Some say that to achieve great things, one must look to the world. But some people focus on small things around them and turn a simple snack into a big industry. Who is he? He is Chen Xianbao, the founder of Qiaqia Food. 1 Giving Up a Stable Job to Go into Business ▼ Chen Xianbao is from Hefei, Anhui, born in 1959. As a child, he was very mischievous, often climbing trees and catching shrimp with his friends. Besides being playful, Chen Xianbao also loved learning. In elementary school, his math grades were excellent, and he always completed the homework assigned by his teachers very seriously. No matter the environment, Chen Xianbao persisted in learning. It was this persistent pursuit of knowledge that, after a great upheaval, allowed Chen Xianbao to pass the entrance exam for Wuxi Institute of Light Industry based on his solid academic foundation. After four years of professional study, Chen Xianbao graduated with excellent grades from the institute. After graduation, he went to work for the Anhui Sugar, Tobacco, and Alcohol Company. At work, Chen Xianbao was as diligent as he was in his studies, working 12 hours a day and fulfilling his duties conscientiously. During his 10 years at the sugar, tobacco, and alcohol company, Chen Xianbao rose from a small employee to a section chief in the factory through his own efforts. As his position rose, Chen Xianbao gradually lost interest in managing the company. However, at that time, more and more people were giving up stable jobs and choosing to go into business. In 1995, unable to resist, Chen Xianbao resigned. 2 Innovative Products to Break Through Difficulties ▼ But what to do after resigning? One day, Chen Xianbao happened to notice that popsicles were selling very well at a small shop near a school, and elementary school students loved them. After observing for a few days, he decided to go into the popsicle business. Without delay, Chen Xianbao rented a small production workshop and hired a few employees. When he entered the production stage, he realized how fierce the competition in the cold drink industry was. With the industry scale and product homogenization, how to highlight characteristics and gain competitive advantage was a question Chen Xianbao kept pondering. When he was puzzled, a group of children holding nunchucks gave him some inspiration. Seeing the happy faces of the children, Chen Xianbao decided to produce popsicles shaped like nunchucks. After a period of preparation, the Weiduoli Bangbang Ice was born. Thanks to the popularity of Bruce Lee movies, the nunchuck-shaped popsicles were in high demand after launch, especially loved by children. Chen Xianbao's popsicles were an instant hit, and many shop owners personally went to his factory to stock up. However, after the popsicles became popular, many cold drink manufacturers began to imitate production. A few months later, more than 30 similar popsicles appeared, intensifying competition in the cold drink industry, and sales performance continued to decline. Facing the persistently sluggish market, Chen Xianbao fell into deep thought again. When he was in a bind again, a remark from a relative in the northeast showed him a turning point. Soon after, Chen Xianbao decided to sell popsicles in the northeast. Hearing this seemingly unreliable decision, most employees chose to resign. Helpless, Chen Xianbao could only take the remaining 10 employees to the northeast. In the summer of 1996, Chen Xianbao came to Harbin and launched Weiduoli Bangbang Ice. The northeasterners, who had always eaten block-shaped ice cream, were very curious about the long, strip-shaped popsicles. Two months later, Chen Xianbao's cold drink company in the northeast began to turn a profit. Subsequently, Chen Xianbao expanded production scale, and the popsicles quickly captured the market in the three northeastern provinces. However, two years later, more than 100 imitation products appeared again, putting Chen Xianbao in a development dilemma once more. 3 Establishing Qiaqia and Becoming a Billionaire ▼ How to solve the company's development problems? At an Anhui entrepreneur exchange meeting, Chen Xianbao found the answer and decided to enter the roasted seeds and nuts industry. The day after deciding to enter the roasted seeds business, Chen Xianbao went to the Academy of Agricultural Sciences to consult professors on how to find melon seeds that don't dirty your hands. Following the professor's guidance, Chen Xianbao went to a farm in Baotou, Inner Mongolia, where he found a melon seed supplier. After solving the supply problem, Chen Xianbao had to find a way to eat melon seeds without getting heaty. Therefore, whenever he had time, he would go to the roasted seeds market to ask for good recipes. Finally, he learned the method of boiling melon seeds from an old man. Subsequently, Qiaqia melon seeds were born. To expand publicity, Chen Xianbao made innovations in brand promotion and packaging, and Qiaqia melon seeds quickly became a hot-selling product. In 1999, after launching cultural card promotions, Qiaqia melon seeds achieved a profit of up to 3 million yuan in just 4 months. In 2000, Qiaqia melon seeds' total revenue exceeded 100 million yuan. However, Chen Xianbao's entrepreneurial path was not smooth. In 2001, a disaster hit Inner Mongolia, with heavy rain in many places where melon seeds were produced. Due to excessive humidity, many melon seeds originally destined for Baotou became moldy. Seeing the affected farmers, Chen Xianbao faced another dilemma. If he bought all the melon seeds, he would suffer losses; if he didn't, the farmers would suffer, and he would have no raw materials. More seriously, it would be unbecoming of a company's integrity. After thinking it over, Chen Xianbao gritted his teeth and bought all the melon seeds. After buying the seeds, he spent a large sum on two sorting machines to screen the quality of the seeds. Because the melon seed output was severely reduced, Qiaqia's revenue also declined that year. But what comforted Chen Xianbao was that Qiaqia melon seeds received no product quality complaints, winning consumer trust. With a good reputation, in 2002, Qiaqia melon seeds achieved sales of 400 million yuan, capturing small retail outlets in 500 counties nationwide. A few years later, Qiaqia melon seeds entered large supermarkets like Walmart and Tesco, and successfully signed contracts with 300,000 distributors. By 2007, Qiaqia melon seeds had become the ace of the domestic roasted seeds industry, with annual sales exceeding 1.5 billion yuan. In 2011, Chen Xianbao increased development efforts and promoted the successful listing of Qiaqia melon seeds. In the following years, Qiaqia melon seeds gradually expanded overseas, not only becoming a well-known domestic brand but also exporting to more than 30 countries in Europe and America. In 2012, Chen Xianbao further expanded the industrial scale, successively adding products such as pecans, pistachios, potato chips, and pork jerky. So far, Qiaqia Food has formed a relatively complete industrial chain. Chen Xianbao has been in the industry for 35 years and in business for 22 years, finally turning a small snack into a large enterprise, with his net worth rising to 3 billion yuan. The 2017 (3rd) FMCG + Internet Conference will be held in Chongqing in November 2017. The conference will closely focus on the theme "New Forces, New Ecology" and invite 1000+ distributors, 500+ brand owners, 200+ B2B platform founders, and 100+ investment and financing institutions to jointly explore a new chapter of cross-border integration! Click the link below to review the highlights of the 1st and 2nd FMCG + Internet Conferences: 2016 "FMCG + Internet" Summit Forum -END-