At Liudu Bridge in the commercial center of Wuhan, Lao Wancheng has long been famous and is a household name. Especially the elderly who have lived in Wuhan for a long time have a soft spot for it. Lao Wancheng’s Sour Plum Soup is a fond memory for many Wuhan people during their summer.
Four shareholders jointly founded the "Old Wancheng Hotel"
In 1910, four shareholders jointly invested more than 900 yuan to establish the "Old Wancheng Hotel".
The name Lao Wancheng means that profits have doubled and doubled. However, after opening, Lao Wancheng's business was not as expected by the four shareholders. Especially in hot weather, the tobacco and alcohol business is very slow, and shareholders are very anxious. At this time, a shareholder named Pei Guangfu remembered that he had drunk sour plum soup in Beijing in the summer. It was delicious, refreshing and dispelling the heat. No merchants had sold it in Wuhan market, so he proposed to trial-produce sour plum soup and sell it in the summer as a side job. To supplement the main business of tobacco hotel.
In order to tide over the difficulties, the four shareholders decided to give it a try, led by Pei Guangfu. After several experiments, they finally successfully produced a sour plum soup that suited the taste of Wuhan people. After the sour plum soup was boiled in the middle of the night, it was placed in a large carved porcelain vat and placed in an ice bucket. In order to maintain the freezing effect, the bucket was also covered with a quilt. By the time it was sold the next morning, the sour plum soup was still cool and delicious.
Because the storefront of Lao Wancheng is located in the Liudu Bridge area of ??Lao Hankou, where merchants gathered and there was a large flow of people, and there were no other summer drinks at that time, and Wuhan people had never drunk sour plum soup, so once it was launched , and became very popular among the public. With the opening of People's Paradise (then called "New Market") in 1919, more and more people came here for entertainment and entertainment. The business of Lao Wancheng Sour Plum Soup opposite it also became better and better, and its reputation spread far and wide. Although Lao Wancheng Sour Plum Soup is only sold in summer, its reputation far exceeds its main business of tobacco and alcohol. Sour plum soup has brought economic benefits to Lao Wancheng Hotel, and shareholders are happy. However, after Pei Guangfu later returned to his hometown in Hebei, he had no contact with Lao Wancheng.
Why is Lao Wancheng’s Sour Plum Soup so popular?
After the public-private partnership in 1956 to 1970, Lao Wancheng’s sour plum soup business had a monthly turnover of 50,000 to 100,000 yuan. In 1980, it even It is reaching a peak. A cup of sour plum soup costs three cents, and Lao Wancheng can sell 200,000 to 500,000 yuan a month. At this time, Lao Wancheng had changed its name to Jianxin Tobacco, Liquor and Non-staple Food Store, providing 24-hour convenient services. At that time, Jianxin Non-staple Food Store and Lao Wancheng's sour plum soup became popular in the business world. His business experience was widely promoted and exchanged, and the business of Jianxin Non-staple Food Store was Taking advantage of its geographical advantages, it has been very prosperous, famous throughout the three towns of Wuhan, and famous inside and outside Hubei Province.
Why does Lao Wancheng’s sour plum soup sell so well and become so famous? For this reason, an exclusive interview was conducted with Liu Hanhua, the current head of Lao Wancheng, who can also be called the third generation successor of Lao Wancheng Sour Plum Soup, and general manager of Wuhan Lao Wancheng Trading Co., Ltd. He said: "We still use traditional handmade techniques to make it. Sour plum soup is unlikely to be produced manually by beverage factories in large quantities, and can only be produced using mechanical equipment, so the taste will be different." Liu Hanhua also said that although the process of making sour plum soup is not complicated, you must also master the selection of ingredients and heat. The hawthorns must be from Shandong and Shanxi. The hawthorn fruits have moderate sweetness and sourness and have an excellent taste; the black plums must be from Guangdong, where the plums have small cores, thick flesh, and produce fluid to quench thirst. What is unique is that the sour plum soup produced by Lao Wancheng does not add any food coloring and is made with high-quality crystallized white sugar. When cooking, put the ebony plums into cooking first, and then add the hawthorns after the ebony plums are rolled with water. This can prevent the hawthorns with tender meat from becoming old. After the ebony plums and hawthorns are cooked, the ebony plums and hawthorns can be filtered. , and then put the boiled water into the white sugar and simmer it carefully. After more than half of the water has evaporated, the pot can be officially started. During this process, the maker needs to stir constantly. The ebony plums are mushy, or if white sugar is added to the pot, the taste will be greatly affected. Therefore, it is very important to master the heat. Although the art of making sour plum soup can be learned in ten days, without ten years of hard work, the mastery of the heat will never be said to be perfect.
