I See through Everything

Chapter 261: Chapter 141: Price Slash (Part 2)

"Can you make it a bit cheaper?"

"Brother, our feed is already the cheapest on the market. Go check out the other feed mills—their prices are generally higher than ours."

The two haggled for over ten minutes before ordering 50 tons of feed.

Although the new feed could only be used in stages, for farmers who had long suffered from high-priced feed, and even for large-scale farms, it was like welcome rain after a long drought.

Especially the 271 medium- to large-scale pig farms in the Lingnan Region with a stock of over 10,000 pigs, many of them had direct cooperative relationships with Haida Group.

Haida Group knew that these large clients were its core, and as soon as the new feed was released, they notified these medium- and large-scale pig farms in advance.

Of course, for those pig farms that had their own feed mills, Haida Group didn’t bother courting rejection.

Although a large portion of pig feed is expanded corn feed, the animals cannot eat only corn or soybean meal during their growth cycle. Otherwise, they will suffer from malnutrition, which affects their growth rate and quality.

Pig farms certainly welcomed cheaper feed.

Haida Group also dispatched personnel to provide technical guidance, preventing improper use that could increase the pork’s earthy, fishy taste.

As time went on.

Haida Group’s new feed rapidly replaced the products of other feed manufacturers in the South China Region. The only products not impacted were those Haida Group wasn’t involved in, such as pet food for ornamental fish, golden coin turtles, cats, and dogs, or the specialty feeds produced by Hailufeng Company.

The reason Haida Group, which has multiple production bases across the country, was only conquering territory in the South China Region was that the farming of Egyptian Catfish was currently limited to the South China Region.

Other feed production bases had to wait for the fishmeal to be transported over before they could start producing the new formula feed.

But its impact in the South China Region alone exerted terrifying pressure on other feed manufacturers.

Originally, everyone’s prices were very close to the cost line, but Haida Group’s products were now being sold at a significantly lower price.

Especially for aquatic feed, the price drop was between 10% and 15%, which completely stunned other aquatic feed mills.

Among the top ten domestic feed manufacturers, several had their headquarters in the Lingnan Region, such as Hengxing Group, Yuehai Group, and Aohua Group.

One could only say they were too insensitive to market changes.

By the time Haida Group’s new feed was launched on a massive scale, they finally realized the problem and were suddenly thrown on the defensive.

「In Port City on the Leizhou Peninsula.」

The headquarters of Hengxing Group was located here.

"Chairman, this is the information our market research department just collected. Please take a look."

Looking at the report in his hands, Chen Dan’s expression grew increasingly grim. "Haida Group? Hailufeng Company? Oh... so it’s that company that developed the artificial eel breeding technology..."

The Vice General Manager, who was also Chen Dan’s son, Chen Gang, had an equally grim expression. "Dad, although we have our own aquaculture industry, feed is also a core business for us at Hengxing. If we don’t figure something out, our feed division will be crushed by Haida Group."

"It seems the key to this matter lies with Hailufeng Company. Farming Egyptian Catfish as a raw material for feed? That is a good idea indeed." Chen Dan put down the document, his eyes narrowing in thought.

"Dad, we can farm Egyptian Catfish too," Chen Gang suggested, a bit anxiously.

Hearing this, Chen Dan shook his head. "You’re oversimplifying things. Why would Haida Group choose to partner with Hailufeng Company?"

Chen Gang frowned. "Huh? Farming Egyptian Catfish shouldn’t be that hard, right?"

Another Vice General Manager, Du Haitang, who was in charge of aquaculture, quickly explained to the young master, "Vice General Manager Chen, you may not be aware, but while Egyptian Catfish are indeed easy to farm—especially for us in the Lingnan Region—achieving a yield of 12 to 15 tons per mu in three months is currently only possible with Hailufeng Company’s Feed No. 4."

Without even thinking, Chen Gang blurted out, "Then can’t we just buy their feed and copy it?"

Du Haitang couldn’t help but roast him internally, but maintained a smile while explaining, "Vice General Manager Chen, Hailufeng Company has registered over a hundred patents for its special feed formulas for raising Egyptian Catfish. We aren’t some small company. If we start mass-producing, even for our own use, they will find out. At that point, they’ll sue us."

"Over a hundred patented formulas?" Chen Gang’s eyes widened. "Damn! Have they completely cornered the market on Egyptian Catfish formulas?"

"That’s right! Even if we make minor adjustments, there’s no way to get around it. When determining infringement of feed formula patents, as long as there’s a high degree of similarity and specific ingredients are used, it will be considered infringement." Another Vice General Manager, Xiao He, who was responsible for the feed industry, was even clearer on this as a professional in the field.

In the patent protection of feed formulas, whether something constitutes infringement mainly depends on the similarity of ingredients and the similarity of feeding efficacy.

You can’t just randomly mix in some soybean meal and corn and call it a new formula.

The trace ingredients are a particularly crucial point.

This was also a key method Hailufeng Company used to build its patent moat: incorporating all sorts of similar, special, functional trace ingredients into their patented formulas.

With over a hundred patented formulas, there would always be one that could block a competitor’s imitation formula. The only way to get around the patented ingredients was to reduce the feed’s effectiveness.

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