Chapter 282 Building momentum
When talking about this, He Chao laughed.
He sincerely admires Tong Huaqiong.
Originally, he was still thinking in the capital city about how to make Taohua dessert famous.
He thought that when Taohua Dessert first became well-known in Yanguan Town, it was inseparable from the promotion of Mr. Huang, a trendsetter in food, clothing, housing and transportation in Yanguan Town.
There are more Mr. Huang in the capital city.
As long as we can climb up one of them, we can replicate the success of Yanguan Town.
He wanted to attract the attention of the wealthy families in the city before opening the restaurant, so that they could try Taohua Dessert. As long as they were willing to try, Taohua Dessert would definitely be their first choice of pastries.
He has this confidence.
Everyone has the tendency to follow the trend.
If we can win over the wealthy families in the city, we won’t have to worry about the sales of peach blossom desserts.
He Chao confidently tried to get close to the doorman, the purchasing agent, and the housekeeper of the wealthy family, but to no avail.
After learning about this, Tong Huaqiong thought that He Chao's idea was good, but there were errors in the operational level.
Rich families have strict requirements on food, clothing, housing and transportation, especially food. What if food is poisoned?
You are an outsider who wants to use the doorman and the butler to break into the rich family and change their diet. What will they think?
If anything happens, neither the housekeeper nor the doorman can escape.
When in Yanguan Town, he was able to easily infiltrate Huang Yuanwai's family because Huang Yuanwai took the initiative to come to Tong Huaqiong's shop, not because Tong Huaqiong took the initiative.
There was an element of luck involved, but Tong Huaqiong seized upon this luck.
It’s different in the provincial capital. The wealthy families in the provincial capital are more cautious and will hardly take the initiative to go to pastry shops.
Tong Huaqiong thought about it and came up with an idea.
Can I start with the disciples from wealthy families?
Where do the disciples of the wealthy families in the city gather? Of course, it is Wanliu Academy.
Ningcheng is a place with a strong reading atmosphere, and all the children from wealthy families study.
Wanliu Academy is the best academy in Ningcheng, and those young men are scrambling to get into it.
How to infiltrate the students of Wanliu Academy and make them eat Peach Blossom Desserts? There is a ready-made person - Lu Zhaoyang.
As a talented scholar in Wanliu Academy, Lu Zhaoyang is a highly respected figure in the academy and is admired by his fellow students.
So Tong Huaqiong wrote a letter to He Chao and Lu Zhaoyang overnight.
The next day, four baskets of snacks and mooncakes of various flavors from Taohua Desserts were delivered to Wanliu Academy.
Since Lu Zhaoyang was allergic to gluten, he naturally wouldn't eat it, so he gave the snacks to his teacher and a group of his fellow classmates.
It’s beyond belief that anyone who eats Taohua Dessert’s snacks will become a die-hard fan of the product.
Sure enough, after finishing their snacks, the students of Wanliu Academy asked Lu Zhaoyang which pastry shop he had bought the snacks from. After learning that it was Peach Blossom Dessert, they swarmed to Pearl Lane.
Lu Zhaoyang deliberately did not tell them the specific location of Taohua Dessert in Pearl Lane, so the students asked as they walked along, and Taohua Dessert quickly became famous in Pearl Lane.
The students arrived at the shop and found out that Taohua Dessert had not yet opened, which was quite disappointing.
When the students arrived, Master Song was teaching the baker how to make pastries. The rich aroma wafting from the shop aroused the students' appetite.
So he pestered He Chao to buy it.
Finally, He Chao sold the baked mooncakes to the students.
The next day, the students came to the shop again. He Chao took the opportunity to talk about the opening date of the shop and promised to make an exception and bake cakes and send them to Wanliu Academy before the opening.
Just like that, Taohua Dessert became popular in the city without spending a penny on marketing.
Now at least half of the people in the city know that a Peach Blossom Dessert pastry shop is about to open in Pearl Lane.
There will also be food tastings on the opening day.
Everyone was eagerly waiting to come in and taste what kind of snacks could make the students of Wanliu Academy rave about them after just one try.
What are the family backgrounds of the students of Wanliu Academy?
The big and wealthy families in the city, and even the children of the noble families in Shengjing, how delicious must the snacks be to make these people rave about them endlessly.
Some people are even ready to find fault. If Taohua Dessert's pastries do not live up to their name, they will make a fuss.
"......After all, it was the boss's idea. Now many people and dim sum shops in the city are paying attention to the opening of our store." He Chao told Tong Huaqiong about the situation in the past few days.
This wave of publicity was initially successful.
It depends on how the opening goes in two days.
Tong Huaqiong felt that there was no problem.
"Manager He, do you have any mooncakes with meat filling?"
At this time, someone was shouting inside at the door.
Tong Huaqiong thought, the business is already coming in even though the store hasn't even opened yet.
He Chao stood up and said to Tong Huaqiong with a smile: "The person who came is Lord Yao's butler."
Tong Huaqiong was surprised that Yao Zhifu, the top official of Ningcheng, also came to show his support.
He Chao smiled and welcomed Master Yao's housekeeper Zhu into the shop, saying enthusiastically, "Yes! Master Yao likes to eat mooncakes with meat fillings."
Housekeeper Zhu said, "He used to eat sweet food, but the salty food in your shop suits Lord Yao's taste. Lord Yao just came back from inspecting the autumn harvest, and he wanted to eat the meat-filled mooncakes in your shop."
The meat-filled mooncakes for Magistrate Yao were not given by Ho Chiu.
He Chao doesn't have enough power to become the top leader of the city.
This meat-filled mooncake was sent by Lu Zhaoyang. Prefect Yao thought it was delicious and asked Lu Zhaoyang for it again. Lu Zhaoyang said it was produced by Taohua Dessert.
When Magistrate Yao learned that Peach Blossom Dessert was opened in Pearl Lane, he sent his butler to buy it.
Even if the business has not opened, He Chao wants to hold on to Butler He.
Bought this twice already.
Originally, in order to build momentum for the opening, Taohua Desserts were supplied only to students at Wanliu Academy and not sold in retail, making sure to whet everyone's appetite until the opening day.
However, since Magistrate Yao came to buy it, He Chao made an exception and sold it to him.
He Chao personally wrapped the freshly-baked meat-filled mooncakes and handed them to Butler Zhu, saying that they were for Lord Yao as the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching.
Butler Zhu said that if he took things from the shop for nothing, Lord Yao would break his legs.
The two of them pulled and tugged, He Chao took the silver, and Butler Zhu took the mooncake and left.
"That's right. Even the prefect likes our cakes." Tong Huaqiong said with a smile.
This is excellent promotional material!
If it were modern times, Tong Huaqiong would have wanted to take a poster of the prefect tasting peach blossom dessert mooncakes and post it in the store.
The lack of filming tools in this era does not mean that Tong Huaqiong will miss the opportunity to market the products brought by the prefect.
The meat-filled mooncakes that even the prefect loves to eat are so tempting.
Mooncakes in this era are all sweet, so the sudden appearance of a salty one has aroused everyone's curiosity.
Plus, the prefect loves to eat it, how attractive it is.
What flavor is the meat-filled mooncake that makes the prefect so obsessed with it? I must buy one to try it!
Tong Huaqiong felt that since the prefect had brought the marketing materials to her doorstep, she would do well to use them.
What's more, she didn't do anything to damage the prefect's reputation. She didn't bribe him or use his fame to make money. She was just doing marketing.
Tong Huaqiong used it without any guilt.