The trademark registration of Lao Wancheng is under attack from both sides
Currently, there are many "Hankou Lao Wancheng" sour plum soup pastes in supermarkets, or sour plum soup labeled so-called Lao Wancheng on the market, which is not authentic. The reason for the products of "Lao Wancheng" is that the company's brand awareness is not strong, and the product trademarks have been registered. This is Liu Hanhua's biggest headache. Because Lao Wancheng was well-known and his products were easy to sell, he lacked trademark awareness for many years. It was not until 1998 that Lao Wancheng launched bottled "Concentrated Sour Plum Juice" and applied to the National Trademark Office to register the "Lao Wancheng" trademark, but was told that it had been A trademark of the same name was registered by a beverage company in Zhejiang. In 2003, Lao Wancheng once again applied to register the "Jianxin Lao Wancheng" trademark, but was informed that the name had also been registered by someone else not long ago. In the end, Lao Wancheng's sour plum soup had to use "Ehan Lao Wancheng" as the trademark And register.
Dare to ask where the road is?
Every summer, the sour plum paste soup is sold well in the market, and the authentic Lao Wancheng sour plum soup is even more popular. People come to the intersection of Zhongshan Avenue Qianqian 2nd Road A long queue formed in front of the new store of the "century-old store", forming a beautiful scenery. Some people even wrote to the media and relevant departments, hoping to drink authentic Lao Wancheng sour plum soup more conveniently, which represents the voice and expectation of the general public. Many people of insight believe that Lao Wancheng Sour Plum Soup should adhere to the scientific outlook on development and seize the opportunity to expand production scale and increase sales channels. In addition to in-store operations, it should also be introduced into shopping malls and supermarkets to enhance market share and influence.
Jing Taijie, a professor at the School of Management of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, pointed out the development path of traditional products using "Wanglaoji" as an example. He said: "Wong Lo Kat was originally just a fire-removing drink sold on the streets in Guangdong and other places. Later, through marketing planning and industrial production, it has now become a well-known domestic beverage as famous as Coke." Jing Taijie believes: "Lao Wancheng's sour plum soup can also hire experts to advise and transform traditional handicraft processing into industrialized operations. As for the traditional formula, it can also be used in modern processing."
Wuhan Laowancheng Trading Co., Ltd., however, is struggling due to historical reasons and the company's own insufficient strength, lack of funds, and limited production sites. Although it has not reached an agreement after multiple rounds of negotiations with relevant units, it still has good wishes. failed to materialize.
As Wuhan’s time-honored brands Wufangzhai Tangyuan, Dehua Rice Cake, and Cai Linji Instant Noodles have entered supermarkets, these have brought inspiration to Wuhan Laowancheng Trading Co., Ltd. Now the Wuhan Municipal People's Government and the Bureau of Commerce have issued a series of policies to support the restoration and development of time-honored brands. Wuhan Lao Wancheng Trading Co., Ltd. is taking advantage of the preferential policies to support time-honored brands, striving to expand space and financial assistance, and prepare to enter the manufacturing industry and use industrialized production methods. Sour plum soup products strive to become stronger and bigger, so that citizens can taste the sour and sweet taste of sour plum soup.