200: Chapter 200 Ultimate Cost-Effectiveness

The warm light of the booth fell on Jin Meiting. Her charcoal-grey silk shirt clung to her figure, outlining her full and smooth curves.

Two buttons at the collar were undone, revealing a section of her lustrous and delicate collarbone. Beneath her pencil skirt, her two straight, slender legs were crossed, her skin dazzlingly white.

She was a well-known cold and elegant beauty in the business circles of Yangcheng, her brow naturally carrying a hint of aloofness. Even her speech held a faint, cool indifference—until a single sentence from Jiang Feng across from her made her breath hitch.

"Within a year, open Ice Snow Honey City in every corner of Yangcheng; within three years, spread across the entire country."

Spread across the country in three years?

Currently, even the largest milk tea brand in the country has barely managed to expand into a few provinces.

Nationwide expansion? This wasn't something that could be achieved just by talking.

Jin Meiting fell silent for a few seconds. The casualness on her face vanished, the coldness in her tone faded significantly, replaced by a genuine seriousness:

"Mr. Jiang, you should be aware of how fierce the competition in the milk tea market is right now. There are at least eight hundred to a thousand brands, big and small. Why do you think Ice Snow Honey City can break through and even cover the whole country within three years? What is your core advantage?"

Jiang Feng didn't answer directly. Instead, he smiled and asked back:

"Ms. Jin, what do you think is the biggest problem in the domestic milk tea market today?"

Jin Meiting was stunned for a moment, not expecting him to throw the question back. Her eyelashes lowered for a second, and when she looked up again, every word hit the mark:

"Severe homogenization. Everyone sells more or less the same things—nothing but pearl milk tea and coconut jelly milk tea over and over again. There's no core competitiveness. Furthermore, prices are artificially high; a cup of ordinary pearl milk tea can cost as much as ten or twenty yuan."

Jiang Feng nodded, a hint of approval appearing in his eyes:

"Exactly. Ms. Jin's observation is very accurate."

"The current milk tea market follows this exact pattern."

"All brands are desperately squeezing into the high-end market, just to earn that bit of price premium."

"A cup of milk tea that costs two yuan to make is priced at twenty yuan."

"But they've all forgotten the most critical thing."

Jin Meiting unconsciously leaned forward, her shirt collar sliding down slightly, her lustrous skin appearing even more delicate under the warm light. Her curiosity was fully piqued as she instinctively followed up:

"What thing?"

Jiang Feng leaned forward slightly, his voice clear and certain, every word carrying weight:

"The consumers simply have no choice."

"They want to drink something cheap, delicious, and fresh, but they can't find a place."

"It's either high-end milk tea at ten or twenty yuan a cup—which is fine for an occasional treat, but who can afford to drink it every day?"

"Or it's the three-yuan bottled drinks from convenience stores, which taste poor and aren't fresh."

"The true market gap lies in the sinking market."

"In the ultimate cost-performance."

As soon as those words were spoken, Jin Meiting's eyes instantly lit up.

As if struck precisely by a bolt of lightning, her entire body shuddered.

Her crossed legs uncrossed, and she leaned even closer, her full chest rising and falling slightly with her hurried breathing.

The aloofness at the corners of her eyes completely vanished, and even her cool features were tinged with an unconscious softness, her entire aura softening.

Having fought in the business world for so many years, she understood the lethality of the term "cost-performance" all too well.

But no milk tea brand had ever taken those words to the extreme.

...