1953 Bare-handed Tycoon - Chapter 361



Only Noblemtl

361 – Cheongsan Foods

February was a busy month for all of the liquidation staff.

All managers from the Seoul headquarters were mobilized to transport the canning plant equipment and ramen manufacturing equipment imported from Japan to the ports of Busan and Incheon, respectively, and install them in the factories.

Kijo established and entrusted it with the production of canned food and ramen, and first looked into the canning factory being built in Busan.

To make canned food, you need more than just a cannery.

A canning factory to manufacture canning containers and a research institute to study canning technology were also needed.

In Korea, there were still canning facilities built by the Japanese during the Japanese colonial period, and there were canning factories established with support from the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). However, the technology level was low, and they were producing poor quality canned food.

The goal was to produce canned goods that met U.S. military standards.

This way, if the Vietnam War broke out, the way would be opened for quickly passing US military certification and supplying kimchi to Korean troops stationed in Vietnam.

The canned food provided to the Korean military in Vietnam was purchased by the US military and supplied to the Korean military.

To meet the US military procurement standards, Kijo decided to invite Japanese and American technicians.

The American technician was to be brought in through Yusom’s Frank, and the Japanese technician was scheduled to come to Korea soon.

The plan was to have the two sit at the to improve the stability and nutritional level of canned food.

In order to meet the US military supply standards, it was necessary to solve the difficult problem of having high nutrient content such as calcium and vitamins, as well as the durability of the container and the high temperature resistance of the contents.

In some ways, the Cheongsan Food Research Institute, which improves the quality of canned food rather than the canning factory itself, could be said to be the core of Cheongsan Food.

“Oh, sir. Are you planning on producing this much canned food? Do you even can rice?”

Seo Gwang, who went to Busan with me, was surprised to see the list of research that the Cheongsan Food Research Institute would be conducting.

The 11 main products to be developed by Cheongsan Foods were as follows.

1. White rice

2. Kimchi

3. Anchovy and laver salad

4. Braised pork

5. Stewed Beef

6. Simmered squid

7. Braised Mackerel

8. Tofu pancake

9. Bean Rice

10. Jangjorim

11 Sausage Stew

There were 10 kinds of rice and side dishes.

“Sir, who eats rice in cans? If we make something like this, it seems like we’ll only lose money.”

“If war breaks out, we’ll have to eat canned food.”

“War? Are you saying that there will be another Korean War?”

Seo-kwang’s eyes widened.

The keynote speaker said with a smile.

“6.25 War will never happen. But isn’t Vietnam suspicious these days? If the US military goes to Vietnam, the Korean military will go too. Then, the era of eating canned food will come.”

Despite the keynote speech, Seo-kwang still looked unconvinced.

The look on his face was that he couldn’t even imagine eating canned rice, since rice is meant to be cooked in a pot or kettle.

It was funny to see Seo-gwang, who knew that it would be 40 to 50 years before the instant rice market, such as Haetban, would open up, still unable to accept canned rice.

The keynote speech was given to Park Yang-ho, a Korean resident in Japan from Osaka who came with the machinery imported from Japan.

Park Yang-ho was a 20-year veteran of a Japanese canning factory and was scheduled to take over as plant manager.

“Factory manager, please do your best to improve the environment so that canned foods can be made hygienically.”

“Okay, then I guess we should first provide sanitary uniforms for the factory workers and move the toilets far away from the factory.”

Park Yang-ho pointed out that the restrooms in the factory were too close to the manufacturing facilities.

“Okay, I’ll tear down the bathroom and build a new one. And if you have any additional requests, please let Manager Kim Seo-kwang know.”

I thought that Kim Seo-kwang, who has a good personality, would get along well with Park Yang-ho, a Korean living in Osaka.

Kijo asked Park Yang-ho to also look after the deep-sea fishing boats that Cheongsan Fisheries had brought in after the canning plant machinery was installed and test operation was completed.

Cheongsansusando was also promoting a business of exporting canned tuna by introducing a used Japanese fishing boat that could catch tuna and can it right away.

