Fuling mustard Zhou Bin hung up his boots and left, and there was no "mustard king" in the rivers and lakes

An announcement, more than 1,000 words, concisely summarizes Zhou Binquan's brilliant career.

After 23 years at the helm of Fuling mustard, this is his last appearance as the only pickle listed company in the A-share market. On December 12, 60-year-old Zhou Bin retired and resigned from all positions in Fuling mustard.

In 2000, Zhou Bin was ordered to join Fuling mustard. Under his leadership, a state-owned mustard enterprise on the verge of bankruptcy and insolvency has developed into a state-controlled listed company with net assets of 8.077 billion yuan and annual tax profits of more than 1 billion yuan.

He not only achieved an excellent listed company, but also cultivated a mustard industry centered on Fuling mustard.

If there is no major accident, Gao Xiang, the "post-80s", will be by-elected as the company's director at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders at the end of the month, replacing the vacancy left by Zhou Binquan's retirement and resignation, and parachuting into the new head of Fuling mustard.

However, under the dazzling aura of his predecessor, Gao Xiang's position as the head of the house will not be too easy to sit on. Every step of his administration will be confronted with the more critical eyes of investors. Unless, he can complete Zhou Bin's unfinished blueprint of 10 billion Wujiang.

Of course, Zhou Binquan will also be happy to see it. After all, after retirement, he is still the fourth largest shareholder of Fuling mustard, and his personal net worth of more than 100 million yuan is tied to this bag of mustard.

One sentence sets the direction

In the position of "number one" of a state-owned holding listed company, he has been sitting for 23 years. Looking at thousands of A-share listed companies, who else is there except Zhou Binquan of Fuling mustard?

Perhaps, he is too important to Fuling mustard, or maybe he personally does not like to fight in the sea, and enjoys the ups and downs of the business sea.

No matter what the reason, let him personally and the local Fuling make this alternative choice, and the final result is always good, both for Fuling mustard and him personally.

In his 30s, Zhou Binquan was already the director and vice president of Fuling Jiantao (later renamed "Chaohua Technology", now known as "Guocheng Mining"), a veteran listed company under Fuling State-owned Assets, and his future was bright.

Being a member of the public family, eating public meals, I can't help myself. In 2000, after a paper order, he could only resign from the post of Fuling Jiantao and go to Fuling to take office.

The local climate of Fuling is naturally suitable for the growth of green cabbage, and the green cabbage grown here is crisp and tender. The head of green cabbage is the main raw material for making mustard.

Fuling uses green cabbage heads to make mustard, which has a history of 100 years. In the era of handicrafts, there were many local mustard merchants, and their products were once exported to Nanyang.

However, the Fuling mustard group that Zhou Binquan was facing at that time was backward in production, with an annual output of only about 10,000 tons. Not only that, but the company has been losing money year after year, becoming insolvent and on the verge of bankruptcy.

Seeing the dilapidated scene of the group, Zhou Binquan, who was ordered in danger, was also at a loss.

Fortunately, Fuling Mustard Group is located in the relocation area of the Three Gorges Dam and has received 140 million yuan in compensation for demolition. For Zhou Binquan, this is tantamount to sending charcoal in the snow.

How should this money be spent? Many people have suggested that the company should take this opportunity to transform into high-tech emerging industries such as the Internet and mobile phones, so that it can quickly become large-scale.

After listening to various suggestions, Zhou Binquan sent a soul torture to the company's management: "Who of you here understands these high-tech industries?"

"We're only going to make mustard, so we're going to make it well. ”

Zhou Binquan's sentence has established a clear direction for the development of Fuling mustard for more than 20 years.

Invest heavily in the brand

In the past, China's pickled vegetable industry was all handmade, and Fuling mustard was no exception.

The first step of Zhou Binquan's administration was to industrialize Fuling mustard. The company spends a lot of money to introduce mechanized and automated production lines from abroad. After the first production line was completed and put into use, the output of one factory equaled that of more than 20 factories in the past.

Only one year later, the group's sales exceeded 100 million yuan, achieving a turnaround.

In 2002, the automation transformation of the Fuling mustard factory was completed, the production capacity increased greatly, and sales became a big problem.

In China, almost every housewife makes pickles, and the industry is extremely fragmented, with no brands to speak of.

