"That's a pity..." Du Famen couldn't help but sigh when he heard that Jiang Hai could only supply a maximum of 5,000 cattle per year. If that were the case, it would certainly be a troublesome situation.
"Actually, I have another idea." Seeing Du Famen's reaction, Jiang Hai, to be honest, couldn't afford to turn down this lucrative business opportunity, so he prepared an alternative solution.
"Another idea?" Du Famen raised an eyebrow at Jiang Hai's words.
"Indeed. My beef is undoubtedly the best in the world. If you want me to supply the Dubai royal family in full, my beef alone wouldn't be enough. However, we could collaborate." Jiang Hai said seriously, locking eyes with Du Famen.
"How would we collaborate?" Du Famen leaned in, intrigued by the possibility.
"If you buy the meat directly, there's no way to meet the demand. But if you raise some cattle yourselves, I can supply you with the necessary feed." Jiang Hai proposed, his tone firm.
Essentially, Jiang Hai was suggesting that, by using his pasture to raise the cattle, he could supply enough to meet the royal family's demand. However, he didn't want to become a direct supplier or "bonded laborer" for the Dubai royal family, despite the financial gains.
But if the royal family raised the cattle on their own and he simply provided the feed, it would be a different matter. Although the feed might lose some of its spiritual energy during transport, it was still far more nutritious than regular grass. Jiang Hai was confident that with this feed, the Dubai royal family could raise high-quality marbled beef. Of course, the size of the cattle wouldn't be as large as those raised on his own land.
Still, every cow would have marbled beef, with about 3-5% of the total weight being marbled.
An Angus bull can reach 750 kilograms if well-fed, and with a slaughter rate of 60%, that's 450 kilograms of meat, with around 5% being marbled. That would be about 22.5 kilograms of marbled beef per bull. If they raised 200,000 cattle, that would result in 225,000 kilograms of marbled beef—enough to satisfy the Dubai royal family's needs. And any extra beef could be sold elsewhere.
This was an excellent business opportunity. Although the Dubai royal family wouldn't be able to get Jiang Hai's own beef, this plan still offered a way to acquire top-quality beef.
Du Famen mulled over Jiang Hai's words. This idea could indeed work, but he was more than just a personal consumer of beef. As a representative of the royal family, he was focused on making money for them.
However, if they followed Jiang Hai's proposal, the royal family wouldn't be the ultimate beneficiary. It would be Jiang Hai, who would continue to profit from the sales of both the beef and the feed. Essentially, the royal family would be helping to make Jiang Hai even richer.
"The price of this feed..." Du Famen hesitated. Although Dubai was a wealthy country, it had its own national interests to consider. Raising 200,000 cattle would guarantee enough beef for the royal family. The remaining meat could be sold to the public or exported, and with the volume of beef they could produce, there was a substantial potential profit.
Dubai, though mostly desert, had the resources to transform the land. Raising 400,000 or even 1 million cattle was within their capabilities. If they could meet Jiang Hai's feed supply, it would be a very profitable venture. Even if they sold each cow for only $20,000, the profits would still reach $20 billion. After labor and other costs, they could make at least $10 billion.
This business could help Du Famen make his country a fortune and cement his own status as a national hero. The only question was whether Jiang Hai could supply enough feed, and at what price.
"I'll give you two options. First, the feed is free, and I'll even cover the transport costs, but I want 15% of the cattle raised on it. That means you provide the land, the cattle, and the labor, while I provide the feed, and I take 15%. Second, I'll charge you $1,000 per ton of feed, and I won't concern myself with the rest." Jiang Hai looked at Du Famen and, after a moment of thought, made his offer. His price was quite high, aiming for a substantial return.
The price for the feed was certainly steep. First, he was asking for 15% of the sales from the cattle raised on his feed, which could be seen as a form of extortion. Even though it was essential, Du Famen would likely reject such terms. The second option was to charge $1,000 per ton of feed—an exorbitant price for something almost as expensive as low-quality beef.
A cow eats about 10 kilograms of feed per day, and if Dubai were to raise 1 million cows, they would need 10,000 tons of feed daily. Since the feed in Jiang Hai's pasture grows quickly, he wasn't worried about its availability. However, Du Famen would never agree to such a high price. The cost of feed alone would be $10 million per day, or $3.65 billion per year, which was a ridiculous amount considering the total expected profits.
"I'm afraid neither of those options works. We can pay for the feed, but it has to be at a significantly lower price—about $50 per ton. That way, you can still earn $182.5 million annually. As for transport, we can handle it ourselves," Du Famen countered seriously.
He immediately dismissed the first option. There was no way they would give Jiang Hai 15% of the cattle's value. The second option was more plausible but still expensive.
"$50 is too little. I can't accept that. How about $800 per ton?" Jiang Hai replied, knowing that it was time to lower his price to keep the deal moving forward.
"$800 is impossible. $80 per ton is more reasonable," Du Famen said, shaking his head.
"$150 per ton, final offer. I won't haggle anymore. But I guarantee that the quality of my feed will deliver results you can't even imagine," Jiang Hai responded, conceding a little but still confident in the value of his offer.
"$150... deal." Du Famen nodded after calculating the numbers. At $150 per ton, with 3.65 million tons needed annually, that would amount to about $547.5 million. While it wasn't a huge amount compared to the potential profits, it was within an acceptable range for them.
Of course, Du Famen and the royal family weren't naive. They would undoubtedly study the feed closely when it arrived in Dubai, trying to figure out what made it so special and whether they could replicate it locally. But Jiang Hai wasn't worried. He was confident that unless they could find a magical solution, they would never be able to duplicate the success of his feed.
With the deal finalized, Jiang Hai and Du Famen quickly arranged the logistics. Jiang Hai would supply the feed for up to 1 million cattle, but he reserved 2,000 cows for himself from the 15,000 cattle he could sell next year. After all, even if the cattle were raised with Jiang Hai's feed, they could never compare to the world's best beef.
In addition to the cattle, the Dubai royal family was also interested in Jiang Hai's fish, though the price for the fish had yet to be determined. Jiang Hai was confident that the quality of his fish would be just as impressive as his beef.
As the two of them finalized the main terms of the contract, they called in their respective lawyers to handle the formalities. Meanwhile, a figure suddenly appeared before them.