Fortunately, as Chairman Park implemented the , he also provided tariff reductions when domestic companies brought in production facilities from Japan.

Compared to the Syngman Rhee administration, it was implementing a series of very flexible and industry-friendly policies.

After touring a cannery in Busan, Kijo went up to Seoul and headed to Dobong-ri, Nohae-myeon, Yangju-gun, Gyeonggi-do.

Nohae-myeon, where the Cheongsan Ramen factory was built, was scheduled to be incorporated into Seongbuk-gu, Seoul in 1963.

Unlike the canning factory, which was built in Busan where it was easy to procure ingredients, the ramen factory was built near Seoul, where the consumer market was close.

Kijo met with Lim Dae-hong, the president of Cheongsan Foods, and toured the machines installed in the factory.

“This machine mixes wheat flour and mixing water and kneads it. Then, when the dough comes over here, it is rolled out by rollers to make noodles, and the noodles are made into noodles by a noodle maker, and then they go onto the conveyor belt.”

The keynote speaker walked along, listening to Lim Dae-hong, who was familiar with the production process, explain it to him.

“How do you make the noodles curly?”

“You just need to adjust the speed of the conveyor belt.”

Im Dae-hong explained the steaming process, which involves steaming the noodles once, and the forming process, which involves shaping the noodles into squares, and spoke in detail about the boiling process.

“Fry the noodles at 150℃ with refined oil to evaporate the moisture in the noodles and coat them with oil. Then, cool them to room temperature and the noodles are done.”

As expected from Lim Dae-hong, who created Miwon and formed the target group in the history of Won, he was very meticulous in understanding the noodle manufacturing process.

Kijo felt sorry for Lim Dae-hong.

“Mr. Lim, please think of this company as yours.”

“yes?”

Lim Dae-hong said, not understanding the true meaning of the keynote speech.

“Of course, I plan to run the ramen factory as if it were my own. I don’t plan on doing anything carelessly just because I’m a salaried boss.”

Kijo did not forget his debt to Lim Dae-hong, who gave him the idea for the Miwon project that contributed to the establishment of Cheongsan.

One day, he planned to repay that debt by spinning off the ramen division from Cheongsan Foods and giving it to him.

Lim Dae-hong continued to explain the soup manufacturing process.

“We plan to add more green onions and garlic to the chicken soup imported from Japan and strengthen the flavor of the soup with soybean paste as the base. We will slowly increase the spiciness and find the right level that consumers prefer by observing the market response.”

The keynote speech left Lim Dae-hong with nothing more to order or hope for.

“Mr. Lim, do whatever you want to do. I will leave it entirely up to you.”

“thank you.”

After finishing the factory inspection, Kijo talked with Ma-ryang and Han-su, who helped Lim Dae-hong, as they returned to headquarters.

“Did you have any difficulties working with President Lim?”

When I asked Ma-Ryang, Ma-Ryang scratched his head and said.

“I thought we wouldn’t be needed. It seems like we won’t have to go to Dobong-ri anymore. Hansoo, what do you think?”

Hansoo also gave the same answer to Ma-ryang’s question.

“Rather, I think it would be someone who would visit the Dobong factory from the headquarters. I felt uncomfortable because I thought I would look like a sister-in-law who was spying on the company when they were doing a good job.”

“Right, then let’s let President Lim take care of the Dobong Ramen Factory. We’ll just help with sales.”

The keynote speech was that ramen sales would be sluggish for several years.

First of all, because the manufacturing cost was high, it lacked competitiveness over its rival, Jjajangmyeon.

A bowl of Jjajangmyeon cost around 150 won, but ramen cost 100 won, like a pot of udon.

There was no way to beat the oily, filling feeling that is characteristic of Jjajangmyeon, and there was no convenience of ordering it right away like a pot of udon.

It is true that the amount of noodles provided by one pack of ramen is insufficient compared to that of Jjajangmyeon.

And the practice of buying ramen at a store and boiling it at home was still unfamiliar to people.

People weren’t even familiar with the word ‘ramen’.

When I think of ramen noodles as cotton, I see white noodles in the transparent ramen bags at the store.

