Crafting flavor
During this period of rapid growth, Chen also started to think about issues of managerial succession and the long-term sustainability of the enterprise.
The founder’s son, Robert Chen, joined the family business at the grassroots level after completing his military service. He had to get up at four every morning to start work, going to the market to select the pork, making pork floss (a sort of light, fluffy dried pork product), and making sausages, as well as manning the storefront and keeping the books. Not only was the work arduous, but he also had to deal with his father’s very stringent ideas about how the business should be run.
“My father once actually threw me out of the factory,” recalls Chen. He was pan-drying pork floss, admittedly being a little lazy and not doing the work properly. His father saw what was happening and roared at him: “If you’re going to do the work, you must do it right. Otherwise get out!” The son was unceremoniously thrown out in front of all the other workers. Later, he mustered the courage to apologize to his father and ask for forgiveness.
Black Bridge sausages use only prime pork: the hindquarters of pigs of 110–120 centimeters in length, marinated for at least 12 hours. During the automated production process, the texture of the minced meat is carefully monitored so that the finished product approaches the quality of handmade sausages. The company’s strict pork selection criteria and the exclusive recipe distinguish Black Bridge sausages from other brands. Aficionados recognize the flavor at the first bite.
In 2009, at age 44, the younger Chen took over from his father as general manager, and with his ambition and vision has set out to revamp the old brand, while maintaining all the qualities that have made the company what it is.
With his grassroots experience in the company, Chen well understood the company’s old image and ways of operating—but he had plans for something new. In the 1990s, he had proposed dismantling the old strategy of running their own dedicated retail outlets. To better suit modern consumption styles, the company expanded its distribution channels into supermarkets, growing from 25 outlets to more than 2,000 distribution points. Black Bridge sausages are now even available at KTVs if anyone cares for a snack between songs.
He also noticed the popularity of ham, and the fact that hot dogs were as well-liked as Taiwanese-style sausages (particularly amongst the young), so he created the company’s second brand: Bolker STR, selling imported Western-style premium meat. The range targets the high end of the market—perfect for the Taipei 101 supermarket where the brand was launched—thus bringing greater diversity to the company’s product mix.
In 2010, Chen invited former Taiwanese entertainer Fong Fei-fei (known as the “Queen of Hats”) to become the face of the company. Fong had retired to Hong Kong years before, and in fact endorsing Black Bridge was the only advertising work she took on in the 20 years following her retirement, and also the last before she passed away in 2012.
Black Bridge launched a takeaway food business in 2012, introducing another new brand: the Taiwan Hugdog, a pork sausage served with lettuce and specially made sauce wrapped in either a larger sticky rice roll, or French bread like a submarine sandwich. The Hugdog outlet in the Ximending shopping district always attracts large queues as a favorite snack for moviegoers.
Black Bridge sausages (above) taste slightly sweet, with a unique Taiwanese flavor. The company’s sausage museum (below) introduces many varieties of sausage from around the world, really opening visitors’ eyes to the world of sausages.