---
title: "Distributors Revolutionize Themselves"
description: "A distributor with thousands of square meters of frozen meat inventory feels mixed emotions during the recent surge in meat prices: excitement over profits but concern about long-term sustainability. Chen Mu, a second-generation distributor, is focusing on transformation and reform, emphasizing that distributors must revolutionize themselves or be eliminated."
author: "凌燕"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2019-11-11"
categories: "Dealer Operations"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/distributors-revolutionize-themselves-761eeb2e/"
markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/distributors-revolutionize-themselves-761eeb2e.md"
original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/t85zu11XCbycuJAi9Egu8A"
translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E7%BB%8F%E9%94%80%E5%95%86%E9%9D%A9%E8%87%AA%E5%B7%B1%E7%9A%84-%E5%91%BD-761eeb2e.md"
attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/distributors-revolutionize-themselves-761eeb2e/"
citation: "凌燕. “Distributors Revolutionize Themselves.” New Distribution, 2019-11-11. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/distributors-revolutionize-themselves-761eeb2e/"
usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt"
---

# Distributors Revolutionize Themselves

> A distributor with thousands of square meters of frozen meat inventory feels mixed emotions during the recent surge in meat prices: excitement over profits but concern about long-term sustainability. Chen Mu, a second-generation distributor, is focusing on transformation and reform, emphasizing that distributors must revolutionize themselves or be eliminated.

**Preface:**
In the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, a container of white meat (generally referring to fish, shrimp, shellfish, chicken, duck, and plant-based meat like soy) still in transit has increased in price by 120,000 yuan. A customer who hesitated on an order a day ago now faces a 40% price increase when ordering today.
This distributor, with thousands of square meters of frozen meat in stock, is filled with mixed emotions during the recent surge in meat prices. On one hand, excitement—this time they've made a fortune; on the other, lament—short-term gains are fine, but what about the long term? Having grown up seeing frozen products rise and fall, they've never seen such frenzy.
As the frozen meat in the warehouse gradually clears out, factory price increase notices and production suspension notices arrive one after another. At this juncture, should they sell the stock? How much? When? To whom? It's like a gamble, leaving them indecisive and sleepless for days.
Chen Mu, a second-generation distributor, has been involved in the family's white and red meat business for nearly 30 years. Born in 1988, he grew up immersed in his father's frozen product business and officially took over in early 2017. Despite annual sales of 400 million yuan, he seems unwilling to follow the "old path" of his predecessors. His first action after taking over was to establish "Fuzhou Frozen Products Distribution Co., Ltd."
For him, the current volatility in the white meat market is a "pleasant" interlude, just something he happened to encounter. **But the dividends from market trends are always fluctuating.** Returning to business fundamentals, he refuses to leave his business at the mercy of uncontrollable market conditions.
Chen Mu told New Distribution that his current focus and energy are not on the white meat market trends but on transformation and reform. **In the past, traditional distribution was about "buying and selling"—purchasing from manufacturers, distributing to secondary wholesalers, and profiting from information and capital gaps. But to go further, it can't rely solely on these two points.**
**"If distributors don't revolutionize themselves, they'll be eliminated"** seems to be his mantra, constantly urging himself not to forget future planning because of short-term dividends or temporary victories.

**-01-**
**Secure Internal Stability Before External Expansion: Cultivate Internal Strength**
Distributors often suffer from high staff turnover, and many payments are collected by drivers, which carries risks. Driver Zhang, after two years on the job, quit abruptly during a delivery dispute, deducting his wages from the collected payments. This left the company no time to hire a replacement, disrupting delivery services along the route.
While this might be an isolated incident, delving deeper reveals a strong connection to internal organizational management. Plagued by poor management, Chen Mu firmly believes in **securing internal stability before external expansion.**
Upon taking over, he hired a professional organizational transformation agency to restructure into warehousing, transportation, sales, finance, and logistics departments, defining job responsibilities and redesigning salary structures. To prevent similar incidents, he introduced an ERP system to standardize daily management with data and regulations, such as regular inventory checks.

