Chapter 274: The Pop-Top Can and First Cooperation with the Mainland
"Pop-top cans? Yes, I'm familiar with them," Zhou Haoran nodded. "They were patented in 1959 by an American engineer. Many companies in Europe and the U.S. are preparing to adopt this technology. Coca-Cola is among the first, and recently they've started planning to launch pop-top cans at their Swire beverage plant here in Hong Kong."
"Swire's preparing to make pop-top cans?" Yang Wendong's eyes lit up. "Tell me everything you know about them."
As a transmigrator, Yang naturally understood that the explosion of the beverage industry in his past life was largely driven by two innovations: the pop-top can and PET plastic bottles.
PET bottles were technically demanding — not only in materials and cost but also in safety. These containers held food and had to account for toxin release under high temperatures. In his previous life, plastic bottled drinks didn't really appear until the 1970s and weren't mass-produced until the 1980s or 1990s.
Before that, glass bottles and pop-top cans were the mainstream. Glass bottles had been around even before bottled drinks, while pop-top cans were a more recent invention. Based on Yang's past experience, cans were undoubtedly superior — but in this era, the reality might differ.
Zhou thought for a moment and carefully organized his thoughts before responding, "The primary material for these cans is tinplate — and the design likely evolved from traditional food cans. Large beverage companies had long intended to use similar packaging, but they couldn't figure out a proper opening mechanism.
Drinks need to be opened easily, anytime and anywhere. Food cans, due to their need for tight sealing, were hard to open. The two use cases didn't align.
It wasn't until a few years ago that an American engineer came up with the idea of the pull-tab. He spent years researching how to balance ease of opening with airtightness. In 1959, he finally succeeded and filed the patent."
"Just finding that balance is a huge challenge," Yang nodded.
Many inventions seemed simple, but when they were first created, they involved significant technical hurdles. Pop-top cans had to be tightly sealed while also being easy to open with a single finger — that required serious design work and precise material science.
"Exactly. It's a very difficult feat," Zhou said. "Even though the patent is out and prototypes exist, making a few hundred in a lab is completely different from mass-producing billions on a factory line.
As far as I know, several major beverage companies and specialized equipment manufacturers have spent years developing machinery before achieving commercial success."
"What's the current defect rate?" Yang asked.
This was a detail he'd thought about. Many industrial products allowed for a certain defect rate, called PPM — parts per million. Even a 0.01% failure rate was unacceptable. Imagine a company producing hundreds of millions of cans a year. If tens of thousands were defective and leaked, it would ruin distribution and cause mass returns — possibly leading to bankruptcy.
Zhou answered, "Right now, the defect rate is about 0.003%. That's quite good. Plus, the production process includes quality control steps to filter out most defective units. In the end, less than one in a million cans would reach the market with defects.
But this depends on the equipment used. German manufacturer Krones is the top of the line. Coca-Cola sources their machinery from them, though it's quite expensive."
"Do you know how much?" Yang asked.
"Sorry, Mr. Yang, Swire hasn't finalized the purchase yet. The price is confidential. I handle marketing, so I'm not privy to those numbers," Zhou explained. "But I can ask around discreetly."
Though Zhou had prepared well for the interview, he hadn't expected Yang to bring up pop-top cans — especially since even most major companies were still experimenting with the technology and hadn't launched full-scale production.
"Alright, no worries," Yang said. "But if Coca-Cola is already planning a production line here, then that means it must be economically viable."
"Not necessarily," Zhou replied. "Swire's upper management debated it for a long time. The core issue is that Hong Kong doesn't produce iron locally.
Pop-top cans make sense in Europe or the U.S., where local steel is cheap. But in Hong Kong, iron must be imported. That makes it a lot trickier."
"How much iron does one can require?" Yang asked.
In his previous life, pop-top cans were made of aluminum — lightweight and thin — but that was after decades of material advancement. Today's cans couldn't possibly be that efficient yet.
"I do know that," Zhou replied. "One empty can weighs about 60 grams. I actually got a sample from Coca-Cola years ago and weighed it myself."
"Sixty grams?" Yang did a quick calculation. "So a hundred million cans would require 6,000 tons of tinplate. That's not a huge number."
