The heroine of the story, Zang Jianhe, was born in Qingdao in 1945. I originally had a happy family. My husband was an overseas Chinese from Thailand. They used to work together in a hospital in Qingdao. Her husband was a doctor and she was a nurse.

In 1974, her husband returned to Thailand to settle down. In 1977, Zang Jianhe took his two daughters from Qingdao to Thailand to find a husband. However, he found that his husband had followed the arrangement of his mother-in-law, who favored sons over daughters, and married again in Thailand. As a wife, Zang Jianhe could not tolerate the life of two maids and one husband, so she had no choice but to leave Thailand and make a living in Hong Kong.

She rented a 4-square-meter house, accepted the severe challenge of fate, and raised her two daughters by herself.

The difficult birth of "a" brand

Since she did not understand Cantonese, Ms. Zang began to look for jobs in Hong Kong that did not require much communication, such as dishwashing, car cleaning, and personal care. , this weak woman has tasted almost all the low-level professions in Hong Kong.

If it hadn’t been for an accident that almost paralyzed her, maybe Miss Zang would have worked at the bottom for the rest of her life. At that time, she was working as a handyman in a restaurant. Unfortunately, she was injured and broke her waist. The cruel boss not only refused to admit that she was injured at work, but also fired her mercilessly.

Miss Zang resolutely filed a lawsuit in court and won. However, this feisty Shandong girl refused the 30,000 yuan in compensation that the restaurant owner should have paid, and only paid her the 4,500 yuan in wages she deserved. Later, Miss Zang refused help from the Hong Kong Social Welfare Department. Because she doesn't want to be a burden to this society.

For the sake of her daughter and life, Miss Zang pushed her cart to Wan Chai Pier, which was Hong Kong's transportation hub at the time, and sold her "Beijing Dumplings". But "Beijing Dumplings" is just a general term. As the business boomed, someone reminded her to give her dumplings a name, so she added four words: Wan Chai Wharf on the "Beijing Dumplings" on the trolley.

From then on, Miss Zang named the dumpling brand after the wharf where she sold dumplings as a hawker - Wan Chai Wharf was officially born.

"Two" successful turning points

During her entrepreneurial journey, two important turning points contributed to "Wan Chai Wharf" becoming a famous dumpling brand.

The dumplings have been sold at Wan Chai Pier for several years, and their unique taste has cultivated a group of loyal consumers. By chance, the little daughter of a Japanese department store owner who was spoiled and very picky about food ate 15 "Wan Chai Pier" dumplings in one go. The shrewd Japanese businessmen immediately realized that this "Wan Chai Pier" was no ordinary dumplings, and must have its own uniqueness. He made an appointment with Miss Zang and asked to produce dumplings in the factory of a Japanese-owned department store. Japanese department stores repackage and design the products and sell them as products of Japanese department stores. However, Miss Zang refused in this second round of negotiations: "The brand I worked so hard to create is gone. I gave up the formula. If I get kicked out one day, I won't even be able to be a hawker."

In the third round of negotiations, the Japanese side agreed to use the "Wan Chai Pier" brand, but the address and phone number could not be printed on the packaging. Miss Zang still refused: "The taste of the dumplings has been improved based on customer feedback. Without the address and phone number, how can I communicate with customers and ensure product quality?"

I give in again and again. The Japanese boss was finally forced to agree to all Zang’s requests and retained the brand, phone number and address. Interestingly, when the Japanese boss asked her what price she would wholesale to Japanese department stores, Ms. Zang actually proposed a "sky-high price" of "12.5 yuan per box". You know, Miss Zang’s retail price of a box of dumplings at that time was “11 yuan a box.”

The Japanese department store owner who has been in business in Hong Kong for 28 years admitted: "You are the first and last supplier to sell me goods at a wholesale price higher than the retail price."

With the full distribution in hundreds of supermarkets of Japanese-owned department stores, "Wan Chai Pier" dumplings have quickly become the number one brand of frozen food in Hong Kong. Up to now, Wan Chai Pier has occupied the top 100 fresh dumpling market and the top 30 frozen dumpling market in Hong Kong.

The "three" large production bases were built

In 1985, after several years of accumulation as a hawker, Miss Zang finally opened her first dumpling factory. As dumplings entered the Hong Kong market, Capital department store supermarket, he successively opened 3 dumpling factories or factories in the front and back. On the eve of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, while many people were immigrating overseas, Ms. Zang was quietly preparing to build her first large-scale modern factory.

Finally, in 1996, in Hong Kong, where land is at a premium, Miss Zang spent huge sums of money to build a 1,200-square-meter modern factory building that meets international standards and stood in Hong Kong. This also enabled the "Wan Chai Pier" to achieve a qualitative leap.

If the cooperation with Japanese department stores transformed Wan Chai Wharf from a hawker into a small factory, then their cooperation with the American Pill***ury Food Company completed the production of Wan Chai Wharf dumplings. A breakthrough transition to the modern factory.

In 1996, Miss Zang, who was already well-known in Hong Kong, received cooperation invitations from numerous companies, but she was all declined. However, there was an American Pill ***ury food company that was very persistent and invited Zang to the United States for inspection. "Looking at the advanced equipment and methodical management of American Food Company, I agreed to cooperate with them before I left their factory." Miss Zang recalled this story.

In 1997, Wan Chai Terminal officially formed a joint venture with the American Pill ***ury Food Company. Since then, with the help of the strong financial strength and management level of General Mills of the United States, Wan Chai Terminal has left Hong Kong and begun to fully enter the vast market of mainland China.

In 1998, Miss Zang and the American Pill ***ury Food Company jointly established a US$10 million factory in Pudong, Shanghai, which was officially put into production. "Wanchai Wharf" dumplings officially entered the mainland market. Then the renovated and expanded Guangzhou factory was officially put into production. Ms. Zang revealed that despite occupying 20 to 25% of Beijing’s frozen product market share, Wan Chai Terminal does not yet have a production base in Beijing. She said: "The base for building a factory in Beijing has already been selected. Within next year, a new production base will be built in Beijing."

With the completion of several major production bases, Wan Chai Wharf dumplings now occupy With half of the frozen food market in South China, Wan Chai Terminal will further increase its output and next year will take the lead in exporting to several countries with strong demand, such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Australia. By then, Wan Chai Terminal will finally begin to go global.

On the night of the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, Ms. Zang made dumplings with her family and watched the gorgeous fireworks in Victoria Harbor.

From a weak woman who lived in Hong Kong without food and clothing but had to raise two children to the "dumpling queen" famous in Asia, Miss Zang used her 30 years of experience as a migrant worker in Hong Kong to tell the story of Hong Kong. legendary story.

Queen’s Dumplings