“Why is this thread so thick and curly?” I wondered.

The keynote speech was reassured to see that the canned food and ramen factories were well established in the country.

In addition to Cheongsan Foods, Cheongsan Construction and Kia Industries, which are headed by professional CEOs, have also created their own development roadmaps and are growing steadily.

Kia Industries, which received capital injections from Cheongsan, entered into a joint venture with Honda of Japan in 1961 to import Honda motorcycle parts, assemble them, and sell them. This year, it was planning to import a three-wheeled truck model from Toyo Industries (Mazda Motors) of Japan and produce the 356cc three-wheeled cargo vehicle K-360.

Kim Cheol-ho personally loaded the K-360 onto a truck and came to Seoul to present it to Kijo.

Three-wheeled trucks were a valuable means of transportation for small and medium-sized businesses in situations where there were no domestically produced four-wheeled trucks.

“This is the three-wheeled truck that Kia will be introducing this time. The maximum load is 300kg, and the original frame has been reinforced so it can easily carry four sacks of rice. It doesn’t need to run that fast, but it can also go up to 60km/h.”

The keynote speaker took a closer look at the small, compact three-wheeled truck.

Memories of the K-360 he had seen in his past life came to mind, and Kijo couldn’t hide his smile the whole time he was watching it.

“What would you like to name the product?”

“I think I’ll go with KIA MASTER.”

“Good.”

“Originally, Toyo Industries wanted to put their own brand, Mazda, on the product, but the government refused to allow it, saying that a Japanese name could not be used. So we decided on MASTER, which has a similar pronunciation.”

“Well done.”

Kijo rode the Kia Master with Kim Chul-ho and drove around Seoul.

Traffic police at the intersection, pedestrians walking on the sidewalk, and drivers of vehicles traveling on the same road looked at the three-wheeled truck driven by Gijo in curiosity.

As he stopped briefly at an intersection, the driver of a jeep pulled up next to him and spoke to him.

“When I looked at it from behind, I thought it was a truck, but when I looked at the front, it only had one wheel.”

“Yes, it’s a three-wheeled truck.”

“Hey, if you run too hard, won’t you fall?”

“Does a truck carrying a load need to drive hard? It’s fine if it drives slowly.”

“It must be cheaper than a four-wheeled vehicle because it has one less wheel. It looks cute too. It must use less gas. Where did you import that car?”

Kijo tried to answer, but the traffic police gave the signal to go, so he had to go ahead.

The keynote speaker checked to see if the speedometer was working properly, the transmission was shifting smoothly, and the wipers were moving properly, and then spoke to Kim Chul-ho.

“Sir, do you happen to smuggle things like tires when you bring in motorcycle and three-wheeled vehicle parts from Japan?”

Kim Cheol-ho stuttered in surprise at the keynote question.

“That’s… , so… . Even if you import and sell just one tire, you can easily earn one employee’s salary… .”

The keynote speaker nodded.

Just like the original history, Kim Cheol-ho was smuggling in tires, a popular item, when importing parts from Japan.

However, in 1963, he was caught by customs and investigated by prosecutors.

“Isn’t it true that Kia Industries can’t afford to pay its employees’ salaries? If that happens, the Cheongsan headquarters will provide ample support, so please don’t smuggle anything.”

Kijo spoke absentmindedly, looking ahead while holding the steering wheel.

Although the tone was not one of ridicule, Kim Chul-ho’s face turned bright red.

“Okay, sir.”

Kijo said with a big smile as he approached the headquarters.

“The car is very good. I hope that while producing Kia Master, they will also learn manufacturing technology and quickly produce domestic trucks.”

Kijo got out of the car and shook hands with Kim Cheol-ho with a satisfied look.

The keynote speaker was not disappointed that Kim Cheol-ho, a skilled craftsman, was also involved in smuggling.

Smuggling was so rampant in this era that it was hard to find a company that did not engage in smuggling.

But in this history, at least companies belonging to the Cheongsan Group should never engage in smuggling.

Smuggling, which was rampant in the 1950s, was severely punished under the military regime in the 1960s and had a serious impact on businesses.