain and human resources.
It can be said that the Liu family relied on Wei Long to become a new wealthy businessman.
In 2018, Weilong’s annual revenue reached 2.752 billion yuan.
Two years later, annual revenue climbed to 4.12 billion yuan.
In 2021, the two brothers Liu Weiping and Liu Fuping, with a worth of 28 billion yuan,
, entered the Hurun Rich List and became the richest people in Luohe.
Netizens lamented that one can become a billionaire by selling spicy noodles.
At the same time, Weilong is also officially planning to go public.
In May of that year, Weilong submitted an IPO application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In the first round of financing of
, well-known investment institutions such as Tencent Capital, Sequoia Capital , and Hillhouse Capital were all listed.
However, last year's prospectus failed twice, and
's road to listing seems to be much more tortuous.
On June 27 this year, Weilong once again passed the Hong Kong Stock Exchange listing hearing, and was valued at as high as 60 billion.
However, according to the disclosure in the prospectus, after three consecutive years of growth,
Weilong's net profit growth has slowed down.
In 2021, the annual profit growth rate will be less than 1%.
In addition, due to the continued rise in raw material costs,
the price of Weilong spicy strips is also rising, which has caused great controversy.
Furthermore, the vulgar marketing incident in March this year also greatly damaged Weilong's image. The packaging of
's new product is suspected of being vulgar and marginal.
once caused great controversy on the Internet.
This incident also attracted the attention and intervention of the Luohe Municipal Administration for Market Regulation.
Since Weilong is seeking to go public, the development of the situation is particularly eye-catching.
Weilong later publicly apologized and stopped using the copywriting packaging that caused controversy.
As of now, the situation related to the listing is still unclear.
In the future, how will this leader in the spicy food world go on?
Both Liu brothers and the company itself are still young.
Therefore, it seems that everything is still unknown.
text|Twenty-two
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