There was a time when a chili sauce called "Lao Gan Ma" became popular all over the world and became a favorite of countless international diners. Its unique aroma and rich taste have deeply attracted the taste buds of people everywhere.

However, it wasn't that long ago that the once-sought-after star brand fell into disrepute. The Internet was full of voices questioning its deterioration of taste, and even the founder, Ms. Tao Huabi, was bombarded by angry netizens and was forced to completely withdraw from the online platform and keep her mouth shut.

Now, at the age of 72, Tao Huabi faces the biggest challenge of her career. The hot sauce king, once known as the "national goddess", now needs to find a way to reshape Lao Gan Ma's image in the minds of consumers and salvage the declining brand reputation.

Tao Huabi's face was gloomy, and her hands were unconsciously rubbing on the table. Her brow furrowed, as if lost in thought. As the helmsman of Lao Gan Ma's company, she is well aware that saving this brand in crisis is far more difficult than when she started her business.

Young people's tastes tend to be changeable, and traditional brands are easily left out in the cold. Moreover, the continuous emergence of new brands has made the living environment of time-honored brands even worse.

Tao Huabi's heart was full of anxiety, but she still insisted on finding a new way out for her old godmother.

Tao Huabi's entrepreneurial history

To solve the mystery of the predicament of the Lao Gan Ma brand, we have to start with Tao Huabi's entrepreneurial history. She was born into a destitute family in Guizhou, during a turbulent era of war in China.

In those difficult years, Tao Huabi's family was once so poor that they could only gnaw on tree bark to satisfy their hunger.

Despite such an embarrassing living environment, Tao Huabi has a natural love for chili peppers. She found that while some peppers were spicy, others had an enticing aroma.

Using her unique cooking techniques, she has made these spicy peppers into a unique sauce with a unique and rich taste that is highly sought after by family and friends.

After her husband's death, Tao Huabi, who was alone, opened a food stall in her hometown of Guizhou, selling cold noodles and cold noodles to make a living. With her craftsmanship and careful selection of ingredients, her small shop quickly became famous and her business gradually flourished.

And what really makes customers flock to it is the fragrant and aftertaste chili sauce made by Tao Huabi's unique secret.

In this way, the ordinary Tao Huabi turned into a famous local "old godmother". She reinvested the money she earned into her career, expanding the food stall into a high-profile restaurant.

For those children who are homeless and wandering on the streets, Lao Gan Ma is even more generous, often feeding them on credit. The children were deeply touched by Tao Huabi's kindness and affectionately called her "Old Godmother".

Tao Huabi stood at the door of her restaurant, looking at the tall and thin figures of the children on the street from a distance, her eyes full of pity. She thought to herself that although her family was poor, she could finally give these poor children a little warmth.

As long as there is a glimmer of hope, she will never give up, and she must make her career bigger and let more people live a good life.

It became crazy overseas popularity

It was 1996, and a young man who had just arrived in the mountains inspired Tao Huabi: "Honorable godmother, your chili sauce is a fine wine, why not open a special small workshop?" After a short period of consideration, Tao Huabi resolutely invited a few relatives and friends to set up a small business called "Lao Gan Ma Flavor Food Factory".

No one could have imagined that this civilian delicacy would eventually win a crazy international following.

In 2003, a couple of tourists from the United States were traveling in China when they stumbled upon this jar of chili sauce with Tao Huabi's head printed on it in a restaurant. Out of curiosity, they closed their eyes and poured the burning red sauce into their mouths.

The mellow aroma that is released in an instant is very spicy, and the rich layered taste seems to open up a new world of taste buds, which is unforgettable.

Upon their return to China, the American couple recommended this delicacy from the mysterious Orient to friends and family, setting off a frenzy of panic buying. A jar of unpretentious Lao Gan Ma chili sauce sells for up to $11 in overseas markets. $95, which is equivalent to nearly 80 yuan, but for those foreign diners, it's obviously a worthwhile investment, because Lao Gan Ma's unique spicy flavor undoubtedly opens up a whole new taste experience.

International students also smelled the smell of business opportunities in time and became an important driver of this craze. Founder Tao Huabi said proudly: "As a native Chinese, I conquered the American market for the first time, and my goal was to earn money from foreigners.

With this fanatical determination, Lao Gan Ma soon achieved incredible success overseas.

In July 2012, the famous American luxury e-commerce website hailed Lao Gan Ma as the "king of rare spices". Even though the price is high, its sales are still rising, forming a rush to buy.

Lao Gan Ma Company struck while the iron was hot and quickly launched a series of derivative products such as ice cream and co-branded sweatshirts. In the United States, owning a piece of Lao Gan Ma's peripheral products has simply become a new fashion trend and a new way to show off your wealth.

The old godmother brand is in crisis

After going through the glorious years, the once glorious old godmother brand has begun to decline. The source of all this starts with Tao Huabi handing over the company to his eldest son Li Guishan at the helm in 2014.

