Chapter 660: Chapter 660

The Zhao family, having chosen to venture into coffee as a new business, quickly set their sights on Brazil, the world’s leading coffee bean exporter. Updates are released by 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕥⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥

Brazilian coffee, known for its excellent quality and affordable price, is most suitable for the early stages of market expansion, offering comparatively low investment and quick returns. Many coffee companies from various nations inevitably deal with Brazilian coffee plantations.

Lacking experience in coffee management, the Zhao family decided to swiftly enter the market by adopting a strategy commonly chosen by other enterprises: make a large investment to acquire a local coffee company, assume control of the local entity, assimilate the acquired experience, and then eliminate the original entity, completely remolding it into their own business.

This approach is akin to a large crocodile eating its prey, digesting it completely, and then using the nutrients to produce its own offspring. This aggressive and alternative form of invasion, known as acquisition, is liked by some and disliked by others.

It should be said that the majority dislike it because, once acquired, the decisive power is no longer in their hands, essentially meaning the business is no longer theirs. Who would like having their possessions taken away?

But why do some like it? Those who favor it do so because they have confidence, not believing they will be completely transformed after being consumed by the other party. Instead, with the help of the considerable funds from the other side, they can survive precarious corporate dangers, and, after overcoming the crisis, make a comeback. This is not an impossible scenario.

Therefore, business acquisitions are certainly far more complex than what the average person might think. There are many such cases, and even when they become history, the exact details of the baseline agreements reached by both parties remain unclear to outsiders, known only to the negotiators themselves.

In this light, acquisition could indeed become a form of business fraud. This has always been one of the biggest challenges for the acquiring party.

For example, when acquiring a company much smaller than themselves, big companies tend to inadvertently make some careless mistakes, and the issue the Zhao family was currently facing originated from such an oversight.

Initially, Xiao Shumei indeed did not realize that those people were using her to set a trap for the Zhao family. Later, Zhao Zirong, based on the friends introduced by his wife, finding a mutual liking in their conversation, also did not anticipate that they were taking advantage of his wife.

The other members of the Zhao family likewise thought that the person introduced by the daughter-in-law should be reliable. Moreover, since it was just a small-scale local company and the acquisition price proposed by the other party was in line with the Zhao’s expectations, the acquisition was essentially a done deal.

After obtaining the necessary legal permits, the Zhao family first injected funds into the company to help it restore production, and then began building their own coffee brand, Zhao Coffee, leveraging the enterprise.

Everything seemed to be progressing very smoothly. After the first batch of Zhao Coffee was produced, it passed the checks of relevant inspection departments and was marketed.

That’s when the problems suddenly emerged.

First, several coffee aficionados claimed on their webpages that Zhao Coffee had many similarities with a certain brand’s coffee, essentially indistinguishable.

Following this, the public outcry grew louder, and Zhao Coffee was labeled with accusations of plagiarism and being a substandard product. Furthermore, some even pointed out that Zhao Coffee’s formula might have been stolen and directly copied without changes from that of an established brand.

This was tantamount to Zhao Corporation stealing another company’s trade secrets, which equates to a crime.

As the issue blew up and garnered media attention, the police soon started an investigation. A certain brand started claiming publicly that they had indeed feared the disclosure and theft of their formula and pointed their finger directly at Zhao Corporation.