I’d Rather Live as a Villain

I’d Rather Live as a Villain – Part 20

(The morning of D-Day has dawned)

“When you think of Spain, the first adjective that probably comes to mind is ‘passionate.'”

It was the day before the world would know me as the son-in-law of the Daeyoung family, the prospective groom of Kang Moon-jung, the sole legitimate heir of Daeyoung.

D-day 1.

Due to my orders, Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won, who had formed an inspection team and returned from a business trip to Andalusia, prepared an executive presentation on financial risk.

“Then, which is the most passionate region in passionate Spain? Barcelona? Madrid? Ibiza?”

A presentation very characteristic of Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won was underway.

Skipping the buildup, he went straight to the point.

But it’s precisely Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won who can sufficiently explain the situation with just a few specific words and expressions, and that’s the special quality I highly value in him.

After shaking his head sideways to his own question and answer, he pointed at a specific region displayed on the screen with a beam laser and said,

“It’s right here, Andalusia.”

Flanking me were the directors of the Asian and Oceania (Americas and Oceania) regional divisions.

Head of the European Regional Division.

Director of the Asian Regional Division.

Director of the Oceania Regional Division.

These three are known as the ‘Big Three’ of Daeyoung Corporation’s trading division.

Our trading division, unlike the construction division, which is divided into overseas and domestic sectors, follows a head system, not a division chief system.

Because the business fields are so diverse and require meticulous attention, we don’t have a separate highest position for the trading division; instead, we assign executives to each regional division and differentiate positions only as heads and directors.

And then there are the other executives seated, the Finance Director and the Domestic Distribution General Director.

This is the first project I directed after being appointed as the executive director of Daeyoung Corporation.

As it’s a project directed by the head, it only needs the approval stamp of A grade or higher from the Finance Director related to financial risk.

However, in a conglomerate like Daeyoung Corporation, formality is extremely important.

Sometimes, formality can decide everything about a business.

After all, business is done by people, and it’s the formality within a corporation that sets the mindset of those people.

That’s why I personally went to the directors of the Asian Regional Division, the Oceania Regional Division, and the Domestic Distribution General Director to ask them to join me.

Ultimately, the overseas branches managed by each regional division are another sales channel for all the products handled by our Daeyoung Corporation.

Without a domestic distribution planning department, it would be impossible to penetrate the distribution channels of other companies besides Daeyoung Distribution, where Senior Executive Kang Moon-jung serves as the operating head.

A business that starts with securing all domestic and international distribution channels held by the giant conglomerate Daeyoung Group cannot fail.

It was to show this to the Finance Director and to remind everyone once more of the significance of the Madrid branch to me, who had the entire Andalusian olive project stolen from me.

“Andalusia. It maintains clear skies for more than 300 days out of the year. It’s a region with little rain. It’s known as the hottest area in Spain, with average temperatures in July and August being 4 to 5 degrees higher than in Daegu, which is nicknamed ‘Daefrica.'”

Deputy Chief Oh Ji-won was explaining with a neat graph why the Sherry region of Andalusia is inevitably famous for its wine.

“In that murderous heat, the most passionate, quintessentially Spanish wine is produced, which people call Sherry.”

Jerez, El Puerto de Santa Maria, Sanlucar de Barrameda.

The map of the Sherry Triangle formed by these three towns appeared on the screen.

Even if the same grape variety and the same winemaking method are used (which must utilize Sherry casks, and unlike other wines, brandy is added after fermentation to increase the alcohol content by about 3 degrees), only the wines coming from within this Sherry Triangle can be called Sherry wine.

“Quinzone. A vineyard located in the region that simultaneously borders Jerez and El Puerto de Santa Maria.”

This winery also happens to be one where Deputy Director Oh Ji-won has opened up significant possibilities for a contract.

