简体中文
By APD
Rather than a businessman, a hoary Luo Youli is more like an artist.
In addition to products, Luo Youli prefers to talk about his father, Dr. Luo Guixiang, the founder of Hong Kong Vitasoy. "My father is hardworking, dedicated, and visionary, but what I admire more is his passion on my family and the mother country."
Luo Youli is now in his eighties. He stepped up the ladder from an ordinary product developer to the head of the company. In his seasoned eyes, what makes him most grateful is his father’s far-reaching vision on soy milk. Also, the national government’s new strategies such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have given him a gleeful sight of bright future.
The Story Begins with a Soybean
In the 1930s, a speech in Shanghai called "Soybeans—The Cow of China" lit up the eyes of Luo Guixiang, a Hongkonger. It turns out that the nutritional value of soybeans widely consumed by Chinese people is comparable to that of milk.
Luo Guixiang fell into contemplation. At that time, Hong Kong was infested with war and other conflicts, which made life hard and people malnourished. This made him anxious. It was at that time that Luo Guixiang came up with the idea of using the high-quality nutrition of soybeans to improve the health of the people in this country, that is, he wanted to contribute to the society.
In March 1940, the first bottle of soy milk developed by Luo Guixiang came out, named "Vitasoy". Luo Guixiang thought much about how to label the new product and finally clinched the choice of "Vita", which means “life” in Latin. In English, there is a “Vitamin” which is an ingredient to boost people’s vitality, which means "活力" in Chinese. Luo Guixiang hopes that high-quality and cheap soy milk can become a "good medicine" improving the poor health of Hong Kong citizens.
"The story of Vitasoy began with a magical soybean." Luo Youli said.
And this very soybean, after 80 years of growing, has taken root and grown into a huge enterprise with a market value of more than 20 billion Hong Kong dollars. Mountains turning bleak and verdant, seas ebbing and flowing, eighty years, in another sense merely a flick of a finger, made Luo Youli, an octogenarian, the second-generation head of Vitasoy, filled with a great variety of emotions.
When he was young, Luo Youli wanted to go to the UK to study law. However, he was disabused and sent by his father to the United States to study food processing. Returning to Hong Kong with a master's degree seven years later, he joined the company and became an ordinary product developer. Until the age of forty, he did not take over his father's position of the head of Vitasoy.
Like Luo Youli, Vitasoy is an indispensable existence in the memory of many Hongkongers. It is a good partner on the way to school, a good companion for office workers to work overtime in the middle of the night, and an indispensable good friend in the cupboard of thousands of households. The Vitasoy has been witnessing love of parents and familial piety of children in the great city of Hong Kong.
Luo Youli is grateful for the loyalty of consumers. "We have always been holding the belief in supplying nutrition to the general public, conducting innovation, keeping pace with the times. Of course, the more important thing is to establish affinity and care with consumers."
Father and Son in Tandem Marched into the Mainland
In the 1970s, the spring breeze of “Reform and Opening up” rippled Hong Kong, giving Hong Kong businessmen opportunities of investment and cooperation in the vast mainland market.
In April 1979, Luo Guixiang and Luo Youli signed a five-year compensation trade agreement with the Guangdong Food Branch of China National Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs Corporation and Guangdong Overseas Chinese Enterprise Company in Guangzhou, with an investment of 22.75 million Hong Kong dollars, which supplied high-quality cows and new milking and processing equipment to Guangdong Guangming Huaqiao Farm (Guangming in short), sent veterinarians and provided human resources training.
Later on, the Luos renewed the agreement, increased investment, and expanded the scale of operations, making Guangming the largest and most advanced dairy farm in China at that time. It became one of the most successful cases of mainland-Hong Kong cooperation, attracting many officials, of national or provincial level, came to visit.
In 1982, Vitasoy series products attained the entry to the mainland market. In 1991, it signed a joint venture agreement with its long-term partner Guangming to establish Shenzhen Vitas (Guangming) Food and Beverage Co., Ltd. with a total investment of RMB 140 million, moving the production equipment of a factory in Hong Kong to Shenzhen.
Since then, an investment amounting to over RMB 1 billion built up the largest domestic production base in Dongguan. The plant in the base was put into operation in 2020. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Luo Youli continually visited the mainland, almost once a month. He liked to blend into ordinary employees and like to see new products born. He was also awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of Shenzhen" in 1994 and served as a member of the 8th to 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The Bond to the Motherland Will Never Snap
Today, the scale of Vitasoy's development has far exceeded the original vision. Luo Youli said that besides the adherence to the core values of honesty, diligence, and mutual assistance, this achievement should be more attributed to the profound sentiment to the motherland and the unreserved loyalty to the government where the company is located beside." This has been profoundly wired into the DNA of Vitasoy."
In recent years, Hong Kong trouble makers and anti-China forces have arisen, causing grievous harm to Hong Kong society. Moreover, the Covid-19 pandemic are rampaging all walks of life. In 2019 and 2020, Hong Kong’s GDP has undergone continual slumps. When will the "Pearl of the Orient", known for her rule of law and civilization, be bright again?
Luo Youli said that since the central government promulgated the Hong Kong National Security Law, chaos has disappeared, governance has restored, stability and harmony has come back to Hong Kong society. The country’s bold and wise measures in pandemic prevention have even heaved Hong Kong’s economy to recover from the abyss, bouncing back to positive growth this year. The stock market, property market, and foreign exchange market performed steadily, and the mentality of the business cycle went back to normal.
"Vitasoy is a brand created under profound sentiment to the motherland. It has always been optimistic about the Chinese mainland market. In the past decades, we have been pushing and intensively cultivating in many long-term investment projects. No matter how the external environment changes, we are rooted in the motherland and continue to be confident of our investment projects. This never changes." Luo Youli said.
Nowadays, new major opportunities have come into sight. The state launched the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area strategy, adhering to "one country, two systems". The area consists of three customs areas and four core cities. Luo Youli said: "What a good thing! We will definitely not miss it."
He pointed out Hong Kong's finance, Macau's tourism, Shenzhen's high-tech, Dongguan's manufacturing industry, and Guangzhou's logistics. Among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, each has its own unique advantages and can give full play to their respective strengths to achieve complementary and coordinated development. Under the new condition, Hong Kong-based enterprises can gain more market potential and development space in building the Greater Bay Area.
Eighty years of vicissitudes, difficulties and challenges, will eventually turn into halcyon days. Luo Youli really wishes that his father could also see that day.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
