From a layman to a chestnut expert

On October 23, 2013, Chen Yun walked out of a food research institute in Beijing briskly, feeling as bright as the autumn sunshine. More than two years of "chestnut dew" technology research and development has finally come to fruition. Over the past two years, he has traveled to beverage processing enterprises and scientific research institutes in Shandong, Beijing and Zhejiang, expecting again and again, failing again and again. It is difficult to break through the difficult problems of poor chestnut stability and excessive precipitation of drinks. During this time, he was almost cheated out of millions of yuan by a shell company…All these setbacks and hardships turned into a smile on his face at this moment.

This year is the tenth year that Chen Yun graduated from China Agricultural University and returned home to start a business. "Chengde, which is not far from my hometown, has almond dew, Hengshui has walnut dew, and Qianxi's characteristic agricultural product chestnut nutrition and taste are not worse than almonds and walnuts. Why can't we develop chestnut dew with high added value?"

Developing new products requires money. After graduating from college, Chen Yun borrowed a sum of money from his family, starting from opening a supermarket and gradually accumulating funds. The knowledge of enterprise management learned in college helped him a lot. Chen Yun's supermarket has opened to 11 over the years. Feeling that the time was ripe, Chen Yun began to invest in research and development of chestnut dew.

In fact, in China, there have been attempts to make chestnut into high-end drinks, but without success. "If others can't do it, can you? Don't regret it after you stumble!" In the face of opposition, Chen Yun firmly said: "Now young do not try, later regret!"

Chen Yun was born in Qiangbanyu Village, Qianxi County, Hebei Province. When he was a child, every family in the village planted chestnuts. In autumn harvest season, under the chestnut trees all over the mountains, there were people who collected chestnuts by cat waist. Although the chestnut processing industry in Qianxi has made great progress in recent years, it is still dominated by primary processed products such as chestnut kernel, and the intensive processing industry has not yet become a climate. What Chen Yun wants to do is to fill the gap of chestnut drink and extend the chestnut industry chain.

A new product from scratch is easier said than done! For Chen Yun, the process of starting a business is like Sisyphus in myth, constantly pushing the boulder in front of him, and the boulder keeps rolling down. In repeated attempts, it opens up new possibilities for his life.

After successful research and development, the process of plant production is also full of twists and turns. "Take the production equipment, start to Langfang a manufacturer to buy, after consulting experts in the local area, only to know that Jiangsu a better equipment, so went to Jiangsu, carefully inquired down, Shanghai a factory equipment is the most first-class, and finally went to Shanghai, the equipment bought back. It's just the process of buying a homogenizer." After purchasing the whole set of equipment, Chen Yun spent a full eight months and became an expert from a layman.

"If you want to be the first person in China to drink chestnut, you have to have the ambition to establish a century-old brand." Chen Yun, who was born in an enterprise management class, is almost strict in professional requirements. He "looks around three times" and "poaches" talents who once served as production directors in large enterprises such as Lulu and Huiyuan Juice.

"The product has just been put into production. The battle has just begun." Chen Yun and his team began a more difficult journey to get consumers to accept chestnut dew, a brand-new drink. After putting into production in October 2014, Chen Yun has been on business trips almost all year.

Winter passes and spring comes, and everything is born again. Chen Yun's "Tieli Duo" chestnut beverage opened up the market in Hebei, Jilin and Tianjin. In the first year, it transformed 200 tons of chestnut from its origin, driving more than 5000 chestnut farmers to increase their income. And this passionate, not afraid of tossing entrepreneurs, in the chestnut deep processing of industrialization road has not stopped, chestnut chicken, chestnut biscuits and other new research and development has come to an end,"next time we meet again, guaranteed to give you a new surprise!" Chen Yun said with a smile.