In order to boost sales, the company was very cautious in testing the waters of marketing and promotion, but did not receive much effect.

Zhou Bin gritted his teeth, overcame public opinion, and decided to invite celebrities to endorse and spend a huge amount of money to buy CCTV prime-time advertising. This shot is tens of millions.

At that time, although the business situation of Fuling mustard had improved greatly, tens of millions of dollars were also an astronomical amount for the company. In case the effect is not good, and the advertisement is lost, how much mustard do you have to sell to earn it back?

In 2004, Zhou Bin took a plane to Beijing to meet film and television star Zhang Tielin and the person in charge of CCTV.

At an awards ceremony many years later, the host asked Zhou Binquan who he wanted to talk to the most at this moment? He replied: "In 2004, sitting on the plane to Beijing, I was under a lot of pressure. ”

With the double endorsement of Zhang Tielin, the "emperor's professional household", and Guotai, the advertising promotion has achieved great results. Although, later, Zhang Tielin's advertising slogan "Wujiang mustard, my grandfather's grandfather said it was good" caused huge controversy, but it did not affect "Wujiang" to become the first brand of mustard.

Appointed Fuling mustard (002507. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the chairman of SZ, Zhou Binquan got his wish and sent the company to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The local government and company in Fuling did not treat Zhou Binquan badly. Before the company went public, management ownership was introduced. Subsequently, the company further increased the shareholding of management and core employees through equity incentives and other means.

Up to now, Zhou Binquan holds 10.31 million shares of Fuling mustard, making him the fourth largest shareholder of the company and worth more than 100 million yuan.

Unfinished business

Driven by the brand effect, Fuling mustard has entered the fast lane of development, and the added value of a small package of Wujiang mustard has also increased rapidly.

According to media statistics, since 2008, the price of Wujiang mustard has been raised more than ten times, either explicitly or implicitly. The amount of mustard per pack is getting smaller and smaller, and the price is getting higher and higher. The terminal price of ordinary 80g Wujiang mustard has risen from the initial 5 cents to about 3 yuan.

The increase in sales volume and the increase in prices have jointly boosted the sustained and rapid growth of Fuling mustard's operating income and profit.

In the ten years from 2013 to 2022, the company's operating income increased from 846 million yuan to 2.548 billion yuan, and the net profit attributable to the parent company increased from 141 million yuan to 899 million yuan.

As the mustard brand with the largest market share, Wujiang has a strong voice in the channel. Whether it is a supermarket in a big city or a small store in the countryside, there is no Wujiang mustard for sale, which is a major shortcoming.

The company implements the sales policy of first payment and then goods to dealers. As a result, the company's debt-to-asset ratio is extremely low (5.98% at the end of September 2023), accounts receivable are almost negligible, cash flow is abundant, and there are no short- and long-term interest-bearing borrowings. In 2022, the company's interest income from depositing money in the bank will exceed 100 million yuan.

However, the market size of a single mustard industry has always been limited, and the biggest problem in front of Fuling mustard is how to break through the growth bottleneck of the industry.

Under the leadership of Zhou Binquan, the company chose to break through the category restrictions of mustard and find new growth points in the pickled vegetable industry.

Very early, the company laid out radishes, kelp and other products in addition to mustard, hoping to create a big single product between the two.

However, after years of cultivation, the revenue of radish products finally exceeded 100 million yuan in 2018. However, this momentum has not continued, and the revenue of radish products has fallen below 100 million yuan for many years.

At this time, Zhou Binquan took a fancy to the prospects of the kimchi industry. In his opinion, the market size of kimchi is larger than that of mustard, and the current industrialization and branding are seriously insufficient, and there is a lot to be done.

In 2015, Fuling mustard invested 130 million yuan to quickly enter the kimchi industry through the acquisition of Huitong Food. In recent years, although the company's kimchi revenue has increased, the scale of about 200 million yuan a year is still far from the dream of rebuilding a Wujiang River.

Before retiring, Zhou Binquan's strategy for Fuling mustard was the two-wheel drive of "mustard + sauce", hoping to realize the company's blueprint of 10 billion yuan.

However, the years are not forgiving. This grand goal can only be handed over to later generations, Gao Xiang, who was born in the 80s, to accomplish it.

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