Because of this, Gu Nuan couldn’t help but criticize Miss Zhong Qiaohui, who seemed to be living the good life. She pointed a finger outside to the street at a random taxi and asked, "Do you know how many years it’s been since the taxi drivers here had a raise?"
Ah? Zhong Qiaohui was stunned for a moment.
"Brazil’s inflation is world-famous. Unfortunately, Brazil’s economy has been facing a recession lately, which has led to continuous high inflation rates. Even though Brazil is the world’s largest coffee producer, can an average family afford the price of good coffee? NO." Gu Jinrong shook her head.
Zhong Qiaohui understood completely at this point.
High inflation always affects the impoverished and the middle class, further weakening the middle class’s purchasing power and increasing the wealth gap. This widening gap in wealth is a current economic trend throughout the world. Fresh chapters posted on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵•𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒•𝙣𝙚𝙩
That said, when Americans created various financial derivatives and made them into a game, it was akin to opening a terrifying Pandora’s box, encouraging people to get something for nothing.
Think about it, now even the farmers back home know that trading stocks means you can count money at home without having to farm the land. Because of this, how many people have been deceived and lost all their capital.
Every stock market crash, high inflation, and international currency fluctuation lead to direct exploitation of the middle class. They can’t afford high-end coffee anymore and have to settle for lower-end ones, but face is important, right? They need to give themselves a psychological excuse that drinking this stuff is also a matter of taste.
Starbucks, the well-known global coffee shop chain, doesn’t serve the highest-end coffee—it targets the middle class and even low-end consumers. This is enough to show that the power of the masses is the real power of consumers.
Those who only produce high-end products surely don’t have it easy. As the middle class shrinks, there are fewer customers who can afford luxury, limiting their production volumes. No matter how high the profits, there is a ceiling. If the high-end consumer group continues to shrink and they don’t seek new avenues, wouldn’t that be a dead end?
Supplying coffee beans to famous coffee shop brands is one avenue. However, for new manor owners, there is already an established pattern of interests. To break this pattern would require unimaginable sacrifices, which are also the financial and production pressures that new manor owners cannot withstand.
If there were a new and very ambitious brand that started to stir things up in this circle, it could catapult the new manor owners to success. Why wouldn’t these newcomers embrace such an opportunity?
This is precisely why this coffee competition had to happen. The old manor owners, with their stable large customers and orders, didn’t need the fame of this competition to advertise their estates. They mostly just watched the competition, with little interest in winning the championship. In contrast, the new manor owners were brimming with ambition, eager to set sail, and therefore, desperate to showcase themselves.
Tonight, the question is how many manor owners Gu Nuan can attract to join her camp, and what tactics she can use to persuade these manor owners to abandon the well-known old brands and trust in Zhao’s, a brand whose reputation has been damaged.
Zhong Qiaohui couldn’t help but stroke her chin, brimming with intense curiosity about what might happen next.
Zhan Dapeng, who was driving, shared the same thoughts, eagerly looking forward without any intention of interjecting a word.
They returned to the hotel at eleven o’clock in the evening.
Zhong Qiaohui went back to her room, exhausted. She lay down on the bed and immediately fell asleep. Yao Sister, who shared the room with her, hadn’t come back either, staying with Fu Yubo in another workroom, seemingly ready for another all-nighter of work.