Set up a community canteen

Xu Ning went to a meeting at the Community Office, and when he came back, it was like Chinese New Year.

His appearance easily made people mistake him for an Old Lady or Old Man going to the Community Office to collect welfare during holidays... However, Xu Jiafei knew that work was probably coming again.

Sure enough, Xu Ning quickly called a meeting with several key members of Haoding Property Management.

"This time, there's only one thing to discuss at the Community Office meeting: encouraging the establishment of Community Office canteens."

"If you don't know what a Community Office canteen is, I won't explain it to you; you can look it up online yourselves."

"Anyway, it's about providing convenience for the elderly or families who find it difficult to cook, offering elder care and convenience."

"The state provides subsidies for this."

"But I don't care about the subsidies; what I care about is that the Residential Complex canteen can genuinely offer benefits to our Residential Complex's residents."

"You've seen how many delivery riders come in and out of our Residential Complex every day; aren't those all takeout orders placed by the residents!"

"If we set up a Community Office canteen, not for profit, but to provide healthy and affordable meals for the Residential Complex residents, wouldn't it definitely be well-received by everyone?"

"Moreover, if we have a canteen, our Haoding Property Management staff can also more conveniently solve the problem of work meals!"

"What do you all think?"

After listening to Xu Ning, Captain Zhao, the security guard who always looked to Xu Ning for guidance, immediately raised both hands.

"I wholeheartedly approve!"

The others looked at each other, also feeling it was a good idea, and raised their hands as well.

Only Xu Jiafei's expression was a little strange.

My boss, you're a delivery rider yourself!

If Community Office canteens open on a large scale, aren't you afraid of losing your job?

But no matter what, Xu Jiafei certainly wouldn't contradict Xu Ning.

"Good, then it's happily decided!"

"Jiafei, research the policies, and then we'll go together to inspect successfully operating Community Office canteens to see what's needed."

Looking at the energetic Xu Ning, Xu Jiafei resignedly nodded. She knew this work would definitely fall to her in the end.

What Xu Ning brought back were materials issued by the Community Office, including relevant national policies encouraging Community Office canteens.

Xu Jiafei studied them for a while, but didn't feel these policies were very important.

The incentive policy currently implemented in the Imperial Capital is: for building areas over 200 square meters, the municipal finance subsidizes 1,000 yuan per square meter, with a total subsidy not exceeding 400,000 yuan.

There are many vacant spaces in the Residential Complex, and 400 square meters are needed to reach the subsidy limit, which is definitely not a problem.

However, these 400,000 yuan are really just a drop in the bucket for Xu Ning; he wouldn't care about them.

So, in the end, it's still about how Haoding Property Management can operate most conveniently.

Looking at the boss's excited state, even without financial subsidies, he would probably still get this canteen up and running.

Breaking all precedents, Xu Ning didn't even go out to deliver takeout in order to go with Xu Jiafei to inspect the Community Office canteens.

One less day of deliveries is one less day; he could still distinguish between what was important.

They inspected two Community Office canteens in total, but the charging methods of these two Community Office canteens were completely different.

One adopted a self-service model, priced at 15 yuan, with nearly 20 dishes displayed for customers to freely choose, as long as there was no waste.

The other had about 30 dishes, also with customers freely choosing, but the charging method was by weight, 6 yuan per 100 grams.

For a more in-depth inspection, they also paid to eat and taste the food at both canteens.

The taste at the first one could only be described as passable, equivalent to a self-service bento box.

The taste at the second one was slightly better, but the price was a bit higher. Xu Ning's meal weighed in at 21 yuan, while Xu Jiafei's was better, only costing 17 yuan.

They observed that the first canteen had more elderly people, while the second had more young people, which was probably due to the different operating strategies of the two canteens.

"Let's go, let's go back and think it over carefully."

After Xu Ning and Xu Jiafei returned to Haoding Property Management, they didn't call another meeting; instead, the two of them discussed it.

First was the issue of the venue.

Xu Ning decided to use three large rooms on the first floor of the public building, totaling 450 square meters.

The kitchen would take up 50 square meters, leaving 400 square meters for dining.

Equipment and such were easy to deal with because many restaurants are closing down now, so second-hand kitchen equipment, tables, chairs, and benches are easy to buy.

Instead of spending money on new ones, it's better to save that money and spend it on ingredients, so residents can truly eat well.

Although it's impossible to estimate how many residents will eat there daily, based on the two canteens as reference, two head chefs and two assistant chefs are definitely needed.

In addition, at least four aunties are needed for washing vegetables and dishes.

Calculated, the labor cost alone would be over 50,000 yuan per month.

According to Xu Ning's idea, Haoding Property Management's Community Office canteen was not intended to make money.

The income only needed to cover the cost of ingredients, processing costs, and labor costs.

Don't assume that just because the state encourages Community Office canteens, those Community Office canteens truly serve the people completely without making money.

They also make money; at most, they earn a little less than ordinary catering, but not too much less.

After all, who would do something without profit!

Xu Ning initially estimated that the profit margin of other Community Office canteens would also be above 40%.

If Haoding Property Management's Community Office canteen didn't make a profit and used all that profit to improve ingredient quality, wouldn't all residents feel it was excellent value for money!

When he explained his idea to Xu Jiafei, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

She knew it!

She knew it would be like this!

Anyway, Xu Ning had money and was willful, willing to benefit the residents, so what could she say?

Thus, the glorious task of preparing the Community Office canteen fell to her, the little assistant.

Clearing the public building space, purchasing second-hand catering equipment, recruiting chefs and assistant chefs, and so on—these seemingly tedious tasks were all completed within two days.

And at this time, the previously custom-ordered shoe cabinets arrived. Several large trucks simultaneously parked at the Residential Complex entrance, a truly spectacular sight.

Because there was so much cargo, and it was very heavy, relying on the manufacturer's people to unload it would probably take forever.

So Xu Ning simply ordered the fire lane to be opened, allowing the trucks to drive directly downstairs and unload the goods in front of each unit entrance according to quantity.

Then, the manufacturer's people and Haoding Property Management security guards together used the elevator to transport one cardboard box after another, stacking a large cardboard box in front of each household's door.

The residents, of course, knew these were the shoe cabinets custom-ordered by Haoding Property Management, but seeing so many together was truly awe-inspiring.

What a huge project!

Absolutely a huge project!

Aside from anything else, to install shoe cabinets for every household in the entire Residential Complex, even if the custom-made shoe cabinets only needed to be assembled and screwed in, it would definitely not be completed in a short time.