Food is the unique temperament and business card of a city, and in the inheritance and precipitation of thousands of years of history, it has created a taste bud memory with different flavors in various places. Counting the food in Huaihua, the sour and crispy sour radish has always been highly sought after as a must-have appetizer at the banquet.
It is rumored that the sour radish was created by Zhang Xiongpi, the imperial chef in the late Qing Dynasty, and it was popular in the capital because of its wonderful taste and appetite. Later, when Zhang Xiongpi moved to Xiangxi, he passed on his cooking skills and sour radish making skills to the local people, and this also became the source of Xiangxi sour radish, Chenxi sour radish, and Zhijiang sour radish.
In the land of Wuxi where "ten miles are not customary" and "all parts are not sour", radish has been developed into sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, color, fragrant, hemp and other flavors, among which Chenxi sour radish is the most, and here, Zhang Yuanmei founded "Chengong sour radish" occupies a unique place.
(Sour radish store)
Southbound: With 2,000 yuan, he went to Jingzhou to set up a stall and start a business
The story of Zhang Yuanmei and Chenxi sour radish has to start from 2000.
At that time, Zhang Yuanmei ran a fast food restaurant in Huaihua, but the hard work of getting up early and working late at night could not bring her a good reward, so Zhang Yuanmei and her husband Tang Yueyong decided to close the fast food restaurant, and went south to Jingzhou to join their aunt with only 2,000 yuan in cash and a burden.
In Jingzhou, although Zhang Yuanmei and her husband have been taken care of by relatives, they know that living on other people's roofs for a long time is not a long-term solution after all, and they must find a suitable livelihood as soon as possible. "My husband is from Chenxi, and his family has an ancestral sour radish brewing technology, and the cost of sour radish is low and the market acceptance rate is high." With their unique advantages, Zhang Yuanmei and her husband developed four flavors of cold dishes such as sweet radish, sour radish, kelp and cucumber at the initial stage.
One stall, 4 kinds of dishes, at the gate of Jingzhou No. 1 Middle School, this is the prototype of Zhang Yuanmei and his wife's entrepreneurship. However, there are many stalls at the entrance of the school and great competition, and Zhang Yuanmei's sour radish stall of 6 yuan per kilogram is rarely interested. "At that time, we used a free tasting and half-buy-half-free method to promote the product, and I was very confident in the taste of our sour radish." Good taste, low price, with the blessing of the unique taste of the product, Zhang Yuanmei's people-friendly propaganda has also achieved immediate results, and soon became the "stall king" on the street, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon every day, many customers will even come to the stall early, as a gift to visit relatives and friends.
The reason for the "explosion" of sour radish is not only the taste, but also the bottom line of Zhang Yuanmei and his wife's "inferior products are not on the table". "There is a lot of rain in the south, and the rain often enters the dishes when we set up stalls, and although it doesn't affect the food for a day or two, we still throw it away." Referring to the reason why she has to give up her loss, Zhang Yuanmei smiled calmly, and the health of customers is far more important than money.
In the midst of more and more customers asking for early stalls, Zhang Yuanmei and his wife decided to open a store to meet customer needs in real time. At the end of 2000, the "Authentic Chenxi Sour Radish" located in Jingzhou River Street opened for business.
Go to sea: Let the Huaihua sour radish brand go to home and abroad
Zhang Yuanmei and his wife's sour radish shop has a booming business, with revenue increasing at a rate of about 5% every year.
Regarding the secret of the popularity of sour radish, Zhang Yuanmei revealed that the main thing is in the seasoning and selection: "We streamline the seasonings, focus on 'zero additives', strictly control the quality of the dishes, and let customers feel the original taste of the food." Under the market economy, 24 years have not changed the original intention, this seemingly stupid craftsman spirit is particularly moving.
Every dish has its own story, and the sour radish may seem simple, but the process cannot be sloppy. To make a sour radish, first of all, you need to choose the fresh and solid large radish in the Yuanshui Basin, wash it in the stream water, remove the head and tail to leave the most tender part in the middle, cut it into strips or blocks of equal size, marinate it with salt for half an hour and then put it into the clay jar filled with spring water, add white vinegar, salt, rock sugar, and finally seal the altar with spring water for 3-5 days, and then mix it with secret oil to pour spicy seeds to eat, but the process is slightly different in the meantime, and the taste will be very different.