“94 hectares. It’s a vast area, approximately 280,000 pyeong. As a single winery, it can be considered the largest in Spain, producing 600,000 bottles annually. The expected billing turnover is 20 million euros. In Korean won, that’s about 29 billion, plus or minus 300 million, depending on the exchange rate.”

“Quinzone, Quinzone… Is this a wine that hasn’t yet entered our country?”

The finance director, whose knowledge of wine is relatively lacking.

But, formally, it’s also true that he holds the key to executing the project.

“It seems like a brand I’m hearing about for the first time.”

“It’s a brand that has repeatedly entered and then left the domestic market, changing distributors each time.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s hard to explain other than the lack of capability of the domestic distributors that handled the brand…”

“On what basis did you analyze that?”

Deputy Director Oh Ji-won’s clear explanation followed.

“It seems that all of them had a good eye, but unless they were large corporations, they lacked the financial power to promote an unfamiliar brand. In fact, if you look at the wines that these companies mainly handle, they are brands that have already gained some recognition.”

Pictures of cost-effective wines, whose brand labels would make one nod in agreement, appeared on the screen.

“On the other hand, they have turned their attention several times to distinctive wines like Sherry or Port, but as I mentioned earlier, without aggressive marketing and sales, they have repeatedly failed after bringing them in… These companies have quite a history of such failures.”

“Isn’t there a reason why only small and medium-sized companies have been attached to the brand as distributors, without any large corporations? Maybe because the Sherry wine category itself is a difficult one.”

To this, Deputy Director Oh Ji-won, with a smile on her face, asked the finance director.

“Which market are you asking about? The global market, or are you talking about the Korean market?”

“Either one.”

“As I mentioned before, only wines produced within this Sherry Triangle can bear the name Sherry. Yet, Sherry wine, along with Portugal’s Port wine, has firmly positioned itself in the wine market as a dry aperitif or a sweet dessert wine. As the domestic consumers’ awareness of wine becomes more mainstream, the preference for Sherry wine is also on a continuous upward trend.”

“But why has Quinzone, this particular brand, repeatedly entered and then left the Korean market?”

“Price range. There is indeed a weakness in terms of pricing. However, that’s not the reason it hasn’t been chosen by domestic distribution giants. Among the domestic giants, there are none with business ties to the Andalusia region like our Daeyoung Corporation.”

That’s a fact.

“For the large corporations importing wine, Sherry is quite an ambiguous region. The costs involved in directly entering and establishing a purchasing route are too high. It’s impossible to match the margins.”

That was the main reason why Deputy Director Oh Ji-won’s plan was overshadowed by the Olive Plan I had developed five years ago.

Olive planning is indeed a business that incurs significant costs.

However, the olive business had the great merit of being able to create our Daeyoung’s brand.

On the other hand, while we could expand our distribution business through exclusive contracts for wine, it was a decisive disadvantage that we couldn’t create Daeyoung’s brand with it.

It was a business that wasn’t very attractive enough to invest the corresponding costs and try.

Even more so, considering the variety of wines handled by Ebuldog and the excellent billing turnover coming from there, one couldn’t help but question the necessity of the plan.

“The cost is not trivial if we were to import through local distributors for secondary purchasing and distribute them domestically. That’s why all the sherry wines currently in Korea are handled by small and medium-sized enterprises.”

“Hmm…”

“But Daeyoung Corporation is different. We already have a branch in Madrid, and there are over twenty people monitoring the Andalusian olive farms from that branch. We also have a warehouse in Granada for storing extra virgin olive oil. With all this infrastructure in place, there’s no reason not to give it a try.”

And he drives the point home.

“Especially now, as our Madrid branch is struggling with exclusive re-negotiations with Andalusian olive farm owners. The farm owners are attempting to raise the margin base, and currently, the Madrid branch has no weapon to break that. The wine project, with an expected billing turnover of 20 million euros, will also be a powerful weapon that can break the strong margin base that the olive farm owners are colluding to insist on.”

