Chestnut Cultivation: The Road from Novice to Expert
On October 23, 2013, Chen Yun walked briskly out of a food research institute in Beijing, his mood as bright as the autumn sunshine. After more than two years of running around, the technical development of "chestnut dew" had finally produced results. Over those two years, he had traveled to beverage processing enterprises and research institutes in Shandong, Beijing, Zhejiang and other places, full of hope time and again, only to fail time and again. The problems of poor stability of chestnuts and excessive sediment in the beverage had remained difficult to break through. During this period, he had also nearly been cheated out of over a million yuan by a shell company... All these setbacks and hardships turned into a relaxed smile on his face at this moment.
That year marked the tenth year since Chen Yun graduated from China Agricultural University and returned to his hometown to start a business. "Chengde, not far from my hometown, has almond dew, and Hengshui has walnut dew. The nutrition and taste of chestnuts, a specialty agricultural product of Qianxi, are no worse than almonds or walnuts. Why can't we develop a high-value-added chestnut dew?"
Developing a new product requires capital. After graduating from university, Chen Yun borrowed a sum of money from his family and started by opening a supermarket, gradually accumulating capital. The enterprise management knowledge he learned at university helped him greatly. Over the years, Chen Yun's supermarkets had grown to 11. Feeling that the time was ripe, Chen Yun began investing in the research and development of chestnut dew.
In fact, in China, people had always tried to make chestnuts into a high-end beverage, but none had succeeded. "Others couldn't do it, and you can? Don't come to regret it after you stumble!" Facing voices of opposition, Chen Yun said firmly: "If I don't try while I'm young, I'll regret it later!"
Chen Yun was born in Qiangbanyu Village, Qianxi County, Hebei Province. When he was a child, every household in the village planted chestnuts. When autumn harvest season came, under the chestnut trees all over the hills, there were people bending over to gather chestnuts. Although the chestnut processing industry in Qianxi had made considerable progress in recent years, it still mainly consisted of primary processed products such as peeled chestnut kernels, and the deep processing industry had never really taken off. What Chen Yun wanted to do was fill the gap in chestnut beverages and extend the chestnut industry chain.
How easy is it to create a new product from nothing! For Chen Yun, the process of entrepreneurship was like Sisyphus in mythology, constantly pushing the boulder in front of him, only for it to roll back down again. Through repeated attempts, he opened up new possibilities for his life.
After the research and development succeeded, the process of building a factory and starting production was equally full of twists and turns. "Take the production equipment, for example. At first I went to a manufacturer in Langfang to buy it. After consulting experts there, I learned that a company in Jiangsu had better equipment, so I went to Jiangsu. After asking around carefully, it turned out that the equipment from a factory in Shanghai was the most first-class, so in the end I went to Shanghai and bought the equipment back. That was just the process of purchasing one homogenizer." It took Chen Yun a full 8 months to purchase the entire set of equipment, and he himself had gone from a novice to an expert.
"To be the number one person in domestic chestnut beverages, you must have the ambition to build a century-old brand." Chen Yun, who had a formal background in enterprise management, was almost harsh in his professional requirements. He made "three visits to the thatched cottage" and managed to recruit talent who had served as production director at major companies such as Lulu and Huiyuan Juice.
"Once the product goes into production, the battle has only just begun." To help consumers know and accept chestnut dew, this entirely new beverage, Chen Yun and his team began an even more difficult journey. After production began in October 2014, Chen Yun spent almost the entire year traveling on business to explore the market.
Winter gives way to spring, and all things are reborn. Chen Yun's "Tieliduo" chestnut beverage opened up markets in Hebei, Jilin, Tianjin and other places. In the first year, it transformed 200 tons of locally produced chestnuts, helping more than 5,000 chestnut farming households increase their income. Yet this passionate entrepreneur, unafraid of setbacks, did not stop on the path of industrializing deep chestnut processing. The development of new products such as chestnut chicken and chestnut biscuits was already nearing completion. "Next time we meet, I'll definitely give you a new surprise!" Chen Yun said with a simple smile.