Of course, what attracted Li Xiao the most was that this fructose dispenser had a programmable function. You just needed to preset the ingredient portions for each drink recipe and program them into the machine.
Then, during operation, all one had to do was press the button for the corresponding drink.
The machine would then dispense the corresponding raw materials in the required order and quantity.
As long as it was programmed in advance, the most difficult step for the Xihuan’Er—adjusting portions—could be solved with ease.
Li Xiao soon took a liking to some of the other equipment in this shop as well.
A quantitative electronic water dispenser, a fully automatic cup sealer, a shaker machine, a lemon slicer...
After confirming that they had basically everything he wanted, he immediately contacted the shop owner.
After explaining his intentions, Li Xiao immediately offered to pay an extra 1,000 for an errand fee, on the condition that he receive the items today.
The owner, of course, couldn’t refuse such a generous customer.
Once it was confirmed that they would call for a delivery van and it could arrive at the shop within half an hour, Li Xiao hung up the phone.
Considering that a lot of equipment would need to be installed, he opened a local services app and browsed the installation services. After some careful selection, he quickly found a technician with a 99-point rating.
He communicated with the person and confirmed that they could handle all the work he needed.
He didn’t just sit around idly while he waited.
The original drink menu in the milk tea shop wasn’t a huge problem.
But perhaps because the original owner’s expertise wasn’t a good fit, it was all just a hodgepodge of ancient recipes.
These kinds of recipes might have had a competitive edge a decade or so ago, back in the era of milk tea powders and juice powders.
But now, over a decade later, they just didn’t cut it anymore.
It wasn’t impossible to make money with these old-fashioned things, but it would be quite difficult.
Since changes had to be made, he might as well scrap everything and start over.
Since the kids would have to learn how to use the high-tech equipment anyway, changing the original drink recipes probably wouldn’t be too big of a deal.
Li Xiao looked at Huang Cuilian, who was standing beside him.
"Let’s close the shop for now. Set the delivery platforms to closed as well."
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, not only was Huang Cuilian startled, but Wenchu People, who had been watching from the side, was also stunned.
Wenchu People looked at the drinks that had just been made but had only been sipped once or twice, and a chill went through her heart.
She quickly tugged on Li Xiao’s sleeve, signaling for him to go outside with her.
Li Xiao was a bit confused, but he followed her to the doorway nonetheless.
The moment they stepped outside, Wenchu People lowered her voice and demanded:
"Mr. Li, what is the meaning of this?"
"Didn’t we just agree on everything?"
"You were willing to give those kids a chance to work, so why are you suddenly closing the shop?"
Halfway through, she seemed to realize her tone was a bit off and quickly tried to salvage the situation with a pleading voice:
"These kids have been through so much. They really can’t lose this job."
"Please. The drinks they make might be average, but they try so, so hard."
Seeing the sincere plea in her eyes, Li Xiao had no intention of teasing her.
He opened his phone and showed his recent purchase history to Wenchu People.
"Miss Wen, please don’t worry. The reason I had them temporarily close the shop is that when I was inspecting things earlier, I discovered quite a few problems in the drink-making process."
"To solve these problems, I purchased some more intelligent equipment and am also preparing to adjust the drink recipes. That’s why I had them close."
"After all, if we don’t close, it would be impossible to implement these changes."
????
After hearing Li Xiao’s explanation, a blush crept up Wenchu People’s tan cheeks.
"I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I... I didn’t know. I’m truly sorry."
Watching her bow repeatedly, Li Xiao shook his head in resignation.
’She’s a bit rash,’ he thought, ’but she probably just acted that way because she was anxious.’
Li Xiao had no intention of pursuing the matter. He pulled out one of the outdoor chairs and sat down.
"It’s fine. You were just concerned about them. Now, go get me some paper and a pen."
"The equipment will be delivered soon. I need to get the new drink recipes written out first."
Wenchu People had no complaints about Li Xiao’s request.
Li Xiao took the paper and pen and quickly began to write.
Even with the fully automatic fructose dispenser, the drink preparation process shouldn’t be too complicated.
The more steps there were, the greater the chance the kids would make a mistake when preparing the drinks.
He also eliminated drinks that required fresh fruit pulp.
Adding fresh fruit pulp to drinks can certainly improve their flavor and texture.
But based on the kids’ performance earlier, using knives for fine cutting probably wasn’t a good idea. They would likely cut themselves by accident.
Assigning the delicate work of cutting fruit to the regular staff would, in turn, greatly increase their workload.
But without the fruit pulp, some fruit teas or smoothies wouldn’t have a perfect flavor and texture.
To avoid this problem, the simplest solution was to use canned fruit.
Canned fruit’s texture and flavor were admittedly not as good as fresh fruit, and it could sometimes be overly sweet.
But in Li Xiao’s view, these minor shortcomings were completely negligible.
Ready to use right out of the can, stable for storage, and with guaranteed quality. Most importantly, it was perfectly suited for the Xihuan’Er kids to use directly.
Li Xiao opened Taobao again and quickly found suitable local sellers.
He bought different types and brands of canned fruit from several different sellers, asking them to have it sent over immediately by a courier.
Since he was going to change all the recipes, he certainly wasn’t going to let the shop’s current raw materials limit his thinking.
After a quick search, he bought one of everything from all the major brand-name drink ingredients he could get his hands on immediately.
After purchasing the ingredients, Li Xiao put down his phone.
While selecting the ingredients, he had already been thinking seriously about the milk tea shop’s future menu.
The original shop had over 70 different drinks, which was certainly a wide variety.
But these 70 drinks had no distinguishing features, and they increased the difficulty for the kids to learn and make them.
Even though he had purchased a highly intelligent fructose dispenser, streamlining the menu was still essential.
Jack of all trades, master of none.
Reducing the menu to specialize in a few signature drinks was the path to victory.
A few flagship specialty drinks, accompanied by twenty to thirty complementary ones, would be more than enough.
It’s what they call ’engaging with the conventional, winning with the unconventional’.
Those twenty to thirty good-quality drinks were the ’conventional’, and the few specialty drinks were the ’unconventional’.
As he thought, Li Xiao’s pen flew across the paper.
His mind was already filled with a vast amount of information and insights on drink making. He just needed to adapt it to the equipment, ingredients, and the kids’ actual situation to quickly write up a set of recipes tailor-made for them.
Hand-Smashed Lemon Tea: Tea Base: 50ml, Syrup: 40ml, Lemon: 6 slices...
Classic Hong Kong-Style Silk Stocking Milk Tea: Tea Base: 150ml, Syrup...
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