"True, but keep in mind there's material loss during production," Zhou explained. "So the real requirement would likely be double that. And if you scale up, 100 million units isn't much. Swire already sells over a billion drinks per year."
A hundred million cans might sound impressive, but in the beverage world, it was small-scale. Swire and Coca-Cola had a strategic partnership — and Swire handled Coca-Cola bottling across much of Southeast Asia.
"Good point," Yang nodded. "So if Swire is preparing to import large quantities of tinplate, then I can too."
"Yes, but Watsons will be at a disadvantage compared to glass bottles — especially for local sales," Zhou said.
"Why is that?" Yang asked.
"While I don't have hard data, many people inside Swire already know — pop-top cans are best for long-distance transportation. That's why Swire is planning to use them for overseas distribution.
Locally and for nearby markets, glass bottles are still preferred."
Yang immediately understood. "So you're saying pop-top cans are more expensive than glass, but cheaper to transport over long distances?"
"Exactly. Glass is fragile and requires extensive protective packaging for long hauls," Zhou said. "Also, Hong Kong has its own glass manufacturing industry and infrastructure for bottle recycling.
Cans can technically be recycled too, but Hong Kong lacks the smelting facilities to reuse them properly."
"There are some, but they're only capable of processing scrap steel," Yang said with a smile.
Early Hong Kong had a thriving ship-breaking industry, and a few small-scale steel plants emerged to reprocess the salvaged materials, which they then resold to shipbuilders.
That was why iron recycling was limited. But it was a potential avenue.
Yang's mind was racing — a new idea forming. Swire and Coca-Cola might be early adopters of pop-top cans, but that also meant they were dealing with the challenges of being first. He, on the other hand, could learn from their experience.
What if he built a supply chain by cooperating with the mainland?
There was no need for Hong Kong to be self-sufficient in iron or steel. If mainland factories could produce tinplate to his specifications, and ship it to Hong Kong via Changxing Shipping's fleet, then Watsons could begin manufacturing pop-top cans without relying on British or European imports.
It would be the company's first collaboration with the mainland — and one that might unlock a whole new industrial model.
But ship-breaking was an extremely polluting industry — even the Hong Kong government, known for its "free market" laissez-faire stance, eventually found it intolerable and began placing restrictions on the business. Naturally, Hong Kong's once-thriving steel mills also declined over time.
Some capable operations still remained, but none of them were capable of producing ultra-thin steel sheets.
Zhou Haoran said, "Mr. Yang, I believe this matter needs to be planned carefully."
"I know," Yang Wendong nodded. "We need to fully investigate all aspects — equipment pricing, steel import channels and prices, operational costs, and so on.
But I still want to push this forward quickly. If we become the first to launch a canned herbal beverage — combined with the launch of our new herbal tea line — then I can pour our media resources into building a brand from scratch.
Otherwise, just going head-to-head with Coca-Cola and Swire in a conventional way? There's no way we'd win."
Launching a herbal tea in a new format, using pop-top cans, wasn't just about the product — it was about presenting a new concept. Only then could their media arm make an impact. It was one of the core elements behind successful campaigns — much like in his past life with platforms like TikTok: even with massive promotions, if the product lacked uniqueness, results would still be mediocre.
"Alright, I'll gather all the relevant information and get it to you as soon as possible," Zhou said with resolve.
Yang smiled. "Good. Then let me officially welcome you to Watsons."
One of Hong Kong's advantages at the time was the dominance of British companies — which meant many talented Chinese professionals were stuck under a glass ceiling in these firms. They couldn't rise no matter how capable they were.
So when someone like Yang came in and offered opportunities at a well-funded and ambitious Chinese company, it was easy to attract them.
Of course, that only applied to reputable Chinese companies — the average business didn't have that kind of pull.
"Mr. Yang, just call me Old Zhou," Zhou Haoran replied with a grin.
"Alright, Old Zhou," Yang chuckled. "But just so you know, while your primary focus at Watsons will be developing the beverage division, we also have the pharmacy and cosmetics businesses. Those will fall under your leadership too — but I'll assign a deputy with expertise in that area to assist you."
In large corporations, top-level executives couldn't — and didn't need to — know everything. In fact, many top-level managers didn't understand the technical details of their departments at all. Their job was to manage people, make strategic decisions, and coordinate resources.
