Xiaoweiyang transforms into an industry leader after 15 years of running
From apprentice in a photo studio to government official, and then to successful entrepreneur, Yu Jiarong's three magnificent transformations created today's Xiaoweiyang legend, with more than 300 stores and revenue exceeding 5 billion.
The just-concluded Baotou Beef and Mutton Industry Conference sharply raised industry attention on Yu Jiarong, chairman of Inner Mongolia Xiaoweiyang Animal Husbandry Technology Co., Ltd.
At the opening ceremony, under everyone's gaze, Yu Jiarong carried back the Guinness World Record "Genghis Khan Large Hot Pot" certificate, attracting much attention; at this exhibition, Xiaoweiyang jointly exhibited with the central state-owned enterprise China Animal Husbandry Group, also showing its helmsman's extraordinary strength.
From a "follower" among Baotou's flocks to an industry pacesetter; from a single catering business to rapid layout across the entire industry chain. Through 15 years of persistence and running, the low-key and steady Yu Jiarong ultimately transformed Xiaoweiyang from a follower into the "lead sheep," and also used his strength to forge an outstanding entrepreneur's remarkable execution and influence.
"Crossover" into Xiaoweiyang
Today, Xiaoweiyang ranks among China's 500 Most Valuable Brands, with brand value reaching 14.6 billion yuan, ranking 234th. It has not only become a key meat sheep full-industry-chain enterprise supported by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, but also a national-level key leading enterprise in agricultural and livestock industrialization.
As chairman, Yu Jiarong's personal fame in the industry is far less than that of his Xiaoweiyang. Because he has always been a low-key person, rarely speaking at length to the media, which also keeps him consistently mysterious.
Looking back, Yu Jiarong believes the three most important things that influenced his life were: first, apprenticing for one year in a photo studio in the 1980s, which made him understand that only hard work can lead to success; second, resigning from his post as a government official in the 1990s to go into business; third, after entering the 21st century, deciding to buy Xiaoweiyang.
And it was precisely the third thing that gave his life the opportunity to soar against the wind.
That was in 2001, when Yu Jiarong, who had worked for many years in the traditional photography and videography market, vaguely realized that with the popularization of digital technology, the shrinking of the traditional market would be the general trend, and transformation was already inevitable.
However, where should he start when changing careers? And where should he break through?
After a period of careful consideration and research, Yu Jiarong set his sights on the hot pot market. In his view, using the resource advantages of the Inner Mongolia grasslands to develop an enterprise would surely allow him to build a thriving business.
However, his choice was not favored by people. At that time, Baotou's hot pot market was already full of players, but the vast majority had no brand awareness. Therefore, many people advised him: "Do not enter the catering business, it is too hard, working from dawn to dusk is not worth it. The industry you are operating now is so good, you earn several million a year, are you still afraid you cannot survive?"
Yu Jiarong also deeply understood the difficulty of changing careers, but behind him were more than 100 employees and dozens of retired employees, who were both pressure and motivation, so he resolutely invested the more than 5 million yuan he had accumulated over many years into Xiaoweiyang.
During that period, in order to create Xiaoweiyang's unique characteristics, he traveled to the homes of herders on the grasslands and began to understand mutton and hot pot. From a southerner who did not eat mutton, he came to taste hot pot meat more than ten times a day. Hard work paid off, and he finally successfully developed Xiaoweiyang's divine broth, promoting "hot pot without dipping sauce" across the country. As a result, Yu Jiarong also formed an indissoluble bond with Inner Mongolia's sheep industry.
"Digging for gold and treasure" in the industry chain
Running all the way and expanding all the way, Yu Jiarong steadily led Xiaoweiyang southward, steadily expanding its territory nationwide. Xiaoweiyang catering also began to split from the original Xiaoweiyang nourishing hot pot into brands such as Happy Ranch, Wenduge, and Mongolian Camp. The number of stores nationwide exceeded 300, and the number of stores in the United Arab Emirates, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and other countries also exceeded 30, with annual sales exceeding 5 billion.
Looking back now, Yu Jiarong believes that Xiaoweiyang's development process was also a process of continuously improving its own full industry chain, and its development went through three key stages.
Stage one: 2002-2008, Xiaoweiyang catering developed rapidly at home and abroad. Especially after the outbreak of the 2008 financial crisis, Xiaoweiyang implemented a multi-brand operating strategy for market segmentation, created China's first buffet "Happy Ranch" brand, captured young people as a powerful consumer group, and expanded Xiaoweiyang's terminal market. Stage two: 2008-2012, in order to ensure the quality of meat used in catering, Xiaoweiyang continuously invested funds, from establishing processing bases to establishing breeding bases, continuously improving Xiaoweiyang's industry chain. Stage three: from 2013 to now, the business focus has developed from a single catering business to a full industry chain model integrating meat sheep breeding, food processing, catering chains, and market sales, completing Xiaoweiyang's full industry chain layout.
And the full industry chain development model has also given Yu Jiarong more confidence. He stated that the full industry chain is currently Xiaoweiyang's most core competitive advantage, "Looking across the country, there are also very few operations like Xiaoweiyang that run the entire industry from pasture to table."
In Yu Jiarong's view, not all enterprises can do a full industry chain well; this requires favorable timing and geographical conditions. "And Xiaoweiyang happens to possess such resources, because we first did the terminal, with the market support of hundreds of stores nationwide, and then did the upstream, relying on the pure natural, pollution-free animal husbandry of the Inner Mongolia grasslands, so doing fine processing in the middle became a matter of course."
Building "China's No. 1 Sheep"
As the running Xiaoweiyang grew stronger day by day, Yu Jiarong put listing on the timetable.
On December 15, 2015, Xiaoweiyang completed the shareholding system reform of the catering company and held its founding meeting. This was the first step in Xiaoweiyang's catering business listing journey. Yu Jiarong stated that the company's goal is for Xiaoweiyang's catering business to achieve a main board listing within three years, and for Xiaoweiyang Animal Husbandry to have the opportunity to enter the capital market after five years, achieving the organic unity of shareholder interests, company interests, employee interests, and social interests, making Xiaoweiyang a veritable "China's No. 1 Sheep."
In its overall development, Yu Jiarong also paid more attention to vertical and horizontal alliances, leveraging each other's strengths to expand its own power.
On November 27 last year, Inner Mongolia Xiaoweiyang Animal Husbandry Technology Co., Ltd. formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Animal Husbandry Industry (Group) Corporation, beginning a new journey of cooperation with a central state-owned enterprise.
In April this year, Xiaoweiyang signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement on "Australian White" breeding sheep with Australia's Highveld Australian Highveld International Breeding Sheep Company, marking a new breakthrough in Xiaoweiyang's international strategic layout.
So what signal exactly does the cooperation between Xiaoweiyang and the central state-owned enterprise China Animal Husbandry Group release?
Yu Jiarong stated that, leveraging the national "13th Five-Year Plan" tailwind, Xiaoweiyang plans to cooperate closely with China Animal Husbandry Group in the next five years, tap and integrate Inner Mongolia's animal husbandry resources, adapt measures to local conditions, optimize layout, innovate mechanisms, build high-quality breeding sheep and meat sheep breeding bases, and drive the development of animal husbandry in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. At the same time, with the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as the central base, it will integrate meat sheep resources nationwide and even globally, strive to exceed 10 billion yuan in output value within five years, enable more than 100,000 farmers and herders to enter Xiaoweiyang's industry chain and achieve increased income and prosperity, and develop Xiaoweiyang into the largest and world-class meat sheep breeding, production and processing enterprise in Inner Mongolia and even the whole country.