Food Safety Scandal Ends

It was not that no one dared to take over; at the very least, Shineway Food Group was quite interested. Klo-Ivan was very adept at handling affairs. Although his business was not particularly large, he had extensive social connections.

Through the introduction of a friend, he made contact with a senior executive at Shineway Food Group. After some haggling, Klo-Ivan sold his slaughterhouse for the rock-bottom price of ten thousand levs.

Naturally, his slaughterhouse was far from the only business to be acquired. Around the same time, Shineway Food Group had already annexed over a dozen factories, large and small, laying the hardware foundation for a monopoly.

In a Bulgaria where the food industry was wailing in despair, Shineway Food Group lived quite comfortably and even had the surplus energy to expand.

Because they had prepared in advance, they had halted several inferior products and cleared out their inventory. Even if there was stock remaining, it could be sold overseas through Volvo's channels.

Now that the products in hand were all up to standard, Welian even publicly invited all sectors of society to supervise and welcomed experts and scholars to conduct testing. Moreover, after discontinuing the low-end goods, the sales of mid-to-high-end food products increased rapidly.

Under the instruction of Ferdinand, Shineway Food Group adopted "cheap goods are never good" as their core promotional message, advertising everywhere to instill this concept into the Bulgarian populace.

The terrified middle class immediately became loyal fans of Shineway Food Group, especially the "Aristocrat Exclusive" products, which instantly became hot commodities.

After all, the 19th century was still the era of the aristocracy; no one dared to act recklessly with goods supplied to the nobility. The impact of poisoning a thousand commoners could not compare to poisoning a single aristocrat.

Shineway Food Group also lobbied everywhere, demanding that the government introduce a food safety law to standardize safety and hygiene in the food industry.

Food processing enterprises proactively requesting government legislation instantly ignited public opinion. For a time, Shineway Food Group became synonymous with a conscientious enterprise.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Welian simply stripped all inferior products from the group's business and set up several shell companies to produce them.

From this day forward, all food produced by factories under the Shineway Food Group banner was qualified, laying the foundation for a future food empire.

The food safety storm grew increasingly intense, and everyone knew that a tempest was approaching.

Just half a month after Klo-Ivan sold his factory, the police sealed off over fifty food processing enterprises, large and small, and arrested dozens of unscrupulous merchants.

Because Bulgaria lacked laws related to food safety, dealing with them became a problem.

Following custom, they would only need to pay a little money to settle things; there would be no need for sealing factories or arresting people. However, now, under the pressure of public opinion, no one dared to let the matter slide easily!

In accordance with public expectation, the government soon released the draft of the Food Safety Management Act, but the specific implementation standards sparked controversy.

If the standards were set too high, food processing enterprises could not meet them, and even if they barely complied, the prices would be unaffordable for ordinary people. If the standards were set too low, they feared the public would not accept them.

The capitalists in the food processing industry were no novices. Naturally, they were now "the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each showing their own magic," bribing experts and scholars, using newspapers to guide public opinion, and throwing money at government lobbying in a desperate attempt to lower the standards.

The capitalists deeply embroiled in the scandal used every trick in the book, trying by all means to reduce the penalty clauses in an attempt to escape unscathed.

However, it was clear they had miscalculated this time. Konstantin, who was looking for a breakthrough, would never let this opportunity delivered to his doorstep slip away.

To appease public opinion, Ferdinand instructed the government to hold a hearing, inviting relevant experts, scholars, and news media to participate, and selecting several representatives from various social strata.

At the hearing, Konstantin represented the government and read out the newly drafted Food Safety Management Act.

"Mr. Konstantin, isn't this standard too high? Can it really be achieved? If most enterprises cannot meet it by then, what will we do?" a reporter asked skeptically.

Konstantin said confidently, "Do not worry. These standards were established after our market research. Currently, some enterprises in the market have already achieved them; it is technically feasible, and the costs will not increase significantly."

Kobelev (a capitalist) objected, "But most enterprises cannot do it!"

Konstantin replied with sonorous force, "And what does that matter? Our goal is for the public to eat safe and reliable food. If most enterprises cannot do it, then let them yield the market to capable enterprises! Survival of the fittest—this is the law of nature!"

"But what about production capacity? Our enterprises cannot change overnight; we need gradual improvements to meet market demand!" Kobelev said excitedly.

Konstantin smiled and said, "There is absolutely no need to worry about that. The technical difficulty of most food processing is not high, and expanding capacity only takes a few short months. I believe that for the sake of life safety, the public can accept a short-term decline in quality of life. As for gradual improvement? I am sorry, but the public can no longer wait; our government cannot continue to let everyone consume slow-acting poison!"

As soon as Konstantin finished speaking, he was met with thunderous applause.

Seeing this, Kobelev continued to argue feebly, "But this will cause a terrible monopoly! Think about it: the entire Bulgarian food market being monopolized by one or a few enterprises. The market will become a stagnant pool—what a terrifying scene that would be!"

Before Konstantin could speak, Aleko stepped in first, angrily questioning Kobelev, "No scene could be more terrible than the current one! You greedy devil! At the very least, the food we eat will be reliable, our lives will be guaranteed, and we won't have to worry about meeting God at any moment like we do now!"

Thunderous applause erupted once again; Aleko's words voiced everyone's inner thoughts. Someone shouted, "Get out, you greedy devil!"

This was immediately echoed by the crowd, with chaotic shouts of: "Get out, you greedy devil!"

Seeing that he had incurred public wrath, Kobelev fled in a panic, forgetting the purpose of his visit today.

The subsequent procedures went very smoothly. During this time, everyone had been terrified by the news reports, feeling that apart from eggs, any other food felt unsafe.

The wealthy were better off; they simply went to the countryside to buy raw materials to process themselves, or went to Volvo to purchase food exclusively for the nobility. Some even switched entirely to egg-based diets, causing the price of eggs to skyrocket.

But the common people suffered; they could not afford high-end food, and eating ordinary food felt like consuming poison, leading to a long-term loss of appetite.

After the Food Safety Management Act was issued, Bulgaria completely banned substandard food from entering the market. The police became busy, sealing off substandard goods and arresting unscrupulous merchants everywhere.

To meet the public's daily needs, the government purchased a large batch of raw materials from the countryside and pushed them into the market. For the sake of their lives, ordinary people had to process their own food.

Fortunately, Shineway Food Group had been prepared, having stockpiled a large batch of qualified food in advance and pushing it into the market, which finally calmed the storm.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to rectify the food processing industry, Ferdinand had, in effect, completed his monopoly over the Bulgarian food industry.