If the presenter is the spear, then financial risk is the shield.

The presenter, who wants to push the project forward by any means, and the financial risk, which must be scrutinized for assurance of the project’s success.

That the finance director finished his questioning with such a tackle meant he had completed his role in a rather mild manner.

***

Today, I absolutely had to have a drink alone with Deputy Manager Oh Ji-won.

There was a reason for the positive content he brought back from the hastily ordered inspection trip, but if not today, when else could we drink so comfortably in a cozy bar, with our faces fully revealed?

As the executive director said, my world would start to change from tomorrow.

Near the company, I arranged a spot at the tripe restaurant where Deputy Manager Oh Ji-won had bought me soju three years ago on that day.

“From an objective standpoint, Kinzone, what do you think are the chances of an exclusive contract?”

“The possibility is wide open. If I had to put a percentage on it, maybe 60%?”

That would mean the possibility is indeed wide open.

“They say that every year, there are over a hundred casks of Kesk that go unsold. It means that small businesses and sole proprietors are receiving the goods inconsistently, and from the winery’s perspective, they also want to secure a safe distribution channel like ours at Daeyoung. Especially since Daeyoung Corporation has successfully elevated the image of Andalusian olives to high-end status over the past three years, they seem to be expecting a lot.”

“The problem is the margin, isn’t it?”

“That’s right. The wine is certainly not cheap. Even if they could match us at 6 euros per 750ml bottle, considering the Korean standard, tariffs, and the middle distribution margin, the consumer price would be competitive if released at four times that, but no matter what, I couldn’t get it below 8 euros during the period I was out for inspection.”

“6 euros. Four times 6 euros. Even then, the market price comes out to 35,000 won. It’s definitely not a weakly priced wine.”

“No, but if we can match the margin, it’s a wine that can be successfully sold.”

“That’s right, if we can’t even sell that, we’re not doing our job. It’s always about the margin.”

As we tilted our soju glasses together, I exuded confidence on his behalf.

“First of all, if we keep forming negotiation teams for the second and third rounds and tire out the winery, a way will open up.”

“But, Director…”

“Yes.”

“I kept wondering during the inspection if this was really the right thing to do.”

“What are you referring to?”

I misunderstood, thinking he was questioning the wine project again.

“While I was out on inspection, I received several reports about the Bulldog project. I knew it would be tough to oversee Bulldog as well, especially since I’ve only recently been promoted to deputy manager, but it’s definitely not easy.”

“I can imagine.”

“Especially since I’ve been asked to personally handle the Andalusian wine case, I’m genuinely concerned about whether I can manage that project while overseeing the entire European division.”

“How long do you think it will take, Kinzone?”

“At least six months, wouldn’t you say?”

“Three months. Would that be difficult?”

“Director.”

I couldn’t help but laugh inwardly.

Of course, it’s impossible.

Unless I could transfer over and go all-in on that side, how could I possibly bring a business on the other side of the world to fruition in just three months while overseeing the entire European division?

Even a god couldn’t do that.

“The projected turnover billing. It wasn’t me who set it, but the Madrid office. There should be no margin for error.”

“Yes.”

“A project that’s expected to turn over 20 million euros, roughly 30 billion won annually. How could anyone secure that in just three months, especially while involving myself in the Bulldog project, which I have no prior experience with?”

“Deputy Manager Oh Ji-won.”

“Yes.”

“I didn’t promote you to oversee the entire European division.”

“…Excuse me?”

It was clearly stated when Deputy Manager Oh Ji-won’s promotion was announced through the personnel department.

“You were promoted to be the first deputy manager of the European division.”

“…Yes.”

“Regular staffing changes are in August. I have someone else in mind to take on the role of second deputy manager for Bulldog. As I originally instructed Deputy Manager Oh Ji-won, you only need to manage the Spanish team and the ETC team.”

It was the day before D-day.

And then the morning of the decisive D-day dawned.