**-02-**
**Leverage the New Retail Wave to Deepen Terminal Engagement**
**The new retail trend, proposed in 2016, implemented in 2017, and now in full bloom,** is no longer unfamiliar to distributors. Some choose to ignore it, while others focus on catching the wave and riding it. But what's the outcome? More "speculation" than substance, as various new retail models rise and fall, leaving more pitfalls than treasures.
What's Chen Mu's steady approach? Catch the wave, but the core purpose isn't incremental sales; it's to leverage new retail to deepen terminal engagement. In 2017, Chen Mu seized the opportunity with Ele.me's Youcai platform, leveraging his substantial resources to become the largest frozen product supplier on Youcai in Fuzhou, earning the "Gold Supplier" title for three consecutive years.
Incremental sales are short-term; he doesn't blindly follow. The long-term goal is to acquire downstream terminal stores through the platform. In beverages and snacks, distributors serving frontline terminals is common, but in the white meat market, it's rare.
According to Chen Mu, the challenge in serving frontline terminals isn't the difficulty itself but the "obstruction" from existing secondary wholesalers. However, Chen Mu is resolute: **white meat frozen products must be sold directly to frontline terminals; being a "sitting merchant" relying on information and capital gaps has no future.**
Teacher Wei Qing once mentioned the concept of a "fake tycoon" in "Distributor Management": **Despite high sales volume, the source is either inventory transfer or price-cutting through channel stuffing.** These are typical "big but not strong" distributors.
After taking over, Chen Mu resolutely refuses to be a "fake tycoon," even with partner obstruction. Especially after engaging with Ele.me's Youcai, he treats it as a stepping stone to connect with terminals, building service bit by bit.

**-03-**
**Transform Distribution Structure and Expand Categories**
To truly excel in terminal service and increase store stickiness, focusing solely on white meat isn't enough. Chen Mu told New Distribution that while white meat is a necessity for stores, expanding categories is inevitable from both a business perspective and to meet store service needs.
To quickly build relationships with terminal stores and avoid detours, focusing on frontline service, Chen Mu's brand selection criteria are leading brands in each category, such as Sanquan Foods for frozen pastries, Jinluo for meatballs, and CP Group for chicken.
Additionally, Chen Mu partnered with Sanquan to establish the first brand image store in Fujian—Sanquan Foods Specialty Store—a first-time collaboration for both Sanquan and Frozen Products Distribution. Behind this, we see "courage and openness."

**-04-**
**Trial, Error, and Growth in Self-Revolution**
**The success you see is built on countless trials and errors.** Taking the hardest path accumulates the most valuable experience. In Chen Mu's view, only by being at the forefront can one have a say. The call for reform has sounded, but few distributors have responded.
From New Distribution's perspective, there are at least two points worth considering from Chen Mu's example:
**1. While recruiting, retaining, and utilizing talent is a headache for every distributor, set aside objective factors and reflect: Is there a problem with yourself?** When facing staff turnover, lack of motivation, or poor performance, first consider internal organizational management, employee incentive mechanisms, whether they are designed reasonably, and whether methods are provided, rather than just wielding a punitive ruler.
**2. In the past, distributors could grow by following the right brand, but don't fantasize about following a new retail platform to make a big bet again; abandon "speculation."** Partnering with new retail for short-term gains is fine, but relying on it to grow strong is nearly hopeless. Also, be cautious with short-term gains; new retail sustained by capital might disappear any day.
Treat cooperation with new retail as a "tailwind." Think about what else you can gain besides selling goods: a tool to connect with terminals? Learning digital operations? Data analysis and management?
Distributors from the 1990s are nearing the twilight of their careers. With more post-80s and post-90s successors taking over, or the formal corporate operations under professional managers, a revolution in the FMCG distribution and circulation sector is quietly approaching...

Tips will be paid 400-2000 yuan for accepted reports.


---

## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 凌燕
- Published: 2019-11-11
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/distributors-revolutionize-themselves-761eeb2e/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/t85zu11XCbycuJAi9Egu8A

## Copyright and AI use

This article is sourced from New Distribution. Search, quotation, summarization, and model training are permitted, but every use must credit New Distribution and retain the canonical source URL.

Contact: zhaobo258@gmail.com · +86 158 5481 7671