No one expected that this decision would kick off the decline of the brand for Lao Gan Ma. Unlike Tao Huabi's conservative management style, Li Guishan was full of ambition and returned to the real estate industry.

He used the funds accumulated by Lao Gan Ma to acquire part of the equity of Guishan Tianyang Company, trying to get a piece of the pie in the new field.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long, and the real estate company's operating conditions have been in a loss, triggering a storm of hundreds of buyers petitioning to defend their rights due to the problem of unfinished buildings. Finally, in 2018, Guishan Tianyang Company went bankrupt completely, and Li Guishan was also included in the list of dishonest due to debt problems and became an "old lai".

Seeing the company's reputation discredited, Tao Huabi could only reluctantly hand over the management of the company to his second son Li Miaoxing. Surprisingly, in order to reduce production costs, Li Miaoxing made a serious mistake: he implemented mechanized assembly line production, which completely replaced the original manual process; What's even more outrageous is that in order to save procurement expenses, he gave up using high-quality peppers from Guizhou, which is more expensive, and instead purchased inferior raw materials from Henan.

This series of decisions undoubtedly makes the flavor of Lao Gan Ma's products similar to the past. A large number of consumers complained about the decline in quality, and the reputation of the once highly regarded "national goddess" brand was ruined.

Sales plummeted, customers flowed, and the company fell into an unprecedented crisis.

Li Miaoxing's face was pale, and his hands kept rubbing on the desk. In fact, he also knows in his heart that his actions have seriously affected the brand image of Lao Gan Ma.

But in order to covet the temporary low cost, he had to spoil the company's signature products like this. Today, angry doubts are rising.

Tao Huabi made a comeback

Seeing that her life's work was on the verge of bankruptcy, Tao Huabi resolutely made a comeback and stepped forward in person to try to revive the brand reputation of Lao Gan Ma. As the founder of this company, she knows all too well that word-of-mouth and brand image are the life and death of a business.

Once lost, it can be extremely difficult to regain the trust of consumers.

Tao Huabi apparently did not hesitate at all, and immediately set out to carry out a radical brand reform. She insisted on restoring the raw materials to high-quality chili peppers from Guizhou, while insisting on using the previous recipe of pure handmade brewing, which finally improved the taste of the product.

In the production workshop, workers carefully select fresh chili peppers and make hot sauce by hand little by little according to the way of their ancestors. Tao Huabi personally checks every link to ensure that the quality of the products is excellent.

However, time does not stand still for anyone. This ever-changing trend of the times has not let go of the old godmother. With the change of people's eating habits, new brands have sprung up in the chili sauce market, and enterprises of all sizes have achieved good results in the market.

It can be seen that even the once glorious time-honored brand is not easy to break through and be reborn in today's fiercely competitive environment.

An even tougher test comes from the field of new media marketing. In 2022, Lao Gan Ma finally caught up with the pace of the times and decided to try to expand new marketing channels through live broadcasts.

However, Tao Huabi, who is already old, soon reveals the embarrassing situation of not being able to effectively interact with young audiences.

At the live broadcast scene, Tao Huabi looked at the camera in front of her and suddenly felt a little at a loss. Although she has made some preparations, it is really difficult to navigate in the field of new media, which has little experience.

The painting style is naïve and perfunctory, lacking creative elements for young people, and was soon complained by netizens.

"Grandma Tao is on the live broadcast! But it feels so perfunctory and boring."

"Is this the interaction? I can't keep up with the times, old aunt!"

In the face of all kinds of ridicule on the Internet, Tao Huabi also reluctantly admitted: "I'm too old to keep up with the current Internet trend, and this time I was really taught a lesson by young people."

Look at the present and look to the future

Today, the former pioneer is in his old age. With the changes of the times, Lao Gan Ma, a brand that has gone through ups and downs, has also entered a dilemma period of brand aging.

Tao Huabi sat by the window, looking at the sunny scenery outside the window, and couldn't help but fall into deep thought. She is well aware that the Lao Gan Ma brand is facing an unprecedented major test.

The traditional brand charm is gone, and today's consumers are more interested in the freshness and personalized experience of products. If the old godmother still stagnates like in the past, sooner or later she will be eliminated by the torrent of the times.

However, as the founder and hostess of the Lao Gan Ma brand, Tao Huabi still has a determination not to admit defeat. Despite her advanced age, she is always looking for new breakthroughs and directions to regain the public's affection.

Tao Huabi stood up and looked at the tree-lined scenery outside the window, her eyes were firm and focused. She knows that if she wants to get out of the current predicament, she must face reality and have the courage to innovate and transform.

Only by docking with young people and keeping pace with the times can the time-honored old godmother regain its brilliance.

We sincerely hope that this brand will be able to regain its glory after several vicissitudes.