The overwhelming success of Starlight Food was not good news for other companies at all. Especially for Seodong Food, whose products overlapped with Starlight Food, it was a complete disaster.
Seodong Food was selling green tea in tea bags and had a dominant market share of over 80% in instant coffee in Korea. When it came to instant coffee, it was not just a matter of Seodong Food being indispensable—it was practically untouchable.
However, when Starlight Food launched Starlight Green Tea followed by Starlight Coffee, the company had no choice but to take a huge hit.
From the moment they entered the green tea market, things didn’t look good, and as they expanded into the coffee market, their products completely overlapped with Seodong Food’s, making their sales struggles much more severe compared to other companies.
The only saving grace was that, perhaps due to limited supply, they weren’t producing green tea and coffee explosively. Reports indicated that the production volume of green tea was limited, which allowed for a sigh of relief, but coffee was a different story.
Since Starlight Farm was fully cultivating coffee, the market share of coffee beverages was being steadily eroded. Whether it was taste or design, they were losing on all fronts. If the competing company had been smaller than Seodong Food, they might have been able to pull some strings, but backing Starlight Food was the Starlight Guild, the top-ranked corporation in South Korea.
In terms of sheer scale, they were no match. In fact, any attempts at sabotage would have backfired.
Today, Go Seung-taek, the boss of Seodong Food, gathered the executives once again.
Sitting at the table and reviewing the business trends, Boss Go couldn’t help but raise his voice.
“Why is our coffee beverage market share like this? How does it make sense for Seodong Food’s coffee market share to drop to 30%?”
“Well… consumers are showing a strong preference for Starlight Coffee even if it’s more expensive than ours… But next month, the market share is expected to recover to the mid-40s…”
“Boss! Other coffee beverage companies are also struggling against Starlight Food’s coffee. They say it’s impossible to compete. If Starlight Coffee had been priced lower, we would’ve been completely crushed.”
The only silver lining was that Starlight Food hadn’t yet secured a proper supply volume, so production was limited, and the price was higher than other coffee beverages. As the executive said, if Starlight Food’s coffee had been priced similarly to other coffee beverages on the market, it would have been game over.
The situation was slightly better for carbonated drinks or beverages with different flavors. But when it came to coffee beverages, it was a complete disaster. Starlight Food had only just launched their product, and if this was the pace, the future was too grim to imagine.
But there was no denying it—this wasn’t a fight between equals. Boss Go Seung-taek had even seen Seodong Food employees carrying Starlight Coffee on their way to work today. He wanted to grab the coffee from their hands and throw it out the window. It was fine if they drank the competitor’s coffee, but he wished they’d do it out of his sight.
It was like the feeling of a boss seeing an employee using a competitor’s mobile phone. Of course, he couldn’t say much about what individuals consumed—this was a democracy, after all.
Boss Go frowned and said, “Honestly, if we’re being cold and rational, coffee beverages are a lost cause now, right?”
The executive closed his eyes tightly and replied, “We can only hope Starlight Food doesn’t enter the instant coffee market. If they do, our company’s flagship product, instant coffee, will undoubtedly see its market share plummet. We can’t compete in terms of taste.”
Boss Go felt like he was trapped on a sinking Titanic. There was no good news in sight. He wished someone would throw him a lifeline.
—
While Starlight Food was steadily trampling over the coffee market, it wasn’t all smooth sailing—a small obstacle had arisen.
The issue was selecting the right site to build Starlight Food’s factory. They had decided to build one on the outskirts of Gyeonggi Province and another in Daejeon for its convenient transportation. But somehow, word got out, and local government officials came flocking with offers.
“I heard Starlight Food is building a factory. How about Yongin City?”
A local council member had come to pitch. They expressed a positive response and sent him away, but originally…
They decided to build a factory in Anyang City, but it became a stumbling block in the decision-making process.
Building a factory worth hundreds of billions, it was impossible for politicians who care about votes not to show up. Just creating jobs in that area would easily secure enough votes to win an election. Originally, a dying city could be revitalized if a major corporation built a factory there.
It wasn’t just the big corporation’s factory that would come in; subcontractors would follow, and new employees would need to be hired. It was a win-win situation.
Kim Sehee tapped her fingers on the desk and said, “If we reject this and build the factory in Anyang City…”
They hadn’t promised any huge benefits, but that’s just how politics works. If you make an enemy, it becomes a headache. Politicians had come bending over backward, but now they had to change their tone and build the factory in Anyang City… Honestly, Starlight Food could build it anywhere they wanted; they didn’t need to care about the mayor’s opinion.
Starlight Food was in the position of power, but there was still an awkward aspect. If the political power shifted, the mayor of Yongin could become a stumbling block for Starlight Food. It wouldn’t be a huge blow, but they could definitely cause some annoying interference.
“What’s the mayor of Yongin like?” Kim Sehee asked.
One of the executives replied, “On the surface, he’s cheerful and doesn’t hold grudges, but behind the scenes, he’s the type who never forgets an enemy.”
“……”
Kim Sehee was momentarily speechless before speaking again. “Anyway, it’s our decision, so let’s not worry about external matters. Let’s proceed with building the factory in Anyang City as planned.”
The executives nodded in agreement. They didn’t like the idea of politicians trying to take credit for the factory that Starlight Food was building. However, Kim Sehee casually added, as if taking out insurance, “Let’s subtly hint that we’ll build the next factory in Yongin. If things don’t go well, we can always cancel. If they want to play politics, we should get something out of it too.”
Starlight Food was on an expansion spree anyway. They weren’t planning to slow down. So, they could use the factory construction as leverage.
After the meeting ended, Kim Sehee returned to her CEO office, sighed deeply, and sat down in her chair. She was bound to get even busier than before. After all, she was the CEO of Starlight Food, which was currently thriving.
“I miss Hana…”
Whether it was due to the overwhelming workload or not, Kim Sehee needed some healing. She prepared to visit the Starlight Research Institute again today. She was ready to go to the ends of the earth just to see Hana.
——————————————–
When Kim Sehee arrived at the research institute, she realized Hana wasn’t there. She had gone up to the 10th floor with a surprise gift of snacks, but the person she wanted to surprise wasn’t there. It was the most absurd thing ever. How could the main person not be at their own birthday party?
But soon, she found out where Hana had gone from an employee in the office.
“Hana went to the vegetable garden to play.”
Kim Sehee knew about the garden. It was where Hana grew the strawberries she gifted every week. Kim Sehee had been using those strawberries as gifts and bribes everywhere.
And everyone who tasted the strawberries praised them endlessly. Even people who didn’t like strawberries raved about Hana’s strawberries, calling them heavenly. Kim Sehee herself had tasted them and knew exactly how delicious they were.
In a hurry, Kim Sehee ran to the garden and found Hana, who looked like she could be a farmer’s daughter. Kim Sehee didn’t care if her clothes got dirty and hugged Hana tightly.
“Ah!!! It’s hard to breathe!”
Ignoring Hana’s slight complaint, Kim Sehee hugged her even tighter, just to smell her scent.
There was nothing better than Hana for relieving stress.
