269: You can not make money, but you can not lose the bottom line

【 Celebrity / Director · Premium Custom Bento Box 】 (Five meat, seven vegetable, one soup, one rice + fruit)

Dishes: Uses P5 ingredients, selects higher quality ingredients (e.g., Glazed Salt Black Pepper Beef Fillet, Marrow Clear Stewed Lion's Head, Orchid Honey Glazed Roasted Ribs, Colorful Mushroom Seasonal Vegetables).

Soup: Stalactite Marrow Health Pot.

Price: From 888 yuan

“The basic and essential bento boxes are for volume, just enough to break even, to open up the market through taste. The premium version earns profit, covering the cost of P5 ingredients.”

Lu Chuan concluded:

“The key is to let people of different spending capacities experience it, but the best experience requires a corresponding price.”

Ding Xinyang quickly calculated the costs and nodded.

“Once they’ve tasted it, they probably won’t be able to go back!”

He Jingrui didn't know much about sales, so he remained silent.

Lu Chuan made the final decision and immediately began preparations.

Early the next morning, at the first hint of dawn, Lu Chuan, accompanied by He Jingrui and Ding Xinyang, drove a temporarily rented, simply modified small food truck with “Lu’s Bento” printed on it into the Hengdian World Studios.

The interior of the base was much larger than imagined, with ancient buildings, 民國 (Republic of China) street scenes, and palace complexes intertwined. Extras in various costumes, hurried staff, vehicles dragging equipment... formed a busy and peculiar tableau.

They were assigned by the management to the edge of a relatively centralized resting area, near several large filming studios, where many crews would choose to eat or rest during their lunch break.

After parking, Lu Chuan didn't immediately start promoting; instead, he began observing.

He saw that several large film crews' food trucks were already in place, with uniformed cafeteria staff busy unloading insulated containers.

He also saw many extras carrying their own lunch boxes or buying cheap fast food from small stalls.

Ding Xinyang, using the keen eye and experience he had gained from his previous sales work, began to walk around and observe the surroundings.

But he returned soon after, his expression not looking very good.

“How was it?”

Lu Chuan had some guesses but still asked.

Ding Xinyang gave a wry smile and recounted his observations.

It turned out that after so long of development in Hengdian, even the bento box market had long formed a fixed operational model.

Large film crews, of course, had their own fixed catering sources or had signed catering contracts with some food and beverage companies.

Although small and medium-sized film crews weren't as “extravagant,” for the sake of easy management or cost-saving, they would also seek cooperation with some catering companies.

Of course, there were also film crews with insufficient budgets that couldn't provide meals for extras, leading the extras to have to solve their meal problems themselves.

This gave opportunities to scattered vendors.

But it's important to know that setting up a bento box stall in Hengdian World Studios usually requires obtaining operating qualifications through official bidding procedures and cannot be set up privately at will.

Ordinary vendors simply didn't have business licenses and food operating permits, so they naturally couldn't obtain operating qualifications.

Therefore, most of these scattered vendors Lu Chuan saw were retail points arranged by some catering companies, which had “notified” the management, and were not unorganized.

Because they were backed by companies, the vendors could naturally press prices extremely low, earning profits through small margins and high volume.

This meant that those vendors could sell a bento box for as low as 12 yuan, or even 10 or 8 yuan was not impossible.

And most extras actually didn't earn much; for their star dreams, they often had to be very frugal to persevere... After hearing Ding Xinyang's words, Lu Chuan's expression became a few shades more serious.

Ding Xinyang, however, was a bit anxious and couldn't help but say:

“A Chuan, the pricing strategy we decided on last night was still a bit presumptive. Our cheapest bento box is 28 yuan a portion; it probably won't sell well.”

He Jingrui, hearing this, couldn't help but interject:

“But we use very good quality ingredients. If we don't count labor, just calculating the ingredient cost, selling one for 28 yuan only ensures we don't lose money.”

Ding Xinyang was somewhat speechless, but soon, he suddenly whispered:

“A Chuan, I just got close and looked at those bento boxes, and found that the ingredient quality was very poor. This is also why they can sell them so cheaply. How about we also...”

However, before he could finish, Lu Chuan frowned and said:

“Stop right there. I've been selling for so long, and I've never skimped on ingredient quality, and I certainly won't joke with customers' health for money. This is my bottom line; don't say such things again.”

It was the first time Ding Xinyang had seen Lu Chuan so serious, and he also knew his words were ill-considered. He couldn't help but smile wryly and quickly said:

“Yes, yes, yes, I was just flustered and spoke nonsense. I actually didn't mean that.”

Lu Chuan saw Ding Xinyang's expression of annoyance and self-reproach, and his face softened. He said:

“You can choose not to earn money, but you cannot lose your bottom line. In short, it's still the same — we will win with taste and quality.”

Ding Xinyang and He Jingrui exchanged glances and both nodded, uttering a simultaneous “Mm.”

In the time that followed, the situation was indeed very unoptimistic.

Although the food truck was clean and tidy, and the faint aroma emanating from the sealed bento boxes made passersby frequently turn their heads, the moment the price tag was displayed, it immediately deterred most people.

“28 yuan? For only two meat and three vegetable dishes? The one next door with two meat and three vegetable dishes is only 15!”

“What? 128 yuan?! And it's still two meat and three vegetable dishes, just with an added soup?! What kind of soup is so precious?!”

“What the f***, 888 yuan? Are you robbing people?! What kind of bento box costs 888?”

“Let's go, let's go, it's too damn expensive. Is this boss here to joke around?”

All morning, many people asked, but sales were zero.

At noon, looking at the bustling activity around other food trucks and film crew cafeterias, and the sparse crowd in front of his own truck, Ding Xinyang was so anxious that his lips were almost blistering.

Lu Chuan, however, remained calm and closed the stall on time.

As for the unsold bento boxes, they naturally became lunch for the three of them, or rather, mainly for He Jingrui.

In the afternoon, Lu Chuan prepared another batch of bento boxes, and when they reopened the stall in the evening, the situation still hadn't improved at all.

Or rather, it got worse; it seemed the reputation of being “ridiculously expensive” had spread, and even fewer people came to inquire.

Just as Ding Xinyang was starting to suggest whether they should hold a tasting event,

A young boy, wearing a worn-out Republic of China student uniform and still with makeup on his face, hesitated and walked over.

He looked very tired, but his eyes held a glimmer of light.

“Boss, how much are the bento boxes?”

The boy's voice sounded a bit hoarse.

Lu Chuan quoted the price.

Upon hearing it, the boy's expectant expression instantly crumbled, turning into embarrassment. He subconsciously fumbled in his pocket and said with a wry smile:

“So expensive...”

Lu Chuan looked at the boy's attire and couldn't help but ask curiously:

“Does your film crew not provide meals?”