Food: Selling Boxed Meals at a Construction Site

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: A Windfall

A few days ago, Xu An joined some Hai City group chats for the local workforce. He found a few potentially interested companies, but after discussing partnerships, they all fell through.

Some required him to front the costs for a month and only settle the bill at the end of it; others looked down on Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant for being a no-name shop and wouldn’t even consider it.

Of course, there were also those looking to skim off the top. One guy said he could persuade his company to order from the fast-food restaurant, as long as Xu An gave him a 1.50 commission per boxed meal. When Xu An asked, it turned out the company only had twenty people...

There were plenty of scammers, too. One opened by offering to introduce Xu An to a large company that could order a thousand boxed meals a day, as long as Xu An paid him a 50,000 introduction fee.

’How touching. An order worth 240,000 for only a 50,000 introduction fee! I obviously had to refuse!’

After hitting a few brick walls, Xu An temporarily shelved the idea.

’I’ll revisit this project plan when Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant has enough cash on hand to support a company that only settles its bill at the end of the month.’

But what Xu An didn’t expect was that shortly after he had put the idea aside, an opportunity came knocking on his door.

Returning to Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant from the Red Brick Creative Park, Xu An saw Luo Min and Ding Nan from the Aisha Clothing Company inside.

’Isn’t their company across from the Hai City Library? That’s a good ten- or twenty-minute trip from here. What are they doing here?’

Xu An greeted the two of them, pulled open the door to the drink cooler, and took out two bottles of Coke, handing one to each. He then grabbed another for himself, twisted it open, and took a swig. The icy-cold sensation made him shiver involuntarily.

’Putting aside whether it’s healthy or not, having a sip of ice-cold Coke on a scorching summer day is pure bliss!’

"Brother Ding, Luo Min, what brings you to the restaurant today? Did you forget to place your order?" Xu An asked, sitting down across from them.

"We’ve already eaten. We actually have something we need to discuss with you. It didn’t feel right to talk about it online, so it’s better to chat in person."

’Judging by their words and actions, they didn’t seem to be here to cause trouble.’

’If it’s not bad news, then it must be good news.’ Xu An looked at them with curiosity, waiting for them to continue.

"The company’s performance has been good this year, so upper management decided to increase employee benefits. After a company-wide vote, everyone unanimously agreed to have the company cover lunch as a new perk." Ding Nan smiled at Xu An and continued, "Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, along with two other fast-food places in Hai City, have been shortlisted. Now, we need to choose two of them to be our suppliers."

’Something this good can happen? This is like a pie falling from the sky!’

"What do you need from me?" Xu An asked, quick on the uptake.

"We came today to ask if you could lower or waive the delivery fee," Luo Min said, looking a little embarrassed.

"How many people are in your company, and what’s the approximate number of daily orders?" Xu An replied with a question instead of giving a direct answer.

"Excluding sales staff and factory workers, there are two hundred and seventy-six people in total," Luo Min answered quickly.

’276 people... if that’s split between two restaurants, that’s 138 each. After subtracting the employees who might opt for a meal allowance instead, it should still be around a hundred people.’

Delivering to a company had one major advantage: it was fast. Very fast.

As long as the prep work was done, once the boxed meals were delivered to the company, a dedicated administrative staff member would be there to receive them. After the handover was complete, he could leave immediately.

However, there was one very important question Xu An had to ask. "How are the meal costs settled? Daily, weekly, or monthly?"

Ding Nan and Luo Min fell silent instantly. They hadn’t actually considered this problem. They were only thinking about how excited Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant would be to hear the news, and how they could save money on lunch if their company partnered with them. It was a win-win, killing multiple birds with one stone...

Now, hearing Xu An’s question about payment settlement, the two of them finally realized the issue.

Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was different from the other two candidates. The other two were chain restaurants. Floating a month’s worth of meal costs might be stressful, but it wouldn’t be unacceptable for them.

But just last month, Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant was still a food stall operating at the gate of a construction site. It couldn’t possibly afford to float the cost of at least three thousand boxed meals a month.

But this was the payment method their finance department had stipulated, and they couldn’t change it. Luo Min had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "The costs are settled monthly."

"Settled monthly... assuming an average of one hundred orders a day, that’s at least three thousand a month, which means floating 20,000 in costs." A wry smile appeared on Xu An’s face. "That’s a bit too much for Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant."

At his words, the three of them looked at each other in dismay.

"How about this? Could I trouble you two to discuss this internally and see if you can get it changed to weekly payments?" Xu An paused in thought before continuing, "If you can manage weekly payments, then for the delivery fee, here’s the discount I can offer: for orders over one hundred meals, there’s no delivery fee. For orders over fifty, I’ll charge half the delivery fee. For anything under fifty, it’s the full fee. How does that sound?"

Ding Nan and Luo Min looked at each other, but neither said a word.

In their hearts, they felt the chances were slim. But then they thought of the boxed meals from Xu’s Fast Food, the daily specials, the delicious slow-cooked soups...

Luo Min bit her lip, then said with determination, "I’ll fight for it."

Afterward, Xu An accompanied Ding Nan and Luo Min as they took photos of the restaurant. They didn’t even spare the kitchen, photographing every corner meticulously.

As the two were about to leave after collecting their information, Ding Nan suddenly glanced back at the drink cooler and asked, "If you’re supplying boxed meals to the company, can we still participate in the one-yuan apple cider vinegar promotion?"

"Yes. As long as you purchase a boxed meal from our restaurant before the promotion ends, you can participate in the one-yuan add-on deal," Xu An said with a smile.

After seeing the two of them off, Xu An sat back down at the table, picked up the Coke he had just opened, and drained it in one go.

He let out a long burp afterward, his excitement finally starting to subside.

’Luo Min only said she would fight for it, but at least there’s a chance of success, right?’

「On the way back to their company」

Ding Nan and Luo Min discussed how to phrase their request to increase its chances of success.

But after thinking it over and discussing it again and again, they came to a final conclusion: unless they could make the finance department feel that Xu’s Fast Food was an absolute must, there was no chance of success.

To get the finance department to approve of Xu’s Fast Food Restaurant, they would first have to get them to try its boxed meals.

But having them try the food from just one restaurant would be a little too obvious.

’What if we bring food from all three places at once and do a blind taste test?’

’That’s a great idea!’

The fast-food restaurant next door welcomed its third group of prospective tenants for the day. The rent had dropped from 2,600 to 2,400, then to 2,200, and was now just 2,000.

Even so, none of the people who left ever looked back.

’The longer this drags on, the harder it’ll be to rent this place out!’

The landlord next door watched the bustling scene at the construction site across the street and couldn’t help but spit on the ground in frustration.

’What damned bad luck. The workers stopped coming out to eat right when the lease expired, not a day sooner or later. The storefront is deserted every day during business hours. I couldn’t hide it even if I wanted to!’

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