(Different flavors of Chenxi sour radish)
It is not easy to master a technique to perfection, Zhang Yuanmei believes that making a high-quality sour radish reflects not only the pursuit of excellence in dishes, but also the patience and focus of merchants on customers.
In 2018, in a self-media report about Chengong sour radish, netizens "Hey! Tning" left a message: "I've been eating her family's sour radish since school, and now I still have to order it every time I go home." ”
Seeing the subtleties, we can also get a glimpse of the "two-way running" between consumers and businesses. Zhang Yuanmei said frankly that many customers are still patronizing from their student days to starting a family. With the reputation of "Chengong sour radish" becoming louder and louder, many scholars have come here to "apprentice and seek art". In Zhang Yuanmei's memory, she and her husband personally trained no less than 200 students.
The word "sour" has never been only the "rivers and lakes" of craftsmen, but also the "sweetness" of laborers. Since 2015, Zhang Yuanmei and his wife have been determined to expand their business territory, and after successfully applying for the trademark of "Chengong Sour Radish" in Huaihua, they have opened franchises all over the country. In the past few years, the brand has attracted more than 40 franchisees from Myanmar, Zhejiang, Guizhou and other regions at home and abroad to visit and study, directly driving the employment of nearly 100 people in Huaihua. At its peak, there were more than 100 franchisees across the country.
Huaihua sour radish truly realizes the geographical sense of the mountains and the sea.
(Chenxi sour radish chain in Myanmar)
Homecoming: Open up a broader world in Huaihua
Great entrepreneurs don't stand still.
In 2023, in order to expand the brand influence, Zhang Yuanmei and his wife joined forces with others to move their headquarters to Huaihua, re-establish "Hunan Chengong Food Co., Ltd.", and establish the "Chengong Sour Radish" Cultural and Creative Park. Referring to the reason, Zhang Yuanmei has a clear idea: "In the Internet era, e-commerce operation talents are indispensable, Huaihua has convenient transportation and a large reserve of skilled talents. ”
In the Huaihua main store of "Chengong Sour Radish", the cultural atmosphere of the store, the simple and elegant leisure environment, and the open and transparent meal production show Zhang Yuanmei's absolute confidence in the quality of her own dishes. Among them, the 1,500-square-meter trainee training base behind the store has released a beneficial signal for the brand to move from "savage growth" to healthy development. "There are three classrooms in the training base, which can accommodate more than 60 students at one time." Tang Yueyong said.
(Mr. and Mrs. Zhang Yuanmei (first from right, second from right) with overseas partners)
Regarding the future, Zhang Yuanmei has a clear plan, they will take the head office as the core to create a new central kitchen that radiates the whole Huaihua, and the ingredients of each branch will be uniformly distributed by the head office every day to improve the overall operation efficiency and ensure the taste of the dishes to the greatest extent.
"My greatest wish is to turn the appetizing 'little radish' into a 'big radish' for more people to get rich." Zhang Yuanmei said that after the Huaihua store is settled, they will also take out certain positions to recruit people with disabilities. Today, the sour radish shops in three different places, including Huaihua Building, are open and operating.
After 24 years of continuous growth, Zhang Yuanmei and his wife have never forgotten to pay attention to the weak, and spend about 90,000 yuan a year to directly purchase chili, radish, garlic and other products from farmers. Liu Hui, a villager in Hengjiangqiao Village, Jingzhou, has been cooperating with Zhang Yuanmei for more than 10 years, and after tasting the dividends of planting scallion, he also mobilized the whole village to plant together. ”
(Zhang Yuanmei is arranging work)
A sour radish, a business experience, a cultural history. From going south to Jingzhou in 2000 to struggling, to returning to his hometown with a dream 24 years later to "start a second business"; From a "small stall" with only 4 dishes to a "big alliance" with brands all over the world; From "family operation" to "corporate management"; From "single cold dish production" to large-scale operation integrating "production, sales, food management, education and training, product research and development, and beverage leisure...... In the hearts of Zhang Yuanmei and his wife, the sour radish represents no longer a kind of food, but the mud under their feet, the roots in their hearts, the food culture of the Wuxi Basin and the hometown feelings in the eyes of the wanderers.
(Huaihua Daily all-media reporter Yang Lihong)