Changxing Group was still operating under a business-divisional system, but as it grew larger, subsidiaries would inevitably expand into multiple sectors. Like all large corporations, this would require specialized vice-presidents to oversee different branches.
For now, Watsons' core business was beverage, health products, and pharmaceutical retail. In the short term, the beverage market had the highest growth potential. Cosmetics and pharmacy would require a longer development cycle to scale.
So Watsons would focus primarily on beverages for now. The health and pharmacy side would be more about building a solid retail footprint — once they had enough store coverage, that's when they could ramp up other product lines.
"Understood. I'll also start studying the other two sectors," Zhou replied.
With Watsons' acquisition and internal restructuring largely complete, the next step was building the new team and working through operational details.
Public interest in Yang's acquisition had generated a bit of buzz, but it remained fairly niche. Most people didn't pay much attention to something that didn't concern them — and since the acquisition price wasn't huge, the media also lost interest quickly.
One week later, the newspapers stopped covering it altogether.
However, some sharp-eyed shoppers at Carrefour noticed something new: several Watsons-branded beverages had appeared at the checkout counters. There was even a sign informing customers that they could drink the soda while standing in line and pay afterward — but only if they were currently queuing.
Many people were intrigued. Waiting in line was boring — having something to drink made it more pleasant.
Friday, April 13
Yang Wendong was back at Changxing Tower, meeting with two visitors: Huo Yingdong and Ding Kejian.
"Congratulations, Mr. Yang," Huo said with a grin, "on acquiring the century-old Watsons."
"It's a century old, sure," Yang replied with a chuckle, "but not exactly large-scale."
"That's only because the previous management was useless," Huo said. "The major shareholder hadn't even set foot in Hong Kong for years. It's no wonder the company was in shambles.
Now that you've taken over, I'm sure Watsons will shine again."
"Haha, thank you," Yang said, clearly pleased by the compliment — especially coming from someone like Huo Yingdong.
At that point, Ding Kejian added, "Mr. Yang, Watsons has long worked with China Resources. I've already asked our mainland contacts to prepare high-quality ginger and some traditional medicinal herbs."
"Much appreciated," Yang said sincerely.
Many industries in Hong Kong depended on materials sourced through China Resources — the beverage industry was no exception. Even water for bottling was imported from the mainland.
"No need to be so polite," Ding said with a smile.
Changxing Group now had all the signs of becoming the top Chinese conglomerate in Hong Kong — dominating exports, real estate, shipping, and retail, step by step.
And China Resources, despite having a monopoly on Hong Kong's basic goods supply, still needed good relations with local giants. Supplying necessities was only about fulfilling daily needs — whether companies chose to purchase more than needed, that was up to them.
China Resources' real mission was to earn foreign exchange. While supplying staples met basic quotas, selling mainland industrial products in Hong Kong — or exporting them globally through Hong Kong — was the key to increasing earnings. That's why partnerships with local business groups, especially influential Chinese firms, were essential.
After the three of them sat down, Yang asked, "So, do you two bring good news today?"
"Yes," Ding replied. "The central government has agreed — as long as you build a museum in Hong Kong, they're willing to provide a selection of antiques, either for sale or lease, for exhibitions.
It would also allow ordinary Hongkongers, especially students, to learn more about Chinese history and culture."
"Excellent," Yang nodded. "Then how should we handle the process — in terms of the types and levels of antiques, museum location and size, and transportation logistics?"
While the museum itself would be Yang's property, most of the exhibits would come from the mainland. That required detailed coordination — how the antiques would be transported, how they would be stored, how different types of relics required different care...
This was very different from a typical museum that owned its entire collection outright.
Ding replied, "I'm not the decision-maker on that. But Beijing will be sending a team of experts to Hong Kong to conduct on-site assessments."
"Perfect," Yang said, nodding. He didn't have anyone in his current team qualified for that kind of work — in fact, all of Hong Kong probably lacked that level of expertise.
Ding then pulled out a small notebook. "Mr. Yang, here is a preliminary list of antiques available for sale. Take a look, and let us know which ones you're interested in. Then we can negotiate